Monday, April 19, 2010

1980s Slang - 7 Funny Things We Said In The '80s

Growing up in the 1980s, we loved our funny catch phrases. Here are some of my favorite one-liners. Please be sure to add yours in the form of a comment. That's if you can remember one!

1. "If you love it so much, why don't you marry it?"

2. "No sh*t, Sherlock"  meant, "Yeah, I know."
    "F*ck off, Watson!" was the reply to the above phrase.

3. "Smooth play Shakespeare" or "Smooth move, Exlax" meant, "Nice going."

4. "Jinx! Buy me a Coke!" was said when you and a friend said the exact same thing at the exact same moment. There was an entire song and dance that followed this line. We learned it from a 1984 episode of Saturday Night Live, but I couldn't locate the video anywhere. Coke even used the line as the premise for one of their Super Bowl ads.

5. "I know you are, but what am I?" Pee Wee Herman loved this line!

6. "Say it don't spray it! Give me the news, not the weather!" was what we said if someone spit while speaking.

7. "Take a picture, it'll last longer" is what we said when someone appeared to be staring.





Purchase the "No Shit, Sherlock" shirt here.









37 comments:

Morgan said...

Even though I didn't grow up in the 80's I say those quotes all of the time! I sing "Say it don't spray it, I want the news not the weather" instead of "give me the news not weather" just for the fact that I love the movie 2Gether. Haha!

Miss Kitty Boo said...

haha... there mustve been some carry over into the 90's coz i remember saying some of this when i was a youngen...

Unknown said...

Interesting. I can't remember any coz I wasn't even born then... LOL
I have heard Jinx though!

Have a good day...:)

Anonymous said...

I love the first one and I still use it occassionally :-)

Anonymous said...

"Facial!"

Hubby said that last week.

He also said, "Gag me with a ghetto blaster."

I had to remind him that it was, "Gag me with a spoon."

Ian said...

I still say no shit sherlock all the time

Copyboy said...

hmmm...here are two I can think of.
Dude, you are soooo MINT!
Do bees bee? Do bears bear? (moonlighting)

Joe Cap said...

How about...
'Takes one to know one'
but this might be from the 70's.

Katie's Dailies said...

My KIDS say "Jinx! You owe me a Coke"---and they mean it! Never heard the Watson reply before. And my husband tells me to take a picture, it'll last longer ALL. THE. TIME!

What about "Take a chill pill", or was that in the '90's?

Laffylady said...

OMG..memory lane it is..I used all of them ..I still like no shit sherlock..and I remember pee wee using that in his weekly show..we used to love it..me and the kids..my daughter was afraid of the squirrel in the beginning..she would run away..!

liz said...

I'm guilty, well WAS guilty, of using #5 the most.

Anonymous said...

Pee Wee employed a few of those disses (besides #5, #1 and #7 as well) in the best movie ever - Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Vicky said...

Most of those resonate with me... how about slug bugs? And lots of valley girsl talk , like fer sure... gag me with a spoon, totally tubular... etc.

for a different kind of girl said...

I absolutely had forgotten about "Smooth move, Exlax." Guess what is going to be used far too much in my house now...

:)

Amy said...

How about "Excuse me for living but the graveyard's full!" My mom STILL says that one all the time.

Mass Hole Mommy said...

Uh, ya....I still say most of those. No shit Sherlock, I'm a dork. Gag me with a spoon. And for the record, Pee Wee RULES.

The mad woman behind the blog said...

I do remember these but darn, don't have any to add.

I read this earlier but had to come back to read the comments.

LOVE it!

IT (aka Ivan Toblog) said...

Oh crap!
Not that this makes me feel old or anything. But I remember saying those very same things in the '50s.

TS Hendrik said...

I still say those lines. I don't they'll ever die.

Anonymous said...

These were funny!

Blast from the Past said...

I think that "I know you are, but what am I?" was from the '70s... the others are mostly unfamiliar to me.

From the '70s, we said:

"Up your nose with a rubber hose"
"Sit on it"
"What's Happinin'?"
"Jonesin'"
"Right Arm/Farm Out/Outta State" (making fun of "Right On, Far Out and Out of Sight)
"tight"
"Dyn-O-Mite!"
"Pop a Wheelie"

...many more, I'm sure. They probably all start to bleed together over the decades.

Viv said...

I still say "No shit Sherlock." I hate finding out that there was an expiration date on these things.

Gemma said...

I love 'i know you are but what am i?'. 'so's your face' works just as well. i went through a 'your mum' phase too. this phase may not have ended yet...

-http://thisfactmightsaveyourbacon.blogspot.com/

mamahasspoken said...

Not sure if it was the 80's or 90's but around here they say 'door knob' every time someone passes gas around here. Of course it's just another reason for them to hit on each other...

Ileana said...

I never knew there was a witty reply to "No sh*t, Sherlock!" Wish I had.

Love your #3, too!

Tiffany Kadani said...

Oh my goodness I am guilty of all of these! Eek!

Melissa B. said...

My kids still use the line, "I know you are, but what am I?" And I still use the phrase, "Take a picture...it'll last longer." Ah, the '80s. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

"Step on a crack, you break your momma's back. Step on a line, you're frankenstein." Oy, that was probably the lovely sentiment of the 70's.
Cheers,
Robyn

Dan Alexander said...

I watched that new Sherlock Holmes movie last weekend, and thought it would have been funny if Jude Law slipped in a "No sh*t Sherlock" somewhere in the film.

w said...

i remember nothing from the 80s. except for my monchichi doll. no. i wasn't high.

Fireblossom said...

I'm soooo sure, Kimberly. The 80s called and they want their hair products back. ;-)

I used to say that jinx Coke thing alllll the time. I still say "No shirt, shitlock." Okay, I'm off like a prom dress....

My Mercurial Nature said...

I had totally forgotten many of those old sayings...I say it's time we bring 'em back (but not Pee Wee!).

LaraAnn said...

I don't remember ever talking slang back then. I have this memory of a boy in grade school joking around and saying "save gas,fart in a jar." and being grossed out by that. Maybe it was the late 70s.

Michelle Pixie said...

Okay I am dying right now because I kid you not my 5 year old just said #1 to her sister last night when she said she loved her dinner! My hubby had never heard it before but I was rolling on the floor. And when my oldest said she made it up I quickly corrected her, it has been around long before she was even a glimmer in my eye! Hehehehehehehehe

California Keys said...

I'm so sad that I missed the live Pee Wee show when it came out to Cali.... I've heard great things about it! Are you going to see it? Talk about an 80's icon!

Anonymous said...

I still say so many of those things!!

Also, "Hey is for horses!"

Oh the time I have spent explaining these phrases to my 10 year old who always tells me "Cool people don't say that!"

Briana said...

I'm rubber, you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.

Also...

Shut don't go up,prices do, so take my advice and you shut up too.

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