We all love repeating, and sometimes rephrasing, favorite lines from favorite movies. Who among us hasn't found opportunities to say lines like "I'll be back," "here's looking at you, kid," "Houston, we have a problem" and "an offer he can't refuse"? Even if we never saw the movie these lines came from, we have probably heard the lines said by friends and repeated them ourselves.
Then there are phrases like "get out of Dodge," "stage fright," "Hollywood ending," "in the limelight," "Looney Tunes," "stay tuned" and "the peanut gallery." They may have had their origins in movies, television, vaudeville or some other form of entertainment, but their use has since expanded metaphorically to mean many other things.
We can get out of Dodge any time we evade a difficult situation. We may get stage fright when we have to speak to a group, stage or no stage. Any goofy behavior can be termed Looney Tunes. Anything simple can be called Mickey Mouse.
The origins of many of these terms and famous movie lines can sometimes be surprising. Arnold Schwarzenegger objected to saying "I'll be back" in The Terminator. He didn't think it was very manly. Also, because English was his second language, he admitted to not understanding contractions.
The phrase "peanut gallery" did not begin with Howdy Dowdy, as many of us older folks might think. It first referred to the cheap seats in theaters, where patrons often ate peanuts during a live show. The TV children's show simply gave the phrase a new meaning.
Chetwynd's small book will delight anyone who loves language and/or popular culture.
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