cowabunga

/ˌkæɔəˈbaŋɡə/

/ˌkaʊəˈbʌŋɡə/

/ˌkaʊəˈbʌŋɡə/

Unknown, but was popularized (as Kowa-Bunga) by Chief Thunderthud on the American children's show Howdy Doody in the late 1940s or early 1950s, and became associated with American surfing culture. By the early 1980s, it was used as the catch-phrase of Cookie Monster on the American television show Sesame Street, and gained popularity with a broader audience after its use in the American cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (For further treatment, see here.)

Cowabunga, dude!

Kowa-Bunga! Then Me Fix You Good! You Be Sorry.

Shouting the surfer's cry ‘Cowabunga!’ they climb a 12-ft. wall of water and ‘take the drop’ off its shoulder.

Both words turn up in the same sentence—as in ‘Cowabunga, it's humongous!’—when the children crowd around some toy.

1991 December 9, The New Yorker, page 115:

(slang, originally US, usually humorous) Expressing amazement, enthusiasm, or joy.

Cookie Monster
Howdy Doody
surfing culture


embiggen

en-verb

embiggen (third-person singular simple present embiggens, present participle embiggening, simple past and past participle embiggened)

embiggens (present singular third-person)
embiggening (participle present)
embiggened (participle past)
embiggened (past)

David X. Cohen
Lisa the Iconoclast
Notes and Queries
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Simpsons

From em- + biggen or big + em- -en, possibly analogous to belittle. The morphology parallels that of enlarge (en- + large) or embolden (em- + bold + -en).
The verb's first recorded use is in an 1884 edition of the British journal Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, Etc. by C. A. Ward (see quotation below).
The word’s current popularity follows its deployment as an intentionally ungainly form by television writer David X. Cohen for The Simpsons episode “Lisa the Iconoclast” in 1996.

Are there not, however, barbarous verbs in all languages? ἀλλ’ ἐμεγάλυνεν αυτοὺς ὁ λαός, but the people magnified them, to make great or embiggen, if we may invent an English parallel as ugly. After all, use is nearly everything.

1884, C.A. Ward, “New Verbs”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, Etc, volume 10, page 135:

A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

1996, “Lisa the Iconoclast”, in The Simpsons, season 7, episode 3F13, spoken by Jebediah Springfield (Harry Shearer):

As I joyfully embiggen myself into the vague silhouette of Chewbacca, I have time to reflect on just what it is about big hair that I find so elementally appealing.

2012 4 Feb, Caitlin Moran, “Hair: a big issue”, in The Times:

Train stations: how busy is yours? Victoria Station in 1927. Click image to embiggen.

2013 May 19, “Every train station in Britain listed and mapped: find out how busy each one is”, in The Guardian, picture caption:

You can hide enemies, stack them up high, embiggen them with a Super Mushroom, hide coins in pipes, and so much more!

2019, 1:24 from the start, in Super Mario Maker 2 Direct 5.15.2019 (Nintendo Direct), Nintendo:

(nonstandard, now humorous, transitive) To enlarge; to make bigger.


yoink

Coined by writer George Meyer for the TV show The Simpsons; perhaps from yank, or imitative of the sound effect (a quick upward slide on a violin) that accompanies something being snatched in classic comedies.

Marge: But you look better, you don't sweat when you eat any more, and look – [holds up a wad of cash] You've saved more than a hundred dollars. I found it in your pants.
Homer: [snatches money] Yoink!

1993, “Duffless”, episode of the Simpsons [television]

Yoink! He snatched Granny Glee's frilly pink hat with his little feet.

2012, John Sazaklis, Candy Store Caper, →ISBN, page 24:

The way I've always done this stunt is to grab my partner and jump us over together. It's absolute hell on my knees. I lean toward Brando and raise my eyebrows. “Yoink.” “Definite yoink,” he replies, equally inspired.

2014, G. T. Almasi, Hammer of Angels: A Novel of Shadowstorm, →ISBN:

YOINK! Coach Pittman snatched the puck out of midair.

2015, Marty McKnight, Jim Nasium Is a Hockey Hazard, →ISBN, page 42:

2021 (November 13) "Olivia & Yunan" (Amphibia s3e7b) Yunan grabbing a crossbow
Ooh, ominous. After you, milady. Yoink!

(colloquial) Onomatopoeic, accompanying or describing a yank, swipe, or snatch.


d'oh

Audio (US)

Imitative. Popularised by the cartoon character Homer Simpson in the TV show The Simpsons. Voice actor Dan Castellaneta has said that he modelled his version on the drawn-out "do-o-o-o" sound made by Jimmy Finlayson in the films of Laurel and Hardy.
The OED has references from the BBC as far back as 1945.

—I just paid for our food. —You didn't have to. It's free. —D'oh!

Expresses frustration or anger, especially at one’s own stupidity.

British Broadcasting Corporation
Homer Simpson
Jimmy Finlayson
Laurel and Hardy
Oxford English Dictionary
The Simpsons


meh

en-adj

meh (comparative more meh, superlative most meh)

more meh (comparative)
most meh (superlative)

Popularized by the American television show The Simpsons; first used on the show in the episode titled "Sideshow Bob Roberts" (1994).
Possibly ultimately from Yiddish מע (me, “so-so”). First attested in 1928.

They redeemed themselves with this show. The first song or two was meh, but they were on fire after that.

2003, steve-o, “Jam On The River Mini-Review”, in rec.music.phish (Usenet):

The voice is excellent as always, but the overall effect was meh until the end, where he became a little bit awesome.

2006, Suzanne D., “Recaps: Finals Week 8 Performances, 5/2/2006”, in alt.tv.american-idol (Usenet):

Nothing that was supposed to be big and exciting came off as such and the rest was meh at best.

2006, FunkyM, “Turned on RAW for the first time in forever last night…”, in rec.sport.pro.wrestling (Usenet):

Mediocre; lackluster; unexceptional; uninspiring.

nic moc

mediocre; lackluster; unexceptional; uninspiring

Both shows left me feeling, meh.

2003, Dana, “10/18/03 Shows”, in alt.tv.trading-spaces (Usenet):

I’m a huge Clay fan, love Ruben’s voice, and have become quite a fan of Kelly’s, as well. Fantasia just leaves me feeling meh.

2004, jennifer, “The FANtasia thing: I don’t get it…”, in alt.gossip.celebrities (Usenet):

I liked it but I wasn’t feeling it for some reason that day, again, I was feeling meh toward video games in general.

