When fellow USFer Corey Chapman and I began discussing and listing the two-decade old Dumb & Dumber references that we casually drop into conversation to this day, we quickly identified two or three that we had unknowingly used in days prior, even before the Dumb & Dumber To poster or trailer arrived, prompting a full-on Mutt Cutts nostalgia trip.
I hadn’t consciously recognized it until today, but with no exaggeration whatsoever it is safe to say that I’ve averaged 1.5 Dumb & Dumber references per week, every week, since 1994.
And that’s not counting the fact that I still cry like this:
Dumb & Dumber has quietly remained on the hallowed comedy grounds inhabited previously by films like Blazing Saddles, Airplane! and Caddyshack and subsequently by others such as Office Space and Anchorman, a space owned by only the most quotably funny movies in history.
Here are thirteen lines and scenes from Dumb & Dumber that we regularly reference to this day, whether we realize it or not:
“So you’re telling me there’s a chance…”
“Pretty bird…”
“Harry, I took care of it.”
“OUR PETS’ HEADS ARE FALLIN’ OFF!”
“Might wanna hang on to that one.”
“Hey guys! Whoa, Big Gulps huh? Allright. Well, see ya later!”
“It’s a cardigan, but thanks for noticing.”
“Killer boots, man!”
[see above]
“He must work out.”
“That John Denver’s full of shit.”
No John Denver mention in the last 20 years has come without the “full of shit” sidebar. Dumb & Dumber totally changed an entire generation’s basis of familiarity with the folk singer.
“What is the Soup Du Jour?”
“It’s the soup of the day.”
“Mm, that sounds good. I’ll have that.”
“Austria! Well, then. G’day mate! Let’s put another shrimp on the barbie!”
“Pills are good…”
“…and TOTALLY redeem yourself!”
“What was all that ‘one in a million’ talk?”
My favorite real world use: When someone is being a dick and the response is, “what an ass” I will respond with, yeah he must work out. Takes the wind out of angry sails
My dad’s buddy uses the Soup Du Jour line every time he’s @ a restaurant
awesome
You hinted at the “so your telling me there’s a chance” scene in the last one above, I still use that. Others still in my lexicon is “1/2 teaspoon for fast effect relief” including the dribble and then pour when taking liquid medication, “That’s great. We’ve Landed on the moon!” which is excellent at planetariums, “Don’t you go dying on me” anytime you ask someone to watch your stuff, “wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?” anytime you don’t have a good comeback and “it’s okay, I’m a limo driver!” is good pretty much anytime.
Yeah, “so you’re tellin’ me there’s a chance might be the biggest of them all. Can’t believe I left off “Don’t you go dyin’ on me now”, as I use it at least once a month when I leave somewhere. So many of these lines we don’t even realize we are using!
I just said the shrimp one like 2 days ago and I regularly say “goodby my LOOOOVE!”
A couple more I say often:
“Why dontchou eat up and we’ll tell ya”
“MOCK. Si. BIRD. Si”
“You can’t triple stamp a double stamp! You can’t triple stamp a double stamp!”
Pretty much that whole part from picking the dude up til “not if you count that gurgling sound”
It’s quotability has reached Caddyshack-ian levels.
For sure