Top 10 Words Invented or Popularized by TV Shows

“Howdy Doody” (1947-60)

No, it didn’t originate with Bart Simpson. It didn’t even come from the original “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” series. This unusual word goes all the way back to “Howdy Doody,” where it was a favorite expression of an extremely dated character named Chief Thunderthud. “Howdy Doody” writer Edward Kean came up with the nonsense word, which he pronounced “cowabunga,” as a greeting or an exclamation. Somehow, it became popular among surfers in the 1950s and 60s. Michelangelo, the ultimate surfer dude, naturally adopted it in the late 80s. Just two years later, it appeared in season one of “The Simpsons” and quickly became one of Bart’s many catchphrases. Thanks mainly to these two cartoons, it survives in the popular lexicon to this day.

“Hawaii Five-O” (1968-80)

The use of this slang term to mean the police is a fascinating example of how a word can evolve. The title of the show simply refers to Hawai’i being the fiftieth state. In fact, it was only inducted into the union nine years before the show premiered. “Hawaii Five-O” was a pretty big hit – it lasted twelve seasons and continued to air in syndication for years after the original run ended. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that it had an impact on fans’ vocabularies. However, young people who know that the word “five-o” refers to the cops might be surprised to learn that it came from this old school TV show.

“Saturday Night Live” (1975-)

This phrase is so familiar, it feels like it should be older than it actually is. People have been using the word “downer” to mean something depressing for decades, but the name “Debbie Downer” to refer to a negative person didn’t appear until 2004. “SNL” invented the character of Debbie Downer for a sketch. She became a somewhat regular feature on the show, popping up a handful of times over the next twenty years, always played by Rachel Dratch. It’s such a useful phrase, since we all have a Debbie Downer, or perhaps a Negative Nancy in our lives. It’s no wonder it caught on.

“Seinfeld” (1989-98)

Although this term has been around for a long time, it soared in popularity starting in 1995 thanks to Elaine, Jerry, and a suspicious label maker. “Seinfeld” had a knack for coining hilarious new ways of describing everyday things. For instance, we’re willing to bet this was the first time someone used “yada yada” in this particular context. In this season six episode, Tim Whatley gives Jerry a label maker, and Elaine suspects it’s the same one she gave Whatley for Christmas. She accuses Whatley of being a regifter, and he eventually fesses up – he did indeed regift the label maker. Let this be a lesson: if you’re going to regift something, make sure the original gifter and the giftee don’t know each other.

“Happy Days” (1974-84)

This expression is a colorful way to describe the moment when something that used to be good starts to go downhill. It originates from an episode when Fonzie accepts a challenge to jump over a shark on water skis. Fans broadly agree that the show was clearly out of ideas and started to decline after that point. However, the phrase “jumping the shark” didn’t enter the popular lexicon until nearly ten years later, when college students Jon Hein and Sean Connolly used it to describe other shows that had declined in quality. Since then, it’s been applied to everything from politicians to sports teams. “The Simpsons” even used it in a couch gag poking fun at their own show way back in season fourteen.

“Looney Tunes” franchise

The name originally comes from the Old Testament, where Nimrod, the great-grandson of Noah, is described as a “mighty hunter.” But if you’re a viewer of a certain age, you probably use it to mean a stupid or foolish person. That’s because the “Looney Tunes” franchise accidentally changed its meaning. There’s some debate over which character said it first, but this 1948 short appears to be the earliest usage. Daffy uses it to mock Elmer Fudd, who, of course, is not a mighty hunter. However, young kids watching the cartoon mistakenly thought it meant someone unintelligent. Bugs Bunny used it in a similar sense for Yosemite Sam just a few years later. Now, the derogatory meaning is the only one many people are familiar with.

“Friends” (1994-2004)

A show that’s such a major cultural touchstone is bound to influence our vocabularies in some way. Over the years, “Friends” popularized many expressions, invented a few new ones, and turned others into hilarious inside jokes. Joey alone is responsible for some of the best ones. In season three, he introduced the 1970s-era phrase “going commando” to a new generation. (xref) And way back in season one, he explained to Ross why he and Rachel would never be together. We don’t know for sure whether “Friends” actually invented the term “friend zone.” But its popular usage only took off after that 1994 episode.

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003)

Can you imagine a time when this word wasn’t totally ubiquitous? The Google search engine went live in 1998, and it quickly outpaced its competitors in popularity. Within just a few years, people began using the word as a verb. This episode from the final season of “Buffy” is believed to be the first time it was used in that sense on TV. As you can tell from Xander’s confusion, the word wasn’t yet as widespread as it is today. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was known for inventing and popularizing all kinds of new slang. That makes it no surprise that it was the show that brought us this historic pop culture moment.

“Monty Python's Flying Circus” (1969-74)

We have early internet message board users to thank for this one. The practice of flooding a chat room or other forum with unwanted text became known as “spamming” sometime in the late 1980s. Old archived chats from the time period reveal that the usage was inspired by a 1970 Monty Python sketch where café patrons won’t stop chanting the word. Since then, the term has evolved to refer mainly to junk email. Although the makers of Spam, Hormel, didn’t mind Monty Python poking fun at their product, they didn’t like its association with unwanted emails. In 2003, they sued software company SpamArrest for trademark infringement. After a lengthy legal battle, Hormel lost its suit, and the word “spam” lives on.

“The Simpsons” (1989-)

Thanks to its popularity and incredible longevity, this show may have contributed more to our vocabularies than any other. In fact, a single scene in a season seven episode gave us “embiggen” and “cromulent,” both of which were coined by “Simpsons” writers. The words have since been added to major dictionaries, and “embiggen” has even shown up in scientific journal articles. The first known use of the word “yoink” comes from a season four episode. And of course, we can’t forget Homer’s famous catchphrase, which has since become synonymous with the character and the show. We could go on and on, but we think you’ll agree that this is already a perfectly cromulent list.