2006, ettie...@hotmail.com, “Steve’s impressions on random Genesis games”, in rec.games.video.sega (Usenet):


meh

“What do you want for dinner?” — “Meh. I’m not really hungry.”

“That film was awesome!” — “Meh. I’ve seen better.”

Marge: [weaving on a loom] “Hi Bart, I’m weaving on a loom!”
Bart: “Meh”.

1995 March 19, “Lisa's Wedding”, in The Simpsons:

Scientists say that while the public may think of the moon as a problem solved and a bit retro – the place astronauts visited a half-dozen times way back before Watergate and then abandoned with a giant "meh" from mankind – in fact, lunar studies is a vibrant enterprise that is yielding a wealth of surprises.

2014 September 7, Natalie Angier, “The Moon comes around again [print version: Revisiting a moon that still has secrets to reveal: Supermoon revives interest in its violent origins and hidden face, International New York Times, 10 September 2014, p. 8]”, in The New York Times:

(slang) Expressing indifference or lack of enthusiasm.

hm

slang: expressing indifference or lack of enthusiasm


meh

(informal) A judgement marked by indifference; lack of impression.


meh

Really meh? ― Really? I don’t think so.

This one your one meh? ― Is this really yours?

"Huh? At this hour? Really meh?" He couldn't believe his own ears.

2020, Yasser Khan, Property Agent Secrets: The Underground Playbook For Growing Your Property Agent Business in 2021 & Beyond, →ISBN, page 123:

“Nice meh?” I would think sourly.

2013 October 7, Tee Hun Ching, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 12:

You got send [e-mail] meh? I never receive leh.

2010 August 22, Fiona Chan, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 13:

Final question particle expressing skepticism.


pull a Homer

en-verb

pull a Homer (third-person singular simple present pulls a Homer, present participle pulling a Homer, simple past and past participle pulled a Homer)

pulls a Homer (present singular third-person)
pulling a Homer (participle present)
pulled a Homer (participle past)
pulled a Homer (past)

From pull (“to copy or emulate the actions associated with”). Coined in the Simpsons episode "Homer Defined", after the regular character Homer who stops a nuclear meltdown via eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

(fandom slang, humorous) To succeed despite idiocy.


have a cow

have a cow (third-person singular simple present has a cow, present participle having a cow, simple past and past participle had a cow)

has a cow (present singular third-person)
having a cow (participle present)
had a cow (participle past)
had a cow (past)

Unknown. Popularized by the TV show The Simpsons where it was one of the catchphrases of Bart Simpson.

My mom had a cow when I came in late.

Dad says I'm too young to go steady and seems to think I'm going to drag a girl up the aisle instead of to a school dance. He won't let me watch rock 'n' roll shows, and he'd "have a cow" if he knew I watched 77 Sunset Strip.

1959 April 1, The Des Moines Register, page 9:

"Of all the fates on heaven and earth, why did this one befall me?" "Don't have a cow, dad."

1990, “The Call of the Simpsons” (0:12:10 from the start), in The Simpsons, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson (Dan Castellaneta and Nancy Cartwright):

“Pregnant. Holy shit.” “Alyson!” “Oh, Mummy, don't have a cow.”

2007, Julia Spencer-Fleming, In the Bleak Midwinter: A Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery, St. Martin's Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 69:

“Dammit, Kayla, you're pregnant. Don't pick up a suitcase,” her husband demanded. “It's just a little one.” “Put it down now.” “Don't have a cow, Patrick. I'm pregnant, not incapacitated.”

2014, Susan Mallery, THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 115:


tomacco

A tomato plant grafted onto a tobacco plant.


cromulent

en-adj

cromulent (comparative more cromulent, superlative most cromulent)

more cromulent (comparative)
most cromulent (superlative)

A humorous, intentionally morphologically opaque neologism and nonce word coined by American television writer David X. Cohen (born 1966) for “Lisa the Iconoclast”, a 1996 episode of the animated sitcom The Simpsons. The ending resembles corpulent, temulent and other Latinate adjectives (derived from -ulentus (“full of, abounding in”)).

coin

Mrs. Krabappel: "Embiggens"? I never heard that word before moving to Springfield.
Ms. Hoover: I don't know why; it's a perfectly cromulent word.
[…]
Principal Skinner: He's embiggened that role with his cromulent performance.

1996 February 18, David X. Cohen, “Lisa the Iconoclast”, in The Simpsons, season 7, episode 16, production code 3F13:

Nerdcore could rise up, it could get elevated.
Oh, and wouldn’t all of those tough rappers hate it
if the nerdcore rose up and got elevated.
We consider the possibleness of this not overstated.
And I know that "possibleness" is not a cromulent word;
every syllable injected is intended to be the one you heard
(an absurd juxtaposition of mission and goal).

2005 August 27, MC Frontalot (lyrics and music), “Nerdcore Rising”, in Nerdcore Rising:

He had a boundless passion for music and entertained many with his beautiful voice and perfectly cromulent sense of humor.

2006 April 10, “Obituaries and in memoriams: Benjamin Sidney Linton”, in The Charlotte Observer:

Of course, you may encounter a new program that doesn't work reliably with UNC paths, and this is a perfectly cromulent workaround.

2008, David A. Karp, “Users and Security”, in John Osborn, Laurel R. T. Ruma, editors, Windows Vista Annoyances (Tips, Secrets and Solutions), Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, →OL, page 505:

There are certainly other cromulent techniques which may perform well for certain models and assumptions.

2008, Alan M. Polansky, “Connections and Comparisons”, in Observed Confidence Levels: Theory and Application, Boca Raton, Florida: Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, →ISBN, →OL, section 7.3 (Multiple Comparisons), page 216:

How well does this function work? For positive integers, it's perfectly cromulent: […]

2009, Bryan O'Sullivan, John Goerzen, Don Stewart, “Functional Programming”, in Mike Loukides, editor, Real World Haskell (Code You Can Believe In), Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, →OL, page 86:

(humorous) Acceptable, satisfactory, or valid.


sneed

From a 1999 Simpsons episode, "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)" featuring a farming supply store, "Sneed's Feed & Seed", from the English surname Sneed; the joke is that the sign says the shop was "Formerly Chuck's", implying it formerly rhymed with Chuck instead ("Chuck's Fuck and Suck"). The sign became a meme on the image board 4chan around 2012. It came to be used as a substitute for seethe (e.g. in the phrase "cope and seethe" → "cope and sneed"), then (as a noun) became synonymous with beta males when 4chan started automatically changing soyboy to sneed..

