Top 10 Catchphrases We Definitely Got from TV Shows

The Tanner sisters brought us countless quotable catchphrases:, from Uncle Jesse’s “have mercy” to the old classic “how rude!”. And we can’t forget DJ’s oft-used “Oh Mylanta!”. But the most adorable, and most used quote from “Full House” has got to be Michelle’s catchphrase, “You got it, dude!”. Seeing a tiny Mary Kate (or Ashley) OIsen deliver this line got us every time. Now we use it without even necessarily thinking about its origins, which is truly the mark of a well saturated TV quote that has some serious staying power.

“The Simpsons” has been on the air for three decades, and family patriarch Homer’s catchphrase has been part of our lives for just as long, first cropping up in the very first episode, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". When Homer messes up, hurts himself or does pretty much anything, he uses this exclamation, and over time most of the other characters in the show have used it as well. As of 2001, “doh” made it into the Oxford English Dictionary, and earned itself the number six spot on TV Land's list of the 100 greatest television catchphrases in 2006.

Love it or hate it, you can’t deny that “The Big Bang Theory” and in turn its most pervasive quote, “bazinga” has had a pretty big cultural influence. The origin of the word came from writer Stephen Engel, who used it in a similar way in real life to how it ended up being used on the show. While the word “bazinga” feels inseparable from Sheldon as a character, he actually went almost two full seasons before ever uttering it, as the first usage only appeared in the finale of season two. And in fact, it wasn’t even in the original version of the script!

If you are too young to remember when “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” was first on TV, you missed out on a major moment in pop culture history. It seemed like everyone tuned in to this prime time game show, whose original iteration was hosted by Regis Philbin. The anticipation was built, partly, by Philbin posing the question, "Is that your final answer?" which struck doubt in both the contestants themselves, and viewers at home. It seemed like everyone was saying this in the early aughts, but even today, it has become a real mainstay.

The very first episode of HBO’s landmark fantasy series “Game of Thrones” (based on George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” book series) is titled “Winter is Coming”. While winter didn’t actually arrive in Westeros until several seasons later, the looming threat of the interminable cold season was always the backdrop of the show. While the phrase “winter is coming” can be used to talk about the actual season in pop culture, it can also be repurposed to refer to any future unpleasant event that someone may be dreading.

In a season four episode of “Parks and Recreation”, we’re introduced to the concept of “treat yo self” day, which was conceived of by characters Tom and Donna as the one day a year where they go all out pampering themselves and buying pretty much whatever they want. Writer Alan Yang actually apologized for creating the concept of “treat yo self”, because of how often he’s sure Aziz Ansari and Retta have the phrase yelled at them on the street.

While the character of Barney Stinson may not exactly hold up in the era of #MeToo, his catchphrases certainly do. We can’t forget “suit up”, but more important still is Barney drawing out suspense for what he’s saying by adding “wait for it” to the middle of words or phrases. He does it countless times in the show’s run, in a myriad of different ways. In the show, this phrase is such a big deal that Lily and Marshall actually give their son the middle name Wait For It. Now that’s commitment!

“Seinfeld” may not have invented the phrase “yada, yada, yada”, but it sure did popularize it. In the season eight episode titled “The Yada Yada”, George is dating a woman who uses the phrase to gloss over parts of stories that she doesn’t want to get into- including what happened when her ex boyfriend comes to visit her. In The Paley Center’s list of "TV's 50 Funniest Phrases", this came in at number one, and in the years since the episode aired, it has found its way onto countless other TV shows and into our vocabularies. Of course, “Seinfeld” also introduced us to the concept of the soup nazi!

Joey Tribbiani is known for his prowess with women, and one of the tenets of that reputation is his use of the phrase “How you doin’?” Joey’s catchphrase has helped him pick up ladies over the years, and he recommends it to anyone for enticing women, although no one can deliver it quite like he can. Because of how silly it is, Joey manages to never really come off as creepy while trying to convince girls to go out with him. Janice’s memorable delivery of her catchphrase, “Oh. My. God.” is a close runner up for the most well known “Friends” quote that gets regular use in pop culture.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose."
“Friday Night Lights” (2006-11)

“Cowabunga!”
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (1987-96)

“I've made a huge mistake.”
“Arrested Development” (2003-06; 2013-)

In the British version of “The Office”, Ricky Gervais’s character often uses the phrase “said the actress to the bishop”, which is essentially the British equivalent of “that’s what she said”, which is how it was adapted for American audiences. Michael Scott uses the phrase constantly, in a frequent violation of what is appropriate in the workplace. It infers a sexual subtext in many different situations, and more than any other catchphrase on our list, it has become something people say without even thinking of the show that popularized it.