ComedyTop 10: One-liners and Catchphrases

Catchphrases are single, recurrent lines which are associated with a specific character or series. These are generally used for comic effect and sometimes become even more famous than the character itself. One-liners are not necessarily recurrent, but are always jokes told in, you guessed it, one line. Here we will list ten of the best one-liners and catchphrases in comedy. Feel free to add your own in the comments!

10.  Suit-up!

            This is Barney Stinson's catchphrase in How I Met Your Mother. The ever-suited Barney prides himself on his own suits, and always tries to get others to suit-up themselves. Some variations   on this catchphrase include: suit-down and birthsuiting-up, which are both euphemisms for getting naked.

9.      D'oh!

This is Homer Simpson's catchphrase in The Simpsons. Repeated and parodied countless times in other shows, this phrase has become a trademark of someone doing something stupid.

8.      I have a cunning plan

This one's from the British sitcom Blackadder. Always followed by an awful, but hilarious plan, this is Baldrick's announcement when he has a plan to get the gang out of an ugly situation.

           

7.      Oh my god! They killed Kenny!

This world-famous quote is uttered by Stan and Kyle from South Park after Kenny has died (again) in some horrible way.

6.      Lucy! You got some splaining to do!

This is the most famous catchphrase that doesn't exist. Often thought to be from Ricky Ricardo, said to Lucy in I Love Lucy after she did something wacky again, it was never said that way. Instead, Ricardo often said similar, but different, phrases, such as “start splaining” and “Ok Lucy, splain”.

5.      I am serious, and don't call me Shirley.

This is Leslie Nielsen's character's standard response to being told “Surely, you can't be serious” in the film Airplane!. Parodied countless times, this is one of the funniest one-liner responses ever on the big screen.

4.      We're on a mission from God

Funny because of it's debatable truthfulness and the sincerity with which it is said, this is a catchphrase from The Blues Brothers. On a mission to collect money to save their old orphanage, which is owned by the church, the Blues brothers feel they are on a sacred mission.

3.      Queens!

This quote from Eddie Murphy's character in Coming to America is hilarious because it has so many tie-ins to the plot. Eddie Murphy plays a prince, looking for his future queen in New York. Being completely oblivious to New York's reality, he feels the Queens borough is the best place to look.

2.      You know, for kids!

Originally from The Hudsucker Proxy, this phrase has been re-popularized among internet users by Doug Walker, as his character The Nostalgia Critic, in the webseries of the same name. It is now often used in response to a particularly nasty, violent or gory scene in children’s films or series.

1.      Everybody knows you never go full retard

This is another one-liner that took on its own life. Originally it is from Tropic Thunder, where the Kirk Lazarus character uses the line to criticize several films. It has become an Internet meme in the form of “you just went full retard” or alternatively the more controversial “nigga, you just went full retard”. It has been used on a variety of images showing people doing something stupid and has been said to many, many people on-line.

As a bonus there's this little gem from South Park:

After Eric captured 63 hippies and locked them in his basement, Officer Barbrady releases them and arrests Eric.

            Officer Barbrady:       You can't kidnap people and lock them in your basement.

            Eric Cartman:             They're not people! They're HIPPIES!