Dephion’s Glossary Of Cultural References
Last Christmas, Balou made an easy, single request to Igor: “Could you give me a line for the ice scrapers?”. A few minutes later he would get back to her, a grin on his face, and speak a simple phrase: “Yipee-ki-yay”.
Balou smiled politely. What might have been going through her mind at that moment is a mystery to us all. And yet, we may guess it went something like, ‘He’s finally lost it. I thought he’d come back with something better. Maybe he means “yay”.’
But, for those of us of a certain age, Mr. Raffaele was clearly referring to the famous line spoken by Bruce Willis as John McClane in the movie Die Hard (which, by the way, dear younglings, is a Christmas movie).
What else have we, the wise elders of Dephion, been attempting to convey with our witty cultural references that the young padawans of The Cubic just don’t get?
You’re telling me that when we say we’re going to build an app using nothing but gum, a paperclip, and a shoestring you never realized that we’re going to MacGyver this thing? MacGyver is a character from a TV show of the same name and a role model to any self-proclaimed problem solver.
You’re killin’ me, Smalls.
No, we’re not calling you “small”. This is another phrase from the movie The Sandlot that simply means, we’re frustrated and disappointed
Of course, there is only one thing left to do. We’re going to enlighten you.
You had me at ‘hello’ - From Jerry Maguire. While this phrase was originally used in a romantic setting, it roughly translates now to “you convinced me a long time ago. You can stop talking now”.
I’ll be back - No, no. It’s not that obvious. You have to visualize Arnold, as the Terminator, speaking it. And if you don’t know who the Terminator is no one can help you.
Say 'what' again. Say 'what' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherf*cker, say what one more Goddamn time! - Now, profanity aside, don’t be offended. Samuel L. Jackson as Jules in Pulp Fiction was not a patient man and sometimes neither are we.
Wax on, wax off - The Karate Kid was a legendary movie before Netflix came up with a series. The character of Mr. Myagi was an old, wise, Japanese man who taught his pupil karate, but first, he made Daniel (the aforementioned kid) do a series of seemingly unrelated chores. “Wax on, wax off” is about sharing wisdom, being patient while learning, and that “you may not understand why I’m giving you this task, but you’re learning something from it.”
Live long and prosper - Now, this one might be considered more of a timeless geek reference. It is a Vulcan salute that anyone who has watched Star Trek recognizes.
Never give up. Never Surrender - In the movie Galaxy Quest (a parody of Star Trek) this is Captain Taggart’s catchphrase and it is oh-so inspiring to this day. If you’ve never had the pleasure of watching this movie, you must. You will not regret it.
I see dead people - Now, if one of your colleagues—probably one with a few streaks of white in their hair already—utters these words, don’t freak out. They got it from The Sixth Sense. Spoiler alert: He does.
Oh my God! They killed Kenny! You bastards!- This one is from South Park, a slightly less family-friendly cartoon than The Simpsons. And no, this is not necessarily a spoiler. Kenny dies a lot. Besides, everybody dies eventually, right?
Get away from her, you b*tch! - As you may have already guessed, Jennifer Lawrence is far from being the first female action hero. Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, was a badass in Aliens before Jennifer could tie her own shoelaces.
If you build it, he will come - Ray, played by Kevin Costner heard these words as a whisper in the movie Field of Dreams. Writers everywhere hear a similar whisper inside their heads that says, “if you write it they will read it”. Sadly, most everyone’s mad here.
The first rule of Fight Club is, you do not talk about Fight Club - Actually, everyone and their mother know this one.
Take your stinky paws off me, you damn dirty ape - This one is from Planet of the Apes. If you ever became enslaved by talking apes, this is probably the most civilized thing that would come out of your mouth.
You shall not pass - The Gray Wizard, Gandalf, saved the day in The Fellowship of the Ring as he spoke these timeless words. And while one does not simply walk into this LOTR conversation while ignoring a plethora of precious lines from both the books and the movies… for now, we must choose only this phrase to rule them all.
Bite my shiny metal ass! - Alright, someone has finally gone too far, right? This is completely unacceptable at the workplace! But wait, why did they say “shiny metal *ss”? Well, they must be channeling their inner Bender from Futurama. Either way, they are probably not going to do what you asked them to do.
This is the way - Okay, so this one from The Mandalorian is pretty recent. And yet, it could not be left out. (And if you have a problem with that, bite my shiny metal *ss.) It conveys an unbreakable conviction. A code to live by. And you don't get to argue. Just nod and agree that this is the way.
Did we miss some? We missed a million and one, but these cultural references will have to do for now or we’ll keep you here all day. These and many more will continue to pop up here and there—in the office, in the hub, and most of all, from Igor’s mouth. For now, it’s time to get back to work. Fly, you fools!