He then told me to "Seethe, cope and dilate you sneed."

2021 October 28, “What is the deal with sneed, cope and dilate?”, in Reddit, r/NoStupidQuestions:

(Internet slang) One who seethes; a soyboy.


Homer Simpson

Name of an amiable but stupid character who gorges on beer and doughnuts in the long-running animated television series The Simpsons, said to be named after a character in Nathanael West's novel The Day of the Locust (1939).

A few months of this torture, and even the finest treads may begin to resemble a donut with a Homer Simpson-size bite out of it.

2001, Brent Peterson, The Complete Idiot's Guide to RVing:

Find out if you owe birth to an Albert Einstein or a Homer Simpson!

2002 December, Weekly World News, volume 24, number 16:

Sample insults calling the recipient a slut, a bookworm, bucktoothed; characterizing them as having a "Homer Simpson gut," a crooked ponytail...

2004, Serge P Shohov, Frank H Columbus, Advances in Psychology Research:

I struggle to remember even a Homer-Simpson handful of them, even those that arose from my own fevered keyboard.

2005, Tony Carlson, The How of WOW: A Guide to Giving a Speech that Will Positively Blow 'em Away:

One of the employees, apparently a Homer Simpson prototype, "goosed" the man...

A person who is foolish, easily distracted, and/or gluttonous.


Simps

2000, TomServo, “Twin Peaks spoof in Simps!”, in alt.tv.simpsons (Usenet):

(fandom slang) The television program The Simpsons.


esquilax

Coined in a 1995 episode of the animated TV show The Simpsons named "Lisa's Wedding", in which a Renaissance fair sideshow falsely promotes a normal rabbit as "a horse with the head of a rabbit and the body of a rabbit".
Possibly inspired by fanciful names for creatures from Medieval Latin (e.g. basilisk, cockatrice).

Yeah, well I get to run the Circus Sideshow, and the esquilaxes.

1997, Powdered TOAST Man, “TAN: The Weasel Strikes Back”, in aus.tv.x-files (Usenet):

In fact, I am also "really weakly omnipotent," because it is logically impossible for me to fly unaided, or transform myself into an esquilax, because I am a being who cannot do those things. But I can do anything which it is logically possible for me to do.

1999, Cabrutus, “is lack of evidence a reason to lack belief?”, in alt.atheism (Usenet):

I wasn't thinking of gray elephants in Denmark, I was thinking of white esquilaxes in the Domincan ^([sic]) Republic.

2001, Anonymous Weirdo, “Have a rest”, in sk.forsale (Usenet):

Could be worse... couldve ^([sic]) been an Esquilax.

2008, Jeßus, “Found some Hydrox”, in rec.food.cooking (Usenet):


eat my shorts

/ˈiːt maɪ ˈʃɔːɹts/

Popularized by the TV series The Simpsons (1989), where it is a catchphrase of Bart Simpson.

Notre Dame boys greeted one another with "Eat It" to be answered by "Eat It Raw" or "Eat a Big One" or "Eat My Shorts," sometimes "Eat My Crusty Shorts."

[1977, James P. Leary, The Boys from the Dome […] , page 69:

Mickey: You could be the biggest fairy of them all!
Meat: Eat my shorts!

1983, Roger Swaybill, Alan Ormsby, Bob Clark, Porky's II: The Next Day (motion picture):

Richard Vernon: You're not fooling anyone, Bender. The next screw that falls out will be you.
 John Bender: Eat my shorts.
Richard Vernon: What was that?
John Bender: Eat... My... Shorts.

1985, John Hughes, The Breakfast Club (motion picture):

Her eyes are telling me, "Eat my shorts, you precocious little fart." I definitely haven't made a friend.

1988, Greg Matthews, The Gold Flake Hydrant, page 232:

For instance, Bart often expresses his irreverence toward authority on "The Simpsons" by exclaiming "Eat my shorts."

[1996, Douglas Rushkoff, Media Virus! […] , page 186:

(idiomatic, chiefly US, vulgar) An irreverent rebuke or dismissal.


t'oh

From English d'oh, from The Simpsons. The voice actor for Homer Simpson in the French version of The Simpsons, Philippe Peythieu, rendered it t'oh.

Homer Simpson
Philippe Peythieu
The Simpsons


sacrilicious

en-adj

sacrilicious (comparative more sacrilicious, superlative most sacrilicious)

more sacrilicious (comparative)
most sacrilicious (superlative)

/sækɹəˈlɪʃəs/

Blend of sacrilegious + delicious, coined in a 1994 episode of the animated TV series The Simpsons (see quotation below).

I know I shouldn't eat thee, Lord, but... mmmm, sacrilicious.

1994 March 17, “Homer Loves Flanders”, in The Simpsons, season 5, episode 16, spoken by Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta (voice)):

Not for the modest, at those times, the secluded bar area features several TVs showing porn while you eat and drink. Mmmm, sacrilicious.

2004 October 27, Elizabeth Canning Blackwell, Frommer's Irreverent Guide to Chicago, 5th edition, Hoboken: Wiley, →ISBN, →OL, page 194:

Sellers offered VMGC T-shirts — "I ate the Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese ... It was Sacrilicious!"

2006 April 15, Susanna Paasonen, “"Virgin Mary in Grilled Cheese NOT A HOAX! LOOK & SEE!"”, in Everyday eBay: Culture, Collecting, And Desire, New York: Routledge, →ISBN, →OL, page 201:

Maybe they thought it would be inappropriate — dare I say, sacri-licious — to eat the animal the team is named after.

2007 March 1, Josh Pahigian, The Ultimate Minor League Baseball Road Trip: A Fan's Guide to AAA, AA, A, and Independent League Stadiums, Globe Pequot, →ISBN, →OL, page 44:

(slang, humorous) producing pleasure through the violation of taboos


Simpsonian

Simpsonian (comparative more Simpsonian, superlative most Simpsonian)

more Simpsonian (comparative)
most Simpsonian (superlative)

Of or pertaining to The Simpsons, an American animated sitcom.


Homer Simpsonian

Homer Simpsonian (comparative more Homer Simpsonian, superlative most Homer Simpsonian)

more Homer Simpsonian (comparative)
most Homer Simpsonian (superlative)

From Homer Simpson (name of a character in The Simpsons, an animated TV serial) + -ian.

