Today is Jimmy Durante’s birthday. He was pure personality – a guy who reached an astounding number of people though he wasn’t handsome, didn’t have a beautiful voice and may or may not have been able to act. It’s hard to tell because we saw him play only one character – Jimmy Durante.
This video isn’t “Inka Dinka Doo” or “It’s My Nose’s Birthday,” but it’s full of Durante trademarks – the hat grab, the stiff legged dance, a nose joke … who knows how he did it, but the man was a true entertainer.
Durante had a great sign-off from his radio (and later, TV) show, a saying infused with mystery until 1966 when he finally revealed the identity of the person he was speaking to when he said “Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.”
Durante said “Mrs. Calabash” was his first wife, Jeanne Olsen Durante, who died on Valentine’s Day in 1943 of a heart ailment. They had been married more than 20 years. He said it at the National Press Club, and his remarks were recorded by the NBC radio program Monitor. You can hear it at the 48 minute mark on this recording.
“Years ago, the mrs. and I (this is the first Mrs. Durante) used to drive cross country and we came across a beautiful little town, Calabash, west of Chicago. And we stopped there overnight and she loved it, Lord have mercy on her soul, really loved it. I said well, I was playing piano then, as soon as I get rich I’ll buy the town. So, gentlemen, Mrs. Calabash, that I referred to all the time on our radio shows and television shows was Mrs. Jeanne Durante … Because every time we got home I used to call her ‘Mrs. Calabash’. I don’t know, just a feeling came over me, and at the end of the program I said ‘goodnight Mrs. Calabash’ So they all wanted to know, the whole cast wanted to know ‘what was that all about?’ I said ‘nothing’. So we kept doing it. And then at the end of that seasons’ program they said ‘well let’s say it’s a horse or let’s say it’s something. Anything’. And I said ‘no’. So then I added ‘wherever you are’.”
He said this in 1966, before Google and Mapquest, so I’m sure his National Press Club audience took his word for it that there was a little town called Calabash west of Chicago. With our modern tools in hand, I can’t find one there, unless you keep going west until you hit North Carolina. The people in THAT town say Mrs. Calabash was Lucy Coleman, a local restauranteur who captivated Durante during a visit in 1940. The legend is that he called her to his table and said that he would ‘make her famous’.
Maybe it’s better to have a bit of mystery remain. And I like both stories, so … take your pick.
What’s your catchphrase?
Trail Baboon 
Good morning to all. I’m old enough to have seen Durante many times on TV. I agree with Dale about his great skill as an entertainer.
I like catch phrases. I first one I think of is this advice which I will give to all of you.
Don’t take any wooden nickels!
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More advice.
Don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do!
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In response to the usual meaningless question, How are you?” I frequently respomnd, “Peachy”
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I say that at times as well. Reminds me of the Movie “The Man who would be king” with Sean Connery and Michael Cane as “Peachy”
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Thanks, Dale, for the Durante memories. When I was a kid I watched him close a TV show once. He stood in a spotlight on the floor in a dark theater, broom in hand. He swept at the edges of the circle of light with that broom, and it gradually became smaller and smaller until it disappeared. And of course he said that parting line, “Good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.” It seemed a lovely and fitting way to close a show.
I’m not sure I have a catchphrase. As a person with heightened sensitivity to words, I’m nervous about such things. I write a great many letters. I often end a letter with the simple expressed wish: “Be well.” It is sincere and unpretentious. But if I attain unusual intimacy with someone, I’m apt to alter that phrase a little, using a version of it that comes from the Navajos (and which I read about in Tony Hillerman’s work). If I know you well and care deeply for you, when I say goodbye I might add “Walk in beauty.”
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i like that
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happy goats make the best milk
off to a busy day – i’ll be eager to read tonight
thanks, Dale
loved Jimmy D.
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Your catch phrase is one I think I’ve NEVER said–happy goats make the best milk. Probably never will given the absence of goats in my life.
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OT — Barb in B, Our family also has a long history with goats–sister and husband have raised them for 40 years beginning in the ’70’s when they were resident directors of a camp up north where Husband and I used to volunteer. They have a theme for each year’s baby goats, i.e. gem stones, flowers, etc. The goats would take walks with us and generally just hang out. This is a favorite photo from the ’70’s of Husband and Opal taking a snooze on the beach after a hard day’s work. Like?
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robin you are new enough that you may not know the significance of goats here on the trail. they are the animal of choice. star in out movies about space and are all around mascots of the blog. baboons rhymes with balloons but goats are forever. if you are from got people you found a home.
