I've Been Through the Desert With a Book With No Name

Yes, I have blatantly mangled the line from the America song, "A Horse With No Name." However, read on my dears and all will be made clear (probably as mud.) I have been thinking that there is book out there floating around that needs to be written, but as it hasn't been yet, we will call it The Book With No Name. Over the past couple of weeks, Dave and I have been watching (putting in the background while he computes and I knit) some of our all time favorite movies. Watching these films reminded me of a conversation that we have had in the past about how lines from films sink into our everyday language. After re-watching (not all in one go), "Ghostbusters," "In-Laws (original from 1970's,)" " Lost in America," " Four Weddings and Funeral," "The Castle," "The Dish," and "Bridget Jones Diary" I realized just how many tag lines we have in our everyday speech. My heavens, but we're one big film strip on auto-play.

Here are 10 examples of things that Dave and I say on a regular basis and they all come from the movies listed above.

1) "It's more of a guideline than a rule." (Ghostbusters) - Dave uses this so much that he had everyone at his office saying it as well. This has got to be Dave's top repeat movie line.

2) "Let's celebrate this..." (Lost in America) This is said equally in our home, it can mean just what it says or we can use it in a mocking way. Example, one more thing to fix on the house, "Let's celebrate this. "

3) "They serve it up with orange juice, grande the big one." (The In-Laws) Now when I say the title of this film most people will think of the re-made version with Michael Douglas. Nope! Trust me when I say that there is nothing in the re-make that even comes close to the wit and genius of the original film with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk. This is mostly my line. I just say it, no real reason why, it just feels good on the tongue.

4) "That was your big idea.... get her." (Ghostbusters) Again, this is usually said in some cynical manner.

5) "If you know my heart the way you say you do...it's was simple neglect, not disbelief." (In-Laws) One my personal favorites while studying at the University of Washington. Can be applied to just about anything. Go ahead give it a try....

6) "You must be very proud." (Four Weddings and a Funeral) This is the quintessential phrase to say when going through a wedding receiving line. It stuck so completely in my head that I said it in my mind for hours the day of my brothers wedding. Hey it works! It's good to have in the arsenal of phrases.

7) "I'm off to Bedfordshire." (Bridget Jones Diary) To be honest, I think Dave has only ever seen this film once and that was in the theater when we went with our good friends Craig and Laurie. When it's on at home, his earbuds go in and he turns on his i-pod. It's not "War and Peace," but I like looking at Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, so sue me.

8) "I'd call that a big, yes." (Ghostbusters) Again, this is a big one in our household. We say this so much that as I was writing down some of our favorites for this blog, I almost forgot it because I hadn't remembered that it came from a film. I know now that Ghostbusters holds some sway in our home.

9) "We're going to Bonnie Dune." (The Castle) This is an indy film from Australia and all I can say is, get a hold of a copy and watch it. It's sweet, funny, just good cinema. Anyway, this is our mantra when we set out on any trip. We're heading to Chicago, "We're going to Bonnie Dune" and on and on.

10) "The American was here, he was wanting pretzels." (The Dish) We say this as is or put in the country of the guest and their request. You get the idea.

So there we have it, ten sayings from films that get used daily, weekly, monthly or whenever the feeling strikes us. More than you wanted to know about Dave and I, but I'm guessing there are film lines running around your houses as well. Have a think, I bet you come up with a few. In fact I bet that research would show that everyday language in the U.S. is full of these little quips and if nothing else a book about the subject could end up being hilarious for one and an everyday phrase book for another.

As you can see from the title of today's blog, film lines aren't the only thing that gets recycled. We do it for books, music, etc....

Any interested parties should now write up a proposal and run to their editor as someone will grab this book idea and make enough money to be "Rich beyond the dreams of Avaris."

Peace and joy to you all.....

The Greengirl

• Posted on: Wed, Jul 14 2010 10:53 AM