Every Phrase Came From a Movie

THE BUCKET LIST people are always surprised when I tell them that the phrase this only goes back to this movie WHEN ALEXANDER SAW THE BREADTH OF HIS DOMAIN, HE WEPT FOR THERE WERE NO MORE WORLDS TO CONQUER and on the opposite end of the scale Die Hard in fact that only goes back to 1984 with the movie Ghostbusters ANNIVERSARY 20th EDITION TOM HANKS DARYL HANNAH EUGENE LEVY JOHN CANDY Splash it's an entire plot point CHARLES BOYER INGRID BERGMAN JOSEPH COTTEN MGM'S MELODRAMA Gaslight Strange drama of a captive sweetheart! people use the term gaslighting that frankly makes me doubt your state of mind

A man speaks to camera in front of posters and clips from The Bucket List, Die Hard, Ghostbusters, Splash, and Gaslight, explaining the supposed movie origins of familiar phrases and names. The joke builds through increasingly confident historical claims, ending with the absurd assertion that the 1944 film Gaslight does not exist—despite its poster being directly behind him—so believing in it supposedly proves the viewer is mentally unwell. The dry narration and deadpan delivery make the obvious contradiction funny.

People are always surprised when I tell them that the phrase bucket list only goes back to the year 2007 with a film called The Bucket List. The concept of having a list of things you want to do before you pass away and calling it this only goes back to this movie. And this actually comes up a lot. Just today I saw some younger people be surprised to find out that the phrase I feel like I'm taking crazy pills that only goes back to the year 2001 with the film Zoolander. And on the opposite end of the scale, this quote, when Alexander saw the breath of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer. To some of you that's only familiar because you heard the bad guy quote it in the 1988 film Die Hard. In fact that's the only way anyone knows that quote because it doesn't exist anywhere else. It was invented for the film. To say someone or something is toast meaning they're finished or they've lost, that That only goes back to 1984 with the movie Ghostbusters. Bill Murray improvised that on the spot and by the time it turned up again in the film Die Hard four years later it was a common part of the language. The name Madison as a girl's name also only goes back to the year 1984 with the film Splash. It's an entire plot point that the mermaid sees that name on a street sign and tells people that's her name and people are very confused because that's not a name that people have. In one final interesting little footnote, people use the term gaslighting like they'll say their partner is gaslighting them. People will claim that came from the 1944 film Gaslight, but of course in reality that film does not exist and if you think it does that frankly makes me doubt your state of mind.

• @antichirst / 19447 2025-05-01