better with each passing day (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Steve Kleinedler]

For people in my demographic, I'd also throw in Heathers.

--short message because it's from my iPhone

On Sep 14, 2010, at 17:51, Jeff Prucher <jprucher at YAHOO.COM> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jeff Prucher <jprucher at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: better with each passing day (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ----- Original Message ----
>> From: "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
>
>>>
>>> I saw Casablanca the other  day, for the first time in years. And I was
>>> blown away, again, and for  the umpteenth time. Every line gets better
>>> every time I hear it. Even  the lines that aren't in the movie, like
>>> "play it again, Sam." Has any  movie shaped the language more than
>>> Casablanca? When was the last time  that a classic movie, the locus
>>> classicus of dozens of phrases and  idioms, was made?
>>
>> I think you could make a strong case for  Caddyshack.  Yes, it's not as
>> good a movie (Casablanca is pretty much  the best movie.)  But for a big
>> chunk of my generation of American  males, no other movie is as quotable
>> and quoted as Caddyshack.  I, and  many of my friends, have memorized big
>> pieces of this movie.  We didn't  do so intentionally -- it's just that
>> the movie holds up to repeated watching  of snippets:  as you channel
>> surf, if you land on Caddyshack you will  stay a while.  And as you
>> watch, lines of dialog will stick with you in  ways that many other
>> movies  don't.
>
> In terms of lexemes, rather than idioms or quotations, one shouldn't overlook
> Star Wars (the original one), which gave us droid, Jedi (Knight), arguably dark
> side (as in "go over to the"), "star wars" itself (referring to the SDI), death
> star (AT&T's logo), and most likely a few more, like escape pod, which are
> mainly used in science fiction.
>
> For me, the locus classicus of movie quotes is Monty Python and the Holy Grail,
> woefully omitted from the AFI list due to flagrant nationalism. My entirely
> unscientific impression is that Holy Grail is the move I hear quoted most, other
> than (possibly) Casablanca. (But this likely reflects who I hang out with, or at
> least eavesdrop upon, more than anything else.)
>
> Jeff
>
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