Comments on: Where does the quote "Well sir..." come from?

Question: Where does the quote "Well sir..." come from?

davidmsc — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 17:06:16 -0800

Anyone know the origin (if one exists) to the phrase "Well sir..." -- you know, when it's spoken quickly, with the emphasis on the WELL word. My friend and I use it all the time and are nearly certain that it hails from a TV show, movie, or some other cultural touchstone. Ideas?

By: jjg

jjg — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 17:11:03 -0800

What does this phrase mean when spoken in this fashion? I'm trying to imagine what you're describing and can't recall having heard it at all, never mind in some cultural-touchstone fashion.

By: Hildago

Hildago — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 17:12:42 -0800

If it is followed by "I don't like it," it's from Ren and Stimpy.

By: Servo5678

Servo5678 — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 17:13:38 -0800

My first thought is from the original Ren and Stimpy cartoons, but I know it predates that and I'm even misquoting it in my memory. I'm thinking of Mr. Horse: "No sir, I didn't like it." So that's close but not quite and probably not the original source. Some help I turned out to be.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 17:20:34 -0800

I believe it originated on the Johnny Carson show. One of his characters always said it, but I'm having trouble remembering which one.

If davidmsc means what I think he means, the words aren't so much spoken quickly as they are run together, so it sounds like one word.

By: Dr. Wu

Dr. Wu — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 17:26:01 -0800

If I'm hearing it in my head correctly, it sounds like Graham Chapman's uppity "Major" character who shows up in many episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. But, then, the voices in my head sometimes deliberately try to trick me ...

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:06:54 -0800

I don't think it comes from a movie or something. If it's two words, chances are it's not a catchphrase, given the extreme likelihood of two words as common as "well" and "sir" occuring together.

By: mudpuppie

mudpuppie — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:54:47 -0800

I know it's in Seinfeld (whom I always assumed, without evidence, got it from Carson). Does Seinfeld predate Ren and Stimpy?

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 18:58:58 -0800

The phrasing that I recall is from the Ren & Stimpy episode...but I wonder if that was the first use in that tone/inflection/etc? I'm not familiar with a Carson tie-in, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me.

Thanks, all.

By: box

box — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:28:59 -0800

Ned Flanders? Wouldn't predate Carson, of course.

By: Pressed Rat

Pressed Rat — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 20:20:15 -0800

I'm thinking Sidney Greenstreet (Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The Mask of Demetrios & numerous other early 40's movies)

By: coelecanth

coelecanth — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 20:22:31 -0800

Reminds me of Wilfred Brimley.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 20:54:07 -0800

We're getting a little ridicuously vague with these phrase questions. Who is to say when it's really an actual phrase, as opposed to simple language?

Anyone know the origin of the phrase No, sorry?

By: webmutant

webmutant — Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:57:11 -0800

No, sorry.

By: abcde

abcde — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:01:51 -0800

xmutex: Well, the thing is, this is a particularly uniform sort of comic delivery of, e.g., "Wellsir, there aren't enough plates for all the guests!" not just the phrase in general, which would of course be far too generic.

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:22:19 -0800

Jeeves and Wooster?
For the sake of self-referential humour, here's a search on Ask Jeeves.

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:27:21 -0800

Although that doesn't prove anything.
Amazon search inside has at least one "well sir"

By: Miko

Miko — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:48:47 -0800

xmutex: Well, the thing is, this is a particularly uniform sort of comic delivery of, e.g., "Wellsir, there aren't enough plates for all the guests!" not just the phrase in general, which would of course be far too generic.

...Until we have actual facts, I'm in the vaudeville camp. This delivery is the kind of thing you heard from the stock fast-talking eager salesman character (along with "That'srightsir, that'sright".)

But you're right that the question is really about the history of the phrase as comic delivery, not the origin of the phrase itself.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 06:54:30 -0800

I'm certain Andy Griffith used it often on his show. However, I wouldn't call it a comic phrase, it's just Southern English.

By: Miko

Miko — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 15:00:04 -0800

Totally, M C Davis. Barney Fife.