Catchphrase

For a while now, I've been trying to figure out where catchphrases come from. They're such an interesting phenomenon. The term comes from 1850, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, and comes from the notion that it's supposed to catch in a person's mind.
Some shows seem to be comprised entirely of catchphrases - The Simpsons comes to mind, yet it kind of works. 


On How I Met Your Mother, the character of Barney speaks almost entirely in catch phrases. I wonder if it's supposed to be a commentary on his abject fear of anything approaching real human interaction; a result of his having been abandoned by his father. Or maybe it's a sitcom (sitcom is a term, by the way, coined in TV Guide in 1953 - short for situation comedy.



For the record, after watching the clip above, Jeremy has been wandering around the house saying things like "Whenever I get sad, I stop being sad, and start being awesome." and "This is gonna be legend - wait for it - dary." 


At my work, we're fond of quoting Office Space, specifically asking folks if they "got the memo." I would put up a clip so you'd know what i was talking about, but apparently the Office Space folks are a little vigilant about what goes up on YouTube. Personally, I'm not fond of the Office Space references, as they remind me just how much my job is like Office Space, and that makes me sad. Not that my job isn't awesome. It's just that, well, my department does include multiple Bobs. 
But we also have free pop, free pie, and a Wii in the fitness room. Because I work for that company. Suckas.