Of or pertaining to the vocalizations or behavior of Homer Simpson.


Poochie-fication

From Poochie, a character added to boost the ratings of the fictional Itchy and Scratchy Show in The Simpsons episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", + -fication.

In case you're wondering, that extra, 3rd dimension they're going to be adding to the bears is going to be made entirely out of neon, sunglasses, and highlights for the fur of Mama and Sister. Basically, it's Poochie-fication of the Berenstain Bears.

2009 November 3, Amelie Gillette, “Berenstain Bears Movie To Change The Way You Think About Anthropomorphic Bears”, in The Onion AV Club:

In the 90s, this Poochie-fication of comics — wherein many titles grew consistently and thoroughly EXTREEEEME — reached its zenith.

2010 September 29, Glen Weldon, “In Praise of M.O.D.O.K: Why Gleefully Goofy Beats Broodingly Brutal”, in National Public Radio:

It’s rare when the Poochie-fication of a character actually works, but it totally did with Kyle Rayner. Rather than the earnest, Silver Age Hal Jordan, backed up by thousands of Corps members, and knowing what his job and destiny was, Rayner was given a ring by a dying Guardian, left alone as the last Green Lantern.

2011 June 16, Alex Zalban, “The 10 Best Green Lanterns Of All Time”, in MTV, archived from the original on 2011-12-26:

(entertainment, derogatory, uncommon) The process of adding a new character to a work of fiction, or altering characters already present, in a bid to make the work cooler or more extreme.


kwyjibo

Taken from a nonsense word (supposedly meaning "A big, dumb, balding North American ape with no chin and a short temper") used in the 1990 episode "Bart the Genius" of the TV show The Simpsons.

On the Kwyjibo.... On steps 2-4, I've been raising my left (free) hand, swinging the yo overto^([sic]) the right and then bringing my right hand over under it.

1999, mike, “pocket rocket....”, in alt.sport.yo-yo (Usenet):

I have been yo-yoing for just over 1 year now, I have just recently learned kwyjibo, white buddha, and other tricks but I can't sleep a yo-yo for over a minute, without an amazing throw […]

2000, Allen MacInnis, “Anyone know how to sleep a yo-yo for a long time??”, in alt.sport.yo-yo (Usenet):


adultivity

Kearney: Good evening, young man. My name is Charles Norwood. Furthermore to this beer, I would also like three of your finest, cheapest cigars. Here's my ID which confirms my adultivity.

1996 5 May, David X. Cohen, "Much Apu About Nothing", episode 7-23 of The Simpsons, 00:11:46-00:11:59

Also, just so we can verify your adultivity, please give us your credit card number and expiration date...

1999 May 16, Eric NRTJ Roberts, “Re: EASY MONEY”, in alt.tv.x-files (Usenet):

All the 'performers' were of legal consenting adultivity, and I could easily track them down if I needed to get any sort of signed statement to verify their age.

2000 December 9, Green Hell, “I need a lab in the US that will develop erotic subject matter”, in alt.movies.cinematography.super8 (Usenet):

(humorous, uncommon) The state or quality of being an adult; majority.


debigulate

en-verb

debigulate (third-person singular simple present debigulates, present participle debigulating, simple past and past participle debigulated)

debigulates (present singular third-person)
debigulating (participle present)
debigulated (participle past)
debigulated (past)

Back-formation from Debigulator, itself from de- + big + -ule + -ate + -or, a fictional shrink ray featured in the 1996 episode "Treehouse of Horror VII" of the American animated television series The Simpsons.

> think moe will get his ears enlarged 2.27.00?
No, he'll get them debigulated.

2000 February 27, Ben Mann, “Re: X'tapolapocetl (Quetzelsacatanango?)”, in alt.tv.simpsons (Usenet):

2002 October 22, Ed, “Button to enlarge or debigulate size of text?”, in netscape.public.mozilla.wishlist (Usenet):

Does debigulating a table first delete blank rows? (I don't know if blank rows are always at the end or not.)

2008 May 13, Ron Newcomb, “I7: Dynamic Tables extension for Glulx”, in rec.arts.int-fiction (Usenet):

(rare, humorous) To reduce or shrink; to make or become smaller.


malparkage

From mal- + park + -age. Perhaps introduced in the animated TV series The Simpsons; see Citations:malparkage.

Lisa Simpson (reading letter): Dear motorist. Your vehicle is illegally parked in the borough of Manhattan. If you do not remedy this malparkage within 72 hours, your car will be thrown into the East River at your expense.

1997 21 September, Ian Maxtone-Graham, "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", episode 9-1 of The Simpsons, 00:11:46-00:11:59

Coupled with said customer's malparkage in the handicapped zone right in front of the door, this will usually create an atmosphere of tense, suspect aversion.

2000 August 20, «tµßeguÿ», “Re: automobile tool definitions”, in 3do.bad-attitude (Usenet):

Supposedly, regular mortals have to shell out $50 for presumptuous malparkage among the elite.

2010 February 8, Sean Michael Ragan, “UC Berkeley has 'Nobel Laureate Only' parking spaces”, in Make:

(rare, humorous) An act of parking a vehicle illegally.


cheese-eating surrender monkey

en-noun

cheese-eating surrender monkey (plural cheese-eating surrender monkeys)

cheese-eating surrender monkeys (plural)

Coined by American television writer and producer Ken Keeler in 1995, for the television series The Simpsons.

coin

Bonjour, you cheese-eating surrender monkeys!

1995 April 30, “'Round Springfield”, in The Simpsons, season 6, episode 22, spoken by Groundskeeper Willie (Dan Castellaneta):

In turn, we British may feel disillusioned with what's left of the special relationship, increasingly out of sympathy with American attitudes, and rather more in sympathy with the cheese-eating surrender monkeys and their friends across the Channel.

2003 April 12, Alexander Chancellor, “Europe still matters”, in The Guardian:

IN PRAISE OF CHEESE-EATING SURRENDER MONKEYS OR WASHINGTON FUNDAMENTALISTS VS PARISIAN MONKEYS

2005, Stephen Chan, Out of Evil: New International Politics and Old Doctrines of War, →ISBN, page 134:

It's all about the “French Paradox,” that much-publicized puzzle of how French people eat all that fatty food and drink tons of wine, yet still manage to be svelte and sophisticated, not to mention cheese-eating surrender monkeys.

2005, Julie Powell, Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, →ISBN, page 178:

Maybe it's their French blood. If it is, we sure don't need cheese-eating surrender monkeys in the Kaw River Valley!

