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

January 31, 2005 5:06 PM

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?
posted by davidmsc to Media & Arts (19 answers total)

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.
posted by jjg at 5:11 PM on January 31, 2005

If it is followed by "I don't like it," it's from Ren and Stimpy.
posted by Hildago at 5:12 PM on January 31, 2005

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.
posted by Servo5678 at 5:13 PM on January 31, 2005

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.
posted by iconomy at 5:20 PM on January 31, 2005

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 ...
posted by Dr. Wu at 5:26 PM on January 31, 2005

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.
posted by koeselitz at 6:06 PM on January 31, 2005

I know it's in Seinfeld (whom I always assumed, without evidence, got it from Carson). Does Seinfeld predate Ren and Stimpy?
posted by mudpuppie at 6:54 PM on January 31, 2005

Response by poster: 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.
posted by davidmsc at 6:58 PM on January 31, 2005

Ned Flanders? Wouldn't predate Carson, of course.
posted by box at 7:28 PM on January 31, 2005

I'm thinking Sidney Greenstreet (Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The Mask of Demetrios & numerous other early 40's movies)
posted by Pressed Rat at 8:20 PM on January 31, 2005

Reminds me of Wilfred Brimley.
posted by coelecanth at 8:22 PM on January 31, 2005

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?
posted by xmutex at 8:54 PM on January 31, 2005

No, sorry.
posted by webmutant at 11:57 PM on January 31, 2005

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.
posted by abcde at 12:01 AM on February 1, 2005

Jeeves and Wooster?
For the sake of self-referential humour, here's a search on Ask Jeeves.
posted by seanyboy at 12:22 AM on February 1, 2005

Although that doesn't prove anything.
Amazon search inside has at least one "well sir"
posted by seanyboy at 12:27 AM on February 1, 2005

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.
posted by Miko at 5:48 AM on February 1, 2005

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.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:54 AM on February 1, 2005

Totally, M C Davis. Barney Fife.
posted by Miko at 3:00 PM on February 1, 2005