Top 10 TV Cartoon Catchphrases

Charlie Brown is such a blockhead, and boy does he have bad luck with football. His lifelong case of misfortune has led him to coin this miserable catchphrase, which he uses when his dog is being too cool for school, when he tries to talk to a girl, or when Lucy the pseudo-psychiatrist gives him a diagnosis he doesn’t like. Sure, “good grief” is kind of an oxymoron, but Peanuts’ creator Charles Schultz was keen on the saying, so we’ll let it slide.

The heroes in a half shell are basically surfer dudes in disguise, especially our bodacious bro with the nunchuks, Michelangelo. So of course, Mikey uses a lot of surfer speak, but we love when he uses this as his battle cry. Or to say he wants pizza. Whatever. T.U.R.T.L.E. Power!

Pikachu is by far the most widely known Pokemon, probably because it’s pretty cute. And borderline annoying. Pikachu’s name is a combination of the Japanese words for the noise a spark makes and the noise a mouse makes, so it’s pretty appropriate that that’s all this Electric-type Pokemon can say. Watch out, or it’ll shoot lightning at you. Gotta catch ‘em all!

Stimpy may be an eediot, but Ren is a jerk for never letting him forget it. In fact, Ren is constantly lashing out at his slobbering best friend with violence or rude names. Like many of the entries on this list, Ren was inspired by a real-life actor for his signature sentence and speaking style: actor Peter Lorre may have influenced his voice, but not the love-hate relationship between Ren and Stimpy. But hey, for a dog and a cat they’ve got a pretty good friendship.

When the workday at the quarry is done, this is what you hear. Fred’s iconic catchphrase was developed based on a Brylcreem commercial, and Bedrock just wouldn’t be the same without it. Fred Flintstone made it okay for adults to love cartoons, with a little help from his friends and family of course – and thank Dino he did.

Quagmire is quite the character: he’s kinda creepy and always horny. He’s also full of catchphrases, and you know if you hear him say “giggity” you should watch out, because he’s coming for you. His slogan was actually modeled after a Jerry Lewis impersonation, but with added “yuck” factor. And now his famous catchphrase is used by horn dogs around the world. Allllright.

So, Bugs has a lot of catchphrases, but munching on a carrot while casually greeting his enemy is probably his finest. This rascally rabbit takes his catchphrase cues from old Hollywood star Clark Gable, of all people, carrot-chomping and all. We’re guilty of using this line once or twice when we wanted to be smart-alecky, just like our favorite cartoon bunny.

There is perhaps no other catchphrase as recognizable as this. Invented as a replacement for the word “damn,” Homer utters his go-to groan when he’s done something stupid, has hurt himself or is otherwise annoyed. So, he says it a lot. This word has made such an impact on pop culture, it’s been in the dictionary since 2001. Plus, it is by no means the only catchphrase from the show.

There are so many memorable mottos from animation, we’re sure we’ve missed a few: subscribe to tell us what your favorite cartoon catchphrase is.