2008, Sara Paretsky, Bleeding Kansas, →ISBN, page 170:

We've lived with terrorism for years, and we know you can lick it, especially if we don't overreact and make unnecessary sacrifices of liberty in the name of security - for freedom is its own best defence. Between cheese-eating surrender monkeys and fire-eating war junkies, we look for a middle way.

2006 July 5, Timothy Garton Ash, “Between cheese-eating surrender monkeys and fire-eating war junkies”, in The Guardian, retrieved 2021-05-31:

But despite their seemingly rampant Anglophilia, there are still some things the French miss—a good steak tartare, for instance, or the chance to cheer on their rugby team without being shouted down as ‘cheese-eating surrender monkeys’.

2008 March 23, Elizabeth Day, “The great French love affair with la vie anglaise”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

Groundskeeper Willie called us cheese-eating surrender monkeys: he almost had it right. But it isn't just the French—as a species we are all cheese-eating surrender monkeys.

[2009, Douglas Coupland, Generation A, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 16:

(slang, derogatory, humorous) A French person.

The Simpsons
cheese-eating surrender monkeys


Kwyjibo

An iron oxide-copper-gold deposit in Grenville, Quebec.


assal horizontology

Coined on the TV show The Simpsons in 1995, as a quasi-medical term. See ass, -al, horizontal, -ology.

Dr. Nick Riviera: "I recommend a slow, steady gorging process, combined with assal horizontology."

1995 November 5, “King-Size Homer”, in The Simpsons, season 7, episode 7, Matt Groening et al. (actors), production code 3F05:

Just as Yohann is restored to his proper state of Assal Horizontology, an audible cricking noise - his knuckles and neck - rings around the hall.

17 December 2000, Talen, “Re: [GRIT] Sleepers Unbound (Was: The Last Day ~ The Dawn of Atlantis)”, in rec.arts.anime.misc (Usenet):

what does he have a degree in? / Assal horizontology.

24 February 2001, The IRS, “Re: Comic Book Guy Trivia”, in alt.tv.simpsons (Usenet):

Don't forget the Choco-tastic!!! / assal horizontology.

14 March 2002, Billy J. Dancefloor, “Re: tonight's episode (3-13-02)”, in alt.tv.simpsons (Usenet):

(humorous, rare) The act of sitting around doing nothing for long periods of time.


surrender monkey

en-noun

surrender monkey (plural surrender monkeys)

cheese-eating surrender monkey
cheese-eating surrender monkey#English

Ellipsis of cheese-eating surrender monkey.


Flanderization

Flanderization (countable and uncountable, plural Flanderizations)

Flanderizations (plural)
lifestyle (British English Oxford slang)

/ˌflændəɹəˈzeɪʃn̩/

Ned Flanders
TV Tropes
The Simpsons
WonderCon

From Flanders + -ization (suffix forming nouns denoting the act, process, or result of doing or making something), from the progressive shift in the character Ned Flanders on the American animated television series The Simpsons (first broadcast in 1989) from a good-natured Christian to a religious fundamentalist, though his portrayal later returned to one similar to the original. The word was coined on the popular culture wiki TV Tropes around 2006.

suffix

Many fans say that season 5 was the beginning of its downfall as Flanderization occurred. JD went from being a little emotionally needy to a whiny man-child and Elliot became every negative stereotype about women instead of her usual neurotic but lovable self.

2009 June 7, tmc1982 [username], “Seasonal Rot – Television Tropes & Idioms”, in rec.arts.tv (Usenet):

Irene's whole gimmick is that she's the one woman in the world who can outwit Holmes. Although in the actual story, her victory is extremely limited, flanderization takes hold in adaptations.

2012 December 21, David Johnson, “Re: Elementary – Episode 8 – The Long Fuse”, in rec.arts.tv (Usenet):

Prime realises Swoop must be under some sort of external control as he's at heart a loyal Autobot (over the years Flanderisation will make the Dinobots more and more maverick) and does the one thing that he knows will so enrage his mind controlled colleague that Swoop will fight off the influence. He gives him a direct order.

2015, Stuart Webb, “The Icarus Theory”, in Transformation: A Personal Journey through the British Transformers Comic, volumes 1 (1984–1987), [S.l.]: Solar Pool, →ISBN, page 129, column 1:

A sympathetic wrestling savant, Eugene became, through a process of rapid Flanderisation (the process in fiction of a character being consumed by their identifiable trait, named after The Simpsons’ Ned Flanders), in Cornette’s words, “a fucking retard”.

2017, Michael Sidgwick, “A Box of Fluffy Ducks”, in Development Hell: The NXT Story, U.K.: WhatCulture.com, →ISBN, page 101:

A common form of this ["character derailment"] is flanderization, in which a character's very singular, minor, yet notable attributes exaggerate as a serial continues. […] I would attribute flanderization to Rick and/or Jerry, if anyone of the main cast.

2020, Edward K. Eckhart-Zinn, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Rick and Morty”, in The Sequel Superior, Pittsburgh, Pa.: RoseDog Books, →ISBN, page 233:

(uncountable) The progressive exaggeration of a single trait or set of traits of a fictional character until it overtakes all other characterization

Flanderisation

progressive exaggeration of a single trait or set of traits of a fictional character until it overtakes all other characterization; an instance of this


get to the fireworks factory

en-verb

get<,,got,got􂀿UK􂁀:gotten􂀿US􂁀> to the fireworks factory

get to the fireworks factory (third-person singular simple present gets to the fireworks factory, present participle getting to the fireworks factory, simple past got to the fireworks factory, past participle (UK) got to the fireworks factory or (US) gotten to the fireworks factory)

gets to the fireworks factory (present singular third-person)
getting to the fireworks factory (participle present)
got to the fireworks factory (past)
got to the fireworks factory (UK participle past)
gotten to the fireworks factory (US participle past)

From the 1997 Simpsons episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", which shows an episode of the fictional Itchy & Scratchy Show in which the characters' journey to a fireworks factory is interrupted by the anticlimactic arrival of a new character, Poochie; while watching the episode, Milhouse Van Houten wails, "When are they going to get to the fireworks factory?!".

Jesus falls again, and now some woman brings him a drink. I'm getting so tired of this whole sequence. When are they going to get to the fireworks factory!?

2004 April 9, Johan Gustafsson, “[TAN] Once more, with Passion...”, in rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan (Usenet):

Is Raven ever going to wrestle on TV? Or at least get to the fireworks factory?