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well said, tim 🙂
and that is a perfectly wonderful photo, Robin! your folks sound like my kind of peeps! and they had happy goats for sure – a picture is worth 1000 words.
thanks for sharing.
if you click on my name, you will see my husband’s photo blog of our farm life.
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Love that photo, Robin.
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None, intentionally.
Predictability is a sign of insecurity and lack of creativity., well, not really, of course. It’s only that I dislike empty wordage, fatic conversation.
My mother was the definitive collective of catchphrases, truism, song lyrics, and bromides for the first half of the 20th Century. For instance she could not say open the door. It was open the door, Richard, from a song. She knew all the words of I got tears in my ears from lying on my back on my bed crying over you. All the words of I get the neck of the chicken, I get the rumbleseat ride. She made an art of being predictable.
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I’m with Clyde; I would rather someone be unpredictable than predictable and I think overuse of any phrase is boring. My mother’s favorite was “first things first”. As a procrastinator, I found that to be a hard one. Years after she died, I got “first things first” as a fortune cookie fortune. It is still posted above my computer. It hasn’t been terribly effective. Lately, it’s been “Facebook, email, Baboons and the daily paper first”.
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Lisa, reminds me of a Chinese fortune Husband once opened: “You will find 3 missing socks.” His? Someone else’s? How random is that?
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In bed?
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Perhaps because it was associated with my mother, I never thought of adding that classic tagline.
Not bad advice, though. 🙂
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I also agree. My dad had a whole collection of stock phrases; for example, he would say “What’s on the agenda for today?” every…single…morning. His sister responded with “Period!” to just about anything anyone else said–“A couple of friends and I went to the Walker art museum last weekend.” “Period.” “The highway was kind of slippery driving up here, or we would have been here earlier.” “Period.”–which made conversation impossible (the staff at the nursing home asked if she’d had a stroke, and we had to say she’d always been like that). So, I really, really hate hearing any phrase too often. That said, I do adopt phrases from SF movies and TV shows, like “Shiny” (Firefly) instead of “cool” and “Push the button, Frank” (MST3K) instead of “we’re done here”, but I like to think I don’t beat them to death.
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Clyde, we like to imagine they’re living in some separate parallel universe with the legos. I did find a sock, once, in the sleeve of a 2nd hand sweater from Savers.
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Some of the old catch phrases can get worn out if you hear them used in the same old boring way. I think a good catch phrase is one that wears well and can be used varoius ways without becoming too boring. Also, part of the fun of using a catch phrase comes from using it over and over as sort of a personal trade mark and as kind of a joke as in: “oh no! there he goes again using that same old phrase, ha, ha, ha”.
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thanks jim i’ll try putting that in my pipe and smoking it.
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Let me explain “In Bed.” I thought it was widely known that you are supposed to add “in bed” to the end of all fortune cookie fortunes.
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No, Clyde, never heard that, but I miss a lot of references because I didn’t grow up in the US. Oops, almost said “learn something new every day”. Said it anyway.
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While I really get tired of people being ultra-predictable, on the other hand I want people to be somewhat predictable. A person can be predictable in a good way – I’m thinking dependability is a good way of being predictable. Some people you can depend on to act well – that’s predictable…but hopefully they don’t act well in the same way, with the same words, all the time. That’s the kind of unpredictability I like – when even the predictable things in life are made fresh with new words and new expressions of kindness. When someone is totally unpredictable all the time – it can be scary, in a way
I’m pretty sure I’m explaining myself pretty badly here, but hopefully a little bit of what I mean comes through.
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Thanks, Dale, for those Jimmy Durante klips. I find it interesting that despite not being handsome, in fact, I think you could more accurately describe him as homely, he radiated charisma, charm, and that certain je nes se qua.
I wasn’t aware that I have a catchphrase until a writer friend of mine pointed out to me that I say “Let’s face it” a lot. Also, in response to “How are you?” I’ll often respond “Excellent, but I’m getting better.”
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Good one PJ! (and not boring)
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I choose Jimmy D’s story – you wouldn’t think he would fabricate something about his deceased wife. Read the link to Calabash, though, and it sounds charming, would like to stop there next trip East.
My mom has become known at her residence as “You betcha.” I have several catch phrases that I don’t intend to use, but they pop out of my mouth at times when I can’t think of anything else to say. But do you think I can remember one right now? Will check in later…
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Rise and Shine Baboons!
