[Ads-l] "Talk to the Hand" Query

[Ben Zimmer]

ProQuest and NewsBank are in error here. Page 8E of the July 19, 1994 issue
of the Sun Sentinel has a section called "Back Talk." It includes a
syndicated Chicago Tribune piece by Brenda You about the band Shonen Knife,
and it also has a column on "In Your Words" with the "talk to the hand"
definition from 12-year-old James from Boca Raton Middle School. Brenda You
had nothing to do with "In Your Words," but ProQuest and NewsBank glommed
the whole thing together under her byline.

https://www.newspapers.com/article/south-florida-sun-sentinel-talk-to-the-h/188997139/


On Thu, Jan 15, 2026 at 11:02 AM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> One would think so, but when I search the Chicago Tribune in ProQuest,
> nothing comes up.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of John
> Baker <0000192d2eeb9639-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2026 3:30 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: Re: "Talk to the Hand" Query
>
> The Author/Byline, according to NewsBank, is “BRENDA YOUChicago Tribune,”
> so there may be a slightly earlier version of this in the Tribune.
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
> > On Jan 15, 2026, at 5:50 PM, Ben Zimmer <
> 00001aae0710f4b7-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Fred posted an antedating last June, and then again a few days ago, from
> > July 19, 1994:
> >
> > 1994 Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 19 July 8E (ProQuest)
> > TALK TO THE HAND  "It means, "Shut up, I don't want to talk to you any
> > more."  — James, 12, Boca Raton Middle.
> >
> >
> > (I'll renew my plea to try to keep discussions threaded so we don't lose
> > track of useful information scattered across different subject lines.)
> >
> > On Thu, Jan 15, 2026 at 1:28 AM Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >>>  The phrase "talk to the hand" is widely attributed to Martin
> >> Lawrence's 1990s sit-com, but I am having trouble
> >>>  pinpointing episodes where it was used.  Can anyone suggest relevant
> >> episodes or methods of finding them ?
> >>>
> >>>  Fred Shapiro
> >>
> >> "Talk to the hand, cause the face ain't listening."
> >>
> >> I never watched "Martin", but did start hearing this in the 1990s.
> Maybe
> >> from Fran Drescher on "The Nanny".
> >>
> >> One way of searching dialogue is through shooting scripts.  You can
> often
> >> google [show title] " script" and find one, but be aware that search
> >> results may not be 100% accurate — they may be early drafts, or the
> filmed
> >> result may be different from on-set changes made after a script is
> >> finalized.  I've had greater success finding movie scripts than TV
> scripts.
> >>
> >> Another is through subtitle files associated with shows.  The closed
> >> caption dialogue in television and movies is captured in .SRT files
> (there
> >> are other formats/extensions used, but this is the most common.)  Google
> >> [show title] "srt" and you can often find the subtitle file(s) for the
> show
> >> in question.
> >>
> >> Unfortunately, I don't see many SRT files online for "Martin".  If you
> can
> >> get the DVDs of the show, there are tools that will rip these files from
> >> them, but I'd imagine you are looking for something cheaper and online
> and
> >> immediately available.
> >>
> >> The earliest textual cite I can find:
> >>
> >> 1995 Crusader [Susquehanna Univ. student newspaper] 10 Feb 4/4
> >>
> >> If you weren't there, too bad!  Just talk to the hand!!
> >>
> >>
> >> [Note:  going through Archive.org, I see nothing until 1995, and then
> many
> >> (mostly collegiate yearbooks and newspapers) cites starting in that
> year.
> >> If "Martin" is the vector for this phrase, I'd bet it was used in late
> 1994
> >> or early 1995, or the 3rd season].
> >>
>

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