2005 November 5, Poot Rootbeer, “Poot's post on TNA iMPACT! primetime, 11/3/05”, in rec.sport.pro-wrestling (Usenet):

No, that's a different crazy Egyptian tycoon, and that's assuming he even is crazy, which is a pretty safe assumption because once Diana Spencer marries into your family all her new relatives are automatically crazy, especially if any of them produced the terrible Spielberg movie "Hook" in which Robin Williams takes forever to get to the fireworks factory.

2006 September 22, James Kibo Parry, “Re: Further research into the word "braintanning"”, in alt.religion.kibology (Usenet):

The narrative going around about the new Godzilla, which waits about an hour before it finally gets to the fireworks factory, is that it’s a radical return to this kind of old-fashioned creature-feature restraint.

2014 May 17, Forrest Wickman, “When Should You Show the Monster? The Rules of “Cinematic Foreplay.””, in Slate:

Punching up and punching down. I've flirted with these terms a bit already, without adequately exploring their trajectories. Here, in Chapter 3, we finally get to the fireworks factory.

2024 April 9, David E. Low, Transgressive Humor in Classrooms: Punching Up, Punching Down, and Critical Literacy Practices, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 1986:

(fandom slang, idiomatic) To reach the most interesting, eventful or important part of a storyline.

Milhouse Van Houten
The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show
The Itchy & Scratchy Show
The Simpsons


cheese monkey

From cheese-eating surrender monkey, a term coined in a 1995 episode of The Simpsons.

> Ahem, I'm not French ;-)
Darn, right you're not! You used to be a pure cheese monkey. Now, you're simply pure spud.

2003 March 13, Orchid, “OT: naked war protests”, in alt.games.diablo (Usenet), retrieved 2022-08-23:

You'll notice a common cause among all international liberals--the sheep fucker in Australia (192 Day Road, Sydney), the cheese monkey in France, John Kerry--they're all together somehow, all operating along similar lines of force. Is it love of America that unites them? No? Then what is it?

2004 June 20, Jones, “OK, so no WMD and now no link between Iraq and Al-q. My question is........”, in rec.music.beatles (Usenet), retrieved 2022-08-23:

Republicans don't deny Bush has isolated the USA. However, they say "Fuck the world. Fuck the UN. The French are surrendering cheese monkeys. The Canadian are cheeseheads, the .... "

2004 September 18, Roedy Green, “Bush isolates more and more the USA in front of the world”, in alt.politics.bush (Usenet), retrieved 2022-08-23:

> Vive la France!
>
Viva for the cheese monkeys? That's how you must have call them in 2003.

2007 May 7, dapra, “The French Revolution”, in us.military.army (Usenet), retrieved 2022-08-23:

So what I'm gonna propose as governor of this state is that we plan a massive invasion force and go ahead and invade France. Because if there's one country we can beat in a goddamn arm-wrestle it's them limp-wristed patronizing cheese monkeys.

2013, Jock Cranley, quotee, Grand Theft Auto V, scene: Blaine County Talk Radio:

(slang, derogatory, humorous, uncommon) A French person.


couch gag

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-couch gag.wav

A visual joke at the end of the opening credits of a Simpsons episode, during which the Simpson family settles down to watch television.


mumbly Joe

From “Treehouse of Horror VII”, an episode of The Simpsons. In it, Homer Simpson uses the term to refer to real-life politician and then–US presidential candidate Bob Dole.

"Except, um... there's this election next week, so after that, it might not be him anymore. It might be what's-his-name, uh... Mumbly Joe, uh... I saw him on TV the other... uh... Bob Dole!"

1996 October 27, David S. Cohen, Dan Greaney, Ken Keeler, “Treehouse of Horror VII”, in The Simpsons, season 8, episode 1 (television show), spoken by Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), via Fox:

"For instance, Phoenix’s infamous interview with David Letterman, which first introduced a wide audience to Phoenix’s mumbly Joe would-be rap star character, has now been revealed to be a joke that even Letterman himself was in on."

2010 September 20, Sean O'Neal, “Yes, David Letterman knew that Joaquin Phoenix was not really a crazy rapper”, in AV News, archived from the original on 2019-11-20:

"Maybe it’s because this version of Hex is a real mumbly Joe (even when he’s yelling), but I did think it was hard to follow what he told Sara about his past."

2016 November 18, Dylan Todd, Matt Wilson, “‘LEGENDS OF TOMORROW’ POST-SHOW RECAP: SEASON 2, EPISODE 6: ‘OUTLAW COUNTRY’”, in Comics Alliance:

(slang, humorous) Someone who mumbles and is difficult to understand when speaking.

Bob Dole
Homer Simpson
The Simpsons
Treehouse of Horror VII


say the quiet part loud

say the quiet part loud (third-person singular simple present says the quiet part loud, present participle saying the quiet part loud, simple past and past participle said the quiet part loud)

says the quiet part loud (present singular third-person)
saying the quiet part loud (participle present)
said the quiet part loud (participle past)
said the quiet part loud (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-say the quiet part loud.wav

Used by Krusty the Clown in the 1995 episode "A Star Is Burns" of the American animated TV series The Simpsons, as "I said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet."

“Just what are you trying to say here, Miss Parker?”
“That you’re a jingoistic idiot.” Yeah, I said the quiet part loud. I blame the pain meds. But there‘s no way I was letting this metal-heavy moron lecture me about my duty to my country, without giving me the chance to make up my own mind.

2012, Dana Fredsti, Plague Town: An Ashley Parker Novel, Titan Books, chapt. 9

Santorum says that it’s not about contraception, it’s about any type of medical treatment. Which...seems to me like he’s saying the quiet part loud again! But yes, the Blunt Amendment would give any employer the right to withhold any type of medical care for any reason.

2012 March 4, Jason Linkins, “TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads”, in The Huffington Post:

Donald Trump is not subtle. While normal political language functions through implication and indirection, Mr. Trump luxuriates in saying the quiet part loud. But in doing so, Mr. Trump exposes what drives the politics of the movement he commands.

2018 March 17, Chris Hayes, “Chris Hayes: What ‘Law and Order’ Means to Trump”, in The New York Times:

“When you’re a star, they let you do it,” the president, Epstein’s sometime associate, infamously bragged, once again saying, with stunning efficiency, the quiet part loud.