I catch myself saying “Oh, My,” a lot. Then the ever popular Rise and Shine!
I also remember that bit Jimmy Durante did on TV with the broom and the spotlight. He was a great entertainer. He was INTERESTING!
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My mother woke us kids every school morning with Rise and Shine. We did not care for it. It was either me or my next-older sister who changed it to “Rise and Grumble.”
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My father used to sing, daily, “Oh how I hate to get up in the morning, etc.” to get us up.
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my dad had the expression ” rise and shine” reffered to you as sunshine, started the day with “oh what a beautiful morning”song” and an array of upbeat starters. he also sang upbeat baselines in the shower that got the day started on a positive note.
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Lisa, my dad would sing that one too early morning, once in a while.
Just to be squirrely sometimes, I would come into the kitchen in the morning singing:
Good morning, good morning, the best to you each morning,
K-E-double L-O-double good Kellog’s best to you!
Husband and Child never batted an eye.
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my catch phrase is when asked what i do i respond that i sell stuff. i also tend to be remembered as the guy who emails in lower case.
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someone toward the end of tlgms made the connection of bob dylan doing a jimmy durante kind of presentation the last 10 years or so and it is correct. i saw bob in a movie where he was in a cowboy hat and a leisure suit the other night on cable and his jowels and face creases were deeply embeded and i thought of how he has evolved into an old gem. if you listen to his radio show on xm radio he is a character similar to jimmy there to. a character for sure both of them.
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I just don’t hear you repeating yourself a lot, tim. For better or worse–and it is probably for better–you are refreshingly unpredictable.
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My son would say “How’s that working out for ya?” – used at the right time, it frequently got a big laugh.
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My catch phrase to the teenagers I see in therapy is “If you are embarrassed to talk about it, you better not do it.”
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Wise. Or common sense. Same thing.
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I’ve been thinking about Jimmy Durante’s remarkable appeal. I think at bottom it is based on the fact Durante really enjoyed people and naturally expected people to enjoy him. He could joke about his appearance, and yet he long ago gave up worrying about that. He loved people. He adored people. And he had not the slightest doubt that people got a kick out of his character.
What I’m trying to say might be clearer if I name performers who represent the opposite extreme. Ellen Degeneres and Jimmy Kimmel are performers whose eyes say that they are starved for approval. They almost seem to beg the audience to show approval. Jimmy Durante was the opposite, or at least he was in the years I saw him performing.
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You’re right. He was comfortable in his own skin. That je ne sais quoi that PJ mentioned. It’s irresistible.
PS Speaking of “Irresistible”, I always spell it with an “able” instead of “ible”. Is there some kind of rule about when a word ends in “able” or “ible”? I always seem to guess wrong with those words and if it wasn’t for spell check putting little squiggly red lines under all my misspelled words . . .
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I’ve long since quit trying to make sense of the English language. Why quibble? Or is it quabble? 🙂
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Quibble-Quabble has a nice ring to it.
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There you go PJ and Edith, that’s how these things get started.
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The originator of the sweeping the spotlight was Emmett Kelly, the clown. I was trying to find a video of it but could not.
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It’s a wonderful resource, youtube – but it lets you down sometime. I tried to find a video of Murray McLauchlan singing Sweeping the Spotlight away, but came up empty.
It goes, in part:
Somewhere there’s a child that everyone hides
A prisoner that longs to be free
Boys and girls in a fantasy world
But I guess I’m just talkin’ for me
But I feel him there, behind me somewhere
When the streetlights reflect in the rain
The sad-faced clown with his mouth turned down
Sweeping the spotlight away
The sun’s goin’ down on the midway tonight
The red stripes are turning to grey
But old Emmett’s still out in the big top tonight
Sweeping the spotlight away.
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I’m sure I have catch phrases, but like BiR can’t think of them when they’re not just popping out of my mouth. I am prone to “Good morning Mary Sunshine” (which my mom used to say to me along with “rise and shine”). And I am overly fond of the word “fabulous” – but only use it when something is truly worthy of the word (sometimes in an ironic sense, mostly not). Like CG, I have a few phrases I use with friends that originate from shows like “Buffy” (“Who’s gonna spot me a tiny tabby?” or “beer good.”) – and my boss and I are prone to “Yoda-talk,” but that’s less catch-phrase and more goofy grammar (“switch your words you must, mmmm”).
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Like the Yoda-talk do I.
