DAILY DIRT: Arnold’s famous ‘I’ll be back’ line the most memorable ever?

Daily Dirt for Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025

Or does Clint Eastwood own the best catch phrase from a film? … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,163 of The Daily Dirt.

1. They are memorable lines from movies that, over the years, have become some of our best-known catch phrases, even part of our everyday life.

What are the best, or most notable?

Well, straight from The Daily Dirt board room, our committee to determine such things offers these 10 famous lines to answer that very question:

1. “I’ll be back”. From: “The Terminator” (1984).

You just mouthed those words, didn’t you, including with the Arnold Schwarzenegger accent? The iconic line has taken on a true life of its own over the past 40-plus years.

2. “Go ahead, make my day”. From “Sudden Impact” (1983).

The best Clint Eastwood line ever. Never, ever mess with The Squint.

3. “Bond. James Bond”. From “Dr. No” (1963).

From the film that started it all with Sean Connery. The only possible improvement on this line would be: “Dirt. Stevie Dirt”.

4. “You talkin’ to me?” From: “Taxi Driver” (1976).

This is one we all say, and I would wager not many actually know where it originated. Robert De Niro’s unforgettable portrayal of the bizarre Travis Bickle character provided us with this originally ad-libbed line that is as fresh as it was 48 years ago.

5. “May the Force be with you”. From: Star Wars” (1977).

We have all repeatedly said this through the years, many times with modifications. It’s so popular, in fact, that May 4th is known worldwide as Star Wars Day, thanks to the playful pun “May the Fourth be with you.” 

6. “Hasta la vista, baby”. From: “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991).

Director James Cameron says he got the idea for the line from a Tone Loc video where he heard the phrase.

7. “Here’s lookin’ at you, kid”. From: “Casablanca” (1942).

This cinematic masterpiece, starring the legendary Humphrey Bogart, goes hand-in-hand with its most famous and poignant line. (Quick, what was the name of Bogart’s character in the film? Answer in Steve’s Thought O’ The Day.)

8. “Elementary, my dear Watson”. From: “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” (1939).

Another line that, I feel, has been used so much over the years that many do not realize its origin.

9. “Say hello to my little friend!” From: “Scarface” (1983).

Al Pacino at his gangster best.

10. “There’s no crying in baseball”. From “A League Of Their Own” (1992).

Unless you’re a fan of the 2025 Cardinals. It could be a long season.

Honorable mention: 

• “Show me the money!” From: “Jerry Maguire” (1996).
• “You had me at hello”. From: Jerry Maguire (1996).
• “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?'” From: “Dirty Harry” (1971).
• “Toga ! Toga! Toga!”: From: “Animal House (1978).
• “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”. From: Gone With The Wind” (1939).
• “If you build it, he will come”. From: “Field of Dreams” (1989).
• “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth”. From: “Pride of the Yankees” (1943).
• “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse”. From” “The Godfather” (1972).
• “You’re gonna need a bigger boat”. From “Jaws” (1975).

2. Did you know (Part 236)

• That Metallica was the first band to perform on all seven continents, including Antarctica.
• That “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” by the Beatles was the first album to include lyrics printed on the cover.
• That Prince played 27 instruments on his debut album.
• That the shortest recorded song is Napalm Death’s “You Suffer”, lasting just 1.316 seconds.
• That the world’s most expensive instrument is a Stradivarius violin, which last sold for more than $16 million.

3. Our first “Found on Facebook” for the new year:

• “We should start seeing Valentine’s Day crap in the stores any minute now.”
• “No, I can’t do Snapchat or TikTok, but I can write in cursive, do math without a calculator and tell time on a clock with hands.”
• “When you grew up listening to Linda Ronstadt, Tina Turner and Karen Carpenter, it’s a little hard to get excited by Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter.”
• “That awkward moment when a zombie is looking for brains and walks right by you.”
• “If you are going to mess something up, do it so badly everyone will wonder how that’s even possible.”

Steve Thought O’ The Day – Bogey played Rick Blaine in “Casablanca”. Blaine was “an American expatriate who owned a nightclub and gambling den”.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He is hunkered down and ready to be snowed in until Spring Training starts.