2019 July 9, Megan Garber, “When Jeffrey Epstein Joked About Sex Abuse”, in The Atlantic:

The popular Twitter meme that originated from reporter Jared Sexton after Donald Trump Jr. tweeted out his Trump Tower meeting email exchanges has come to encapsulate the Trump era — a rare moment in our political history in which saying the quiet part out loud is a routine line of defense.

2019 October 3, Nicole Lafond, “Trump Keeps Saying The Quiet Part Out Loud — Ostensibly To Protect Himself”, in Talking Points Memo:

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said that Ms. Steinbach had said the quiet part out loud, to chilling effect.

2023 April 9, Vimal Patel, “Stanford Law School’s Dean Takes a Stand for Free Speech. Will It Work?”, in The New York Times, New York City, retrieved 2023-04-09:

(idiomatic) To publicly express a sentiment which one is expected to keep to oneself; to reveal an ulterior motive.

A Star Is Burns
Krusty the Clown
The Simpsons


Flanderisation

en-noun

Flanderisation (countable and uncountable, plural Flanderisations)

From Flanders + -isation, see Flanderization.

Prime realises Swoop must be under some sort of external control as he's at heart a loyal Autobot (over the years Flanderisation will make the Dinobots more and more maverick) and does the one thing that he knows will so enrage his mind controlled colleague that Swoop will fight off the influence. He gives him a direct order.

2015, Stuart Webb, “The Icarus Theory”, in Transformation: A Personal Journey through the British Transformers Comic, volumes 1 (1984–1987), [S.l.]: Solar Pool, →ISBN, page 129, column 1:

A sympathetic wrestling savant, Eugene became, through a process of rapid Flanderisation (the process in fiction of a character being consumed by their identifiable trait, named after The Simpsons’ Ned Flanders), in Cornette’s words, “a fucking retard”.

2017, Michael Sidgwick, “A Box of Fluffy Ducks”, in Development Hell: The NXT Story, U.K.: WhatCulture.com, →ISBN, page 101:

(British spelling) Alternative spelling of Flanderization


dollarydoo

Blend of dollar + didgeridoo. A faux-Australianism originally coined as "dollaridoos" by television writers Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein for “Bart vs. Australia”, a 1995 episode of the animated sitcom The Simpsons.

Bruno: "Nine hundred dollaridoos? Tobias! Did you accept a six-hour collect call from the states?"
Tobias: "It was an emergency call from the International Drainage Commission in Springfield."
Bruno: "Oh my God! There's nothing wrong with the bidet, is there?"

1995 February 19, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, “Bart vs. Australia”, in The Simpsons, season 6, episode 17, production code 2F13:

2015 24 December, Cam Tyeson, Merry Christmas to All Y'all, from Yr Gr8 m8s at Pedestrian.tv, Pedestrian.tv.
"And maybe spare a thought - or a spare dollarydoo or two - for those less fortunate than you.

2016 23 March, Shayen de Silva, Premiere: A picture of restlessness and weathered love, Tom Stephens will leave you heartbroken on Down to Rest, Happymag.tv.
"Tickets will be available at the door for a cool 10 dollarydoos."

Bandit: "I'd like that one, please."
Bluey: "Four hundred dollarydoos."

2018 October 6, Joe Brumm, “The Weekend”, in Bluey, season 1, episode 6:

2019 12 May, Labor Will Pump Over $30 Million Into Aussie Music, Ban Scalpers If It Wins The Election, Musicfeeds.com.au.
"Opposition leader Bill Shorten & co popped the cork on their arts funding plan at Melbourne’s Espy this weekend, allocating a mouth-watering $20 million dollarydoos to the Australian Music Live Music Fund to support live music venues, hotels, restaurants, cafes, festivals, precinct events and musos."

(Australia, informal, finance) The Australian dollar.

Bart vs. Australia
Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
The Simpsons


say the quiet part out loud

en-verb

say the quiet part out loud (third-person singular simple present says the quiet part out loud, present participle saying the quiet part out loud, simple past and past participle said the quiet part out loud)

says the quiet part out loud (present singular third-person)
saying the quiet part out loud (participle present)
said the quiet part out loud (participle past)
said the quiet part out loud (past)

say the quiet part loud
say the quiet part loud#English

Alternative form of say the quiet part loud


be there and be square

From the phrase be there or be square. Originally in The Simpsons, episode "Mayored to the Mob", aired in 1998.

All nerds welcome. Be there... and be square.

2000, Network World, volume 17, number 40, page 74:

(slang, humorous) Used to encourage someone to go somewhere considered nerdy.


flanderization

en-noun

flanderization (countable and uncountable, plural flanderizations)

Irene's whole gimmick is that she's the one woman in the world who can outwit Holmes. Although in the actual story, her victory is extremely limited, flanderization takes hold in adaptations.

2012 December 21, David Johnson, “Re: Elementary – Episode 8 – The Long Fuse”, in rec.arts.tv (Usenet):

'[Crayon] Shin-chan' can often get very repetitive with its humor, absurdity and the flanderizations of the main character; but then what more can you expect from a comedy anime that has been here since the past three decades?

2019 September 20, Dhruv Sharma, “Crayon Shin-chan: Review, Premiere Date, Recap, English Dub”, in TheCinemaholic, archived from the original on 2020-11-24:

A common form of this ["character derailment"] is flanderization, in which a character's very singular, minor, yet notable attributes exaggerate as a serial continues. […] I would attribute flanderization to Rick and/or Jerry, if anyone of the main cast.

2020, Edward K. Eckhart-Zinn, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Rick and Morty”, in The Sequel Superior, Pittsburgh, Pa.: RoseDog Books, →ISBN, page 233:

Alternative letter-case form of Flanderization


crisitunity

Blend of crisis + opportunity; introduced as a gag in the animated television series The Simpsons (season 6, episode 11, "Fear of Flying", first broadcast on 18 December 1994):
* LISA: Look on the bright side, Dad. Did you know that the Chinese use the same word for "crisis" as they do for "opportunity"?
* HOMER: Yes. "Crisitunity"! You're right.

Would it help to say that we misunderestimated the effects of Frankenfood and mutagenic smog, to speculate that amid all our infornography and anticipointment, some crisitunity slumbered unnoticed in a roadside motel?

2010, Nick Lantz, The Lightning That Strikes the Neighbors’ House, page 25:

Communicate the “crisitunity.” Originally coined by Homer Simpson, a “crisitunity” is the moment when crisis meets opportunity—and it has a slightly better ring than “opporisis.” Regardless of the word choice, the principle is straightforward: by communicating a time-sensitive problem your organization faces, along with how your online community can help solve the problem, people will be motivated to act.