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My father had catch-lectures. Once he got started on his “rock and roll will never last’ or “your hair is too long” (special for my brother in the late 60s), it was like playing a recording.
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I’ve always said, “Yikes!” or “Jeepers creepers!” too much.
Nowadays, when one of my coworkers comes in to announce he’s going to take an hour off this afternoon, I automatically say, “Denied.” 😉 They know I’m kidding.
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I get a little tired of hearing “wecome to my world” as a reply. That reply can be funny at times. Other times it seems insensitive and dismissive.
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I agree. Sometimes it’s like what you’re saying is not legitimate because they supposedly experienced it before you. And of course their experience is the defining one, not yours.
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I insist on the word Cheque for Check. I also have been known to tell my daughter to “hoist sail” when her camisole is riding too low.
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🙂
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Renee, for some reason this reminds me of a friend of mine who, when a bunch of us were posing for some photo, would say “All right ladies, chests up!”
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BiR, do I know her? That sounds familiar.
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It’s my teacher friend Fern from Half Moon Bay…
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OT, but related to yesterday’s topic – Husband passed along a link to some photos from Vostok Station. They are by turns lovely, stark, and revealing (note, for one thing, the lack of women…).
https://picasaweb.google.com/ekaykin/AntarcticaVostokStation#
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These are totally (a word I use totally too often) fascinating, Anna. I can totally understand the lure of the unknown while at the same time feeling wary of the totally unknown repurcussions (the whole Pandora’s box thing). But judging by the total numbers of bungee jumpers and sky divers, it seems to be totally human nature to jump into the deep end. Apologies for totally annoying you.
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I once had a client who was addicted to sky-diving. Seems nothing could replace the few-second thrill of her body’s G-force plunging toward the ground. This case did make me a believer that human beings can become addicted to anything!
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I’ve been thinking more about catchphrases, wondering why I have so little regard for most of them. Many of them are efforts to borrow the cleverness of others and claim it for one’s self, and the borrowing is often from the mass culture (as when some teenaged kid picks up a smart phrase from a popular movie and uses it over and over). There is nothing wrong with doing that, but it is (to my ears) a little like swearing . . . a quick and easy way to try to get a response from language without actually exercising originality. Am I being too harsh? I think I am.
I am more intrigued by catchphrases that are used innocently. Some folks use phrases frequently that reflect their particular world view and which they aren’t aware of using. I’ll try to offer an example. I became aware once that a friend often used the phrase, “for some unknown reason.” As in, “For some unknown reason I don’t sleep well on Thursdays.” I reflected on that phrase. Bob was a person who tried hard to understand the world but was perpetually confused by it. He read books of philosophy that he didn’t understand. He attended lectures that he forgot as soon as he left the lecture hall. What I found so touching about Bob was his perfect faith that the world was reasonable, no matter how confusing he found it. The phrase “for some unknown reason” asserts that things happen for a reason, although that reason is presently “unknown.” I loved Bob more for this than for anything else in his character. He could not find the reasons the world behaved as it did, but he had a child’s faith that it was all reasonable and lawful to someone. He believed in a rational universe even if he freely admitted he wasn’t bright enough to understand it.
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In most daily conversation, I don’t really spend much time worrying about the words I choose, something that I have often regretted, especially when I was working for the law firm.
Some words I avoid because they are so overused that they have lost all meaning. “Awesome” falls in that category. Other words or phrases just don’t feel natural in my mouth. To use Steve’s example from above, I would feel absolutely phony if I said “Walk in beauty” to someone; I don’t think I could pull that off and sound sincere even though I like the sentiment of it. It’s just not me, just as wearing pink, frilly things aren’t me either. Do you know what I mean?
How you express yourself verbally depends, in part, on how large your active vocabulary is. For that reason I loved to listen to William F. Buckley speak, although I often didn’t agree with what he was saying. And Dick Cavett, I love everything about his speech: his voice, his word choices, his ideas.
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Afternoon.
I’m full of them. I know I say ‘No Problem’ too much. Lots of things from movies that come out at various, hopefully, appropriate times; “Riiiiight” from ‘The Emperors New Groove’, “Schedules Goldie, Always schedules” from ‘All that Jazz. “Wind the Frog” from ‘Toy Story’ which I think actually Dale commented on once long long ago far far away…
I used to work with a guy who responded “Sweet!” to just about everything; made me crazy.
I sent a kid up to the catwalks in the theater the other day. I said ‘Don’t fall out.’ He said “I’ll try not to.” I said “Ah Ah- There is no ‘try’ there is only ‘do’.” and he said ‘OK, I will definitely try not to fall out of the catwalk.’
Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going back to bed. Not feeling well and not much interest in the outside world today, except the blog of course. And I have a show tonight.
Toodles.
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Oh, and my son got tired of hearing me say ‘If wishes were fishes’ and ‘Moderation in all things my son’.
Kelly and I have this thing, if we’ve had a disagreement, once either of us is proven right usually I say ‘Once again, You were Right and I was wrong’. When I am right I get to make the hand gesture of ‘Come on’ and she’ll say it. It’s good at breaking the tension. I’ve got it twice I think…
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Oh! And this, I say “It will be fine” to just about any questionable situation. And that makes my wife crazy.
Alright, really, off to bed now… sorry for rambling…
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you got the first half of one of mine.
moderation in all things especially moderation
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Words to live by. 😉
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My boss says “no worries” a lot (I think it comes from somewhere). I rather like it because he uses it to reassure me about something that had the potential of being a mistake or problem.
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I think that the words, “I need to talk to you about something later……..” are perhaps the scariest ones anyone can utter, especially from one’s boss. For me, it’s similar to hearing a police siren behind me – I instantly assume that I’ve done something wrong and become preoccupied with what it might have been.
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no worries is an aussie thing
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as in no worries mate
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Or “not to worry”, which I learned in Brooklyn…
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In our marriage my wife has said “kid” about five million times. It does not irritate me, as I would think it would. She can say it three times in a sentence.
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Clyde, can you give an example of how she uses “kid”, especially 3 times in a sentence?
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Yes, please do, Clyde. I can’t conjure up what that would sound like.
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Oh, kid, I cannot tell you, kid, how much fun that was, kid.
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Let me explain a bit. 1) Three in a sentence is rare, but does happen. 2) Two is common. 3) Thus reads worse than it sounds because she is such an exuberant and positive person. 4) Lots of people make light fun of her for it.
What amazes me is that she has done this for all 47 years I have known her. Most people pick up and drop such verbal tics and then pick up and drop another one. But she has never dropped it. Being so used to it, I actually do not hear it.
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Well, this has been a pretty weird day in my town. I twas announced this morning that the local university was found to have awarded at least 400 degrees to foreign students who hadn’t really earned them, some of whom couldn’t even speak English. Then, the whole campus, on which my work place is housed, was placed on lock down since an individual associated with the university was missing and believed to be armed and a threat. Our building was evacuated and we were sent home. Not long after, the individual was found, but the whole campus is still closed and won’t return to normal until Monday. I am sure glad it is Friday.
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Oh man, Renee, you sure live in an interesting place. How the heck can a university award that many degrees to people who haven’t earned them? Obviously money was involved? How was it discovered? Somehow I have the feeling that sports didn’t have anything to do with this, am I right?
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There is a small private college here in Mankato in which I did a guest day in the classroom. One of the students, a junior, clearly could barely speak English, and who was extremely rude about that fact, as if I had done something wrong expecting him to. I ask the instructor about it and he told me that he had no comment.
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Greetings! Earthlings! I am from Jupiter. The planet Jupiter represents (o) prosperity and joviality and expansiveness to me. I never used to say goodbye, but “See you later” as an affirmation that we will all meet again someday. I think that may have just been a childish wishful thinking at the time because of my traveling childhood. Is that even on topic? Would that be considered a “catch phrase” ?
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Who cares? You had me laughing at “Greetings! Earthlings!”, James in MN.
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good bye is too good a word babe and so i’ll just say fare thee well
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*like!*
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No, it didn’t have to do with sports. It had to do with a couple of megalomaniac presidents who wanted to boost enrollment with students who would bring out of state money, a totally insufficient screening process for applicants English skills, many applicants and their foreign universities who lied about the students’ academic status in their own countries, and poor oversight of the whole process. 90% of the bogus degrees were awarded to students from China. The horrible and tragic thing is that the Dean of Business and Education committed suicide this morning. That was the cause of the lock down.
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How tragic, Renee. So sorry. It truly boggles this mind how that could happen at an institution for higher learning. How very sad.
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i heard a npr radio feature a month or so ago and the chinese bypassing screening stuff is epidemic. they want to pay the money and have people take their tests for them and the university just want the money. thats old news but i guess its more obvious if the student gets a degree but cant speak the language than if he is just dumb. i remember a story about a creighton basketball player 10 or 15 years ago who graduated but they then had it pointed out to them that he couldnt read at a third grade level. its not new but the chinese element is new.
i am sorry about the dean. it is so sad up when the perspective of a problem is so insurmountable that the only solution is to end it. depression is something i have a hard time relating to. i guess i should count my blessings
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Wow, Renee, what a mess! I hope this in no way hurts you personally.
