Catchphrase fight!
Robin: Holy cow!
Batgirl: You just
had to say that.
An expression used by a character in numerous episodes of a show. Merely uttering this phrase in the office will key others in to the character you're referring to. For a line to be a catchphrase, it should be always the same, and not just catchy.
Note: To be a catchphrase, the phrase must be repeated multiple times — just because something is the most memorable line of a movie does not make it a catchphrase unless it is said more than once.
If the character has a
Badass Creed, that will probably double as a catch phrase.
Beam Me Up, Scotty! is a false or oft-misquoted catchphrase. When the
audience adopts a character's line as a catchphrase, then we get
Memetic Mutation.
A
Super Trope to:
Compare
Arc Words,
One-Liner,
Other Stock Phrases,
Word Power.
Contrast with
Author Catchphrase, which is when a phrase is recycled across unrelated works by the same author/actor/creator.
Not to be confused with the gameshow
Catchphrase, which was just named for this trope.
Examples