2011, Darian Rodriguez Heyman, Nonprofit Management 101, page 267:

On lost crisitunities, vanishing post-Soviet and decolonization of thinking, being and perception.

2017, Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo of Zimbabwe: Politics, Power, and Memory, page 147:

In addition to the challenges of Chinese lending raised above, the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) presents another possibility for crisitunity (crisis-opportunity) in Africa.

2021, Gorden Moyo, African Agency, Finance and Developmental States, page 116:

(informal, rare) A crisis from which some good may come, and which may therefore be perceived as an opportunity.


cromulence

Results from a numerical simulation of a compression test are also presented in Figure 6 and serve as an initial indicator of the cromulence of the proposed model.

2015, Cesar Ovalles, Carl Rechsteiner Jr, Analytical Methods in Petroleum Upstream Applications, page 1571:

The material circumstances may raise questions as to the cromulence of this perspective, but the UK's elite appear, for the moment, to be as firmly committed to a Great Power role as they ever were under the Coalition.

2021, Timothy Oliver, The Cameron–Clegg Coalition and Britain's Role in the World, page 199:

(humorous, uncommon) Acceptability, correctness.


old man yells at cloud

From a scene in the 2002 episode "The Old Man and the Key" of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, in which Grampa Simpson, applying for a driver's license, produces a newspaper clipping with this headline for identification.

I'm incessantly railing, in the old-man-yells-at-cloud tradition, against Big Beautiful Burgers stuffed into wispy buns that leave nothing to the imagination.

2018 February, Liz Cook, “Check-in Time”, in The Pitch, page 26:

If you will allow me an “old man yells at cloud” moment...back in my day, the only tools we had to make documentation were plain ol' spreadsheets, slides, and Word documents.

2020, Matt LeMay, Product Management in Practice, page 148:

Everyone has their own Old-Man-Yells-at-Cloud gripe that they just can't let go. Some people can't get over the fact that some people do (or do not) keep their ketchup in the fridge; other people can't stop themselves ragging on pineapple-topped pizza.

2022, Ruby Tandoh, Cook As You Are: Recipes for Real Life, Hungry Cooks, and Messy Kitchens: A Cookbook, page 131:

(humorous or derogatory) Refers to a person who expresses a trivial, out-of-touch, or idiosyncratic grievance; especially, with an implication of aged crotchetiness.

Grampa Simpson
The Old Man and the Key
The Simpsons


monkey's paw

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-monkey's paw.wav

The Monkey's Paw
The Simpsons
Treehouse of Horror II
W. W. Jacobs

From the 1902 short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs, in which a mummified monkey's paw is enchanted to grant a family three wishes, but with terrible consequences for them. Popularised by a segment based on Jacobs' story in the 1991 episode "Treehouse of Horror II" of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons.

It’s given me everything I thought I wanted – riches, lucre, affluence, having lots of money, and being very wealthy – but with monkey’s-paw precision it’s turned all my dreams against me.

2015 October 19, Sam Kriss with Thom Phipps, “Who really ever owns a tweet? The story of a 140-character message gone viral, and the man who stole it”, in The Daily Telegraph:

It’s a monkey’s paw of a legacy, to have birthed an immortal gastronomic titan but not to have attained immortality of one’s own.

2017 October 11, Helen Rosner, “What Le Cirque Will Be Remembered For”, in The New Yorker:

For many people, the extended period of quarantine and working from home necessitated by the coronavirus outbreak has turned into a monkey’s paw situation — a theoretical wish come true that has significant downsides.

2020 April 2, Brian Feldman, “Welcome (Back) to the Appointment Internet”, in New York:

One person joked that Chet was the result of a monkey's paw situation with his father. ¶ 'Chet hanks is the price tom hanks paid to become tom hanks,' they wrote.

2021 March 27, Brian Marks, “Tom Hanks' rapper son Chet Hanks gets lambasted on social media after declaring that 'white boy summer' is on the way”, in The Daily Mail:

(idiomatic, usually attributive) A situation in which a wish or desire has been fulfilled, but at significant cost or with ironic, usually unfavourable consequences.


Simpsonwave

Vaporwave and its more developed form, Simpsonwave, are of course concerned with an entirely different set of tropes–but they are no less hauntological for it. Both are recognizably hauntological by virtue of the techniques they employ—VHS crackle, Windows start-up sounds, etc.

2019, Tom Whyman, “Oh, They Have the Internet on Computers Now?”, in Alfie Bown, Dan Bristow, editors, Post Memes: Seizing the Memes of Production, punctum books, →ISBN, page 212:

A genre of user-created online music videos consisting of scenes from the American animated television series The Simpsons set to vaporwave music, with surreal visual distortion effects.


rake-stepping

Popularised by a gag in the 1993 episode "Cape Feare" of The Simpsons, in which Sideshow Bob, already injured, accidentally steps on several rakes, causing the handles to hit him in the face.

But the rake-stepping won’t stop, and the attacks won’t go away, raising the question of whether there will come a tipping point for Biden.

2019 August 13, Tina Nguyen, “Biden Advisers Worry the Gaffes Are Becoming a Problem”, in Vanity Fair:

And despite occasional attempts at reform, usually in response to some epic rake-stepping by the agency, federal disaster relief has gotten no simpler or more effective.

2023 September 12, Mark Gongloff, FEMA Isn’t Ready for Our New Age of Climate Disasters, Bloomberg:

VP of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf oozes with, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing …” and has deftly escaped any blame for the personnel rake-stepping of the past few seasons.

2024 June 19, Tom E. Curran, “Five burning questions the Patriots need to answer this summer”, in NBC Sports Boston:

(slang) The act of repeatedly making damaging and avoidable mistakes.


monkey paw

"Seems we were all living bad dreams," he said. "Wishes coming true in a monkey-paw way."

1995, Marcia Golub, Wish-bone, page 334:

It was Tom's monkey paw, that wish that he could be the provider in the family. Suddenly my father was dead and the gauntlet was passed to my oldest brother.

2003, Darren Greer, Tyler's Cape, page 120:

For obvious reasons, I didn't trust demon favors. I had to think quickly, something that wouldn't backfire. There was a lesson to be learned from that whole monkey paw deal.

(idiomatic, usually attributive) Alternative form of monkey's paw.