I really like the website, tvtropes.org, which is a huge collection of devices and conventions that crop up in the media, particularly TV but film and comics too.I was just looking at their page on the 'catch phrase', which they define as 'an expression used by a character in numerous episodes of a show':
tvtropes.org on catch phrases
I got to thinking about the fact that catch phrases often get picked up in everyday language use where they turn into 'double-voiced' utterances. When someone drops one into conversation, you're meant to hear the utterance as (1) their own comment on what you're talking about - the idea is that their use of it should be *relevant* to the present conversation - but also, (2) an echo of the original voice - the character in the TV show who says it. What catch phrases are current at the moment? When do people use them in conversation?
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