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Greetings! I’m not sure if I have a catch phrase — probably, I’m just not aware of it. Instead of good-bye or see you later, I would say “take care.” One of my mother’s phrases that i try to avoid is “It will keep you alive.” This was her stock response to our childhood grumblings about her cooking or any unsatisfactory food she set in front of us. We made fun of her for that as we got older, and even made it into a non-verbal shorthand by extending each finger of a hand individually while shaking your hand. My mother was a gem of a woman, but a baaaad cook.
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My mother was a worse cook!! My wife, who was taught no distaff skills because her mother was so handicapped, kept warning me when we first got married that she could not be as good a cook as my mother–until she ate a few of my mother’s meals.
Bill Bryson says that they called the kitchen at his house “The Burn Ward” and his mother was the editor of the Women’s page for the Des Moines Register.
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Three catch phrases I would like to never hear again, except by their originators:
“Live well and prosper.”
“Be well, do good work, and keep in touch'”
Where all the men are . . .”
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by the way. it’s “Live Long and Prosper” coined by a famous Vulcan played by Leonard Nimoy on a Scifi show called Startrek. I googled “live well and prosper”… it referred to this. I was only 11 years old when I first started watching this show back in 1969, and it was already in syndication. I watched every episode several times, and have since seen all the other spin offs completely with the exception of Deep Space nine.
Another catch phrase I love from the movie Galaxy Quest. “never give up, never surrender!” which is a movie farce some what about the startrek fans and actors.
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Don’t forget “By Grabthar’s hammer…”
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My favorite Star Trek was The Next Generation. I’d watch them all again…
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hahaha! – Dr. Lazarus, “Quelik, by Grabthar’s hammer, by the son’s of Warvan, you shall be avenged.”
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…I won’t go out there and say that stupid line one more time….
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Originators get to use their catch phrases. If the saying rises to the level of a catch phrase, it is often because it is original or vivid or funny in some special way. But then people who are not those things come along and use the phrase . . . and it just isn’t the same.
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Way off topic, so far off topic, it’s in New Zealand. I collect webcams. The best are in NZ.
Click on the link.
Hit the arrow in the middle of the picture. It will go to full screen. Don’t worry. Wait for the red arrow thing in the middle to go away.
Drag your mouse across the screen from left to right.
To exit click out in the upper right corner.
http://www.takeabreak.co.nz/accommodation/franz-josef-glacier.asp
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Far out. Clyde.
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nice
thats on my bucket list
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My new, young, outgoing, he-man type supervisor just left on vacation and is going to NZ. Lucky guy! He has some interesting catch phrases: he kept his NZ vacation “on the DL.” (I had to ask him what this meant. He loves sports, so I thought it meant “disabled list.”) He calls everybody, male or female, “Man.” When you approach him, or when you call him on the phone, he bellows out your name, “KRISta! How ya doin’, man!” He means it in the nicest way, but it’s challenging for someone who prefers a more reserved greeting. Everybody in the office got to hear about his first prostate exam. I like him a lot but some of his habits challenge me.
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I remembered a catch phrase, though I don’t use it constantly, people do seem to associate it with me. Leftover from the 70s… Far out.
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you and john denver
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Well, it just goes to show you, it’s always something.
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Gilda Radner.
Thanks for sharing.
🙂
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Not exactly a catchphrase, but at an organization where I worked for possibly too many years, we had a gesture that represented someone simultaneously shooting himself in the head and in the foot – it was pantomimed when the organization did something particularly boneheaded. It later developed into a custom emoticon, which looked something like this:
O*>
< |
*√\
(Works better in certain non-proportional fonts, but you can get the idea.)
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🙂
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Fisheries people do something like this: <*))))))<
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This wasn’t exactly a “catch phrase,” but a verbal gimmick that worked in much the same way. I knew two guys who had a little game they would drop into conversations.
At some random moment, one of them would sigh and say, “Well, that’s life.”
The second guy would say, “That’s what all the people say.”
First guy: “Flying high in April.”
Second guy: “Shot down in May.”
They’d to on talking. Maybe fifteen minutes later, one would say, “Oh well, that’s life.”
And it would repeat.
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I love singing that!
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