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News & ArtsMonday, August 17, 2009
Life / Housekeeping Would Anyone Object
Posted by Lindy West on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 1:12 PM
...if I declared "declaring things to have jumped the shark" to have jumped the shark? Because I think it's time.
1
You always jump the shark...this is something that probably should have happened long ago.
However your posts are still an amusing distraction in an otherwise dull day.
However your posts are still an amusing distraction in an otherwise dull day.
9
How about we call it "Throwing the shark under the bus?" Or, do we need a whole new image? Something involving Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck?
10
Is this one of the sharks in Shark Tales?
Or maybe the ones in Ponyo?
Cause if it's supposed to refer to Happy Days and Fonz jumping a shark, that was a cool quote ... um ... two decades ago.
Or maybe the ones in Ponyo?
Cause if it's supposed to refer to Happy Days and Fonz jumping a shark, that was a cool quote ... um ... two decades ago.
12
You may declare. "Jumped the shark" is to "astute observation!" what that Blansky's Beauties episode with Pinky Tuscedero—who may or may not have actually been Rick Derringer at that point—is to Happy Days.
15
@7: Unfortunately, pointing out that "'jumped the shark' has jumped the shark" has jumped the shark...
has itself jumped the shark.
Also, infinite regress has now jumped the shark has well.
has itself jumped the shark.
Also, infinite regress has now jumped the shark has well.
17
Lindy!!! "Nuked the Fridge" is the new "Jumped the Shark"... Get with the times.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.ph…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuking_the_…
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.ph…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuking_the_…
18
I say we should keep "jumping the shark" but execute anyone who says they "threw up in their mouth a little".
19
The problem is that "jump the shark" is used by people who don't understand what it means. Any time there's a bad episode of LOST or The Office or any other show with a devoted fanbase, people are quick to declare the show has jumped the shark just because of one weak episode. Jumping the shark is the point of no return for a show, and The Office did that back when Michael drove his car into a lake or kidnapped a pizza delivery boy (I don't really remember which one happened first, only that they happened close together and the show has been pretty shitty ever since). Maybe "kidnap the pizza boy" should be the new "jump the shark."
20
Somewhat in agreement with 19, I think that abandoning "jump the shark" just because you're tired of hearing people use/misuse it is counterindicated until another equally artful expression for the same thing is available. "Jump the shark," while common enough now for the cleverness to seem worn off, really is the best expression for what it describes that I know of.
21
I think you should be able to say 'Jumped the Shark' only when you can cite a specific example of a TV show breaking out of its established reality with a turn of plot so preposterous, that it becomes unenjoyable to watch after that point. Most people use the term to mean that they don't like the show any more because it changed, or they feel cool when they get to say that something is bad.
23
Nuked the fridge is so last century.
We need something current that won't seem lame a decade or two later.
We need something current that won't seem lame a decade or two later.
27
@19, I don't think that the "jumped the shark" episdode was the point of no return for Happy Days. Ritchie was still in it then. It didn't pass the point of no return until Ritchie went to join the army. Actually truth be told, the episode where Ritchie gets married but can't even turn up to his own wedding and the Fonze steps in as proxy is really when Happy Days "jumped the shark" (sorry Lindy). The shark jump wasn't that bad really. It was just like a school excursion - Happy Days just went to the beach for the day.
28
Can we also add "douche" (and all its bags and nozzles) and "asshat" to the list? Have people completely lost all ability to insult creatively?
29
"Spot on" and all other Britishisms must go, like "bloody" and "cuppa" and "loo" and all that lot. And "and all that lot," too. That was the last time any one can use that.
Cheerio!
(See how bad it is!?)
Cheerio!
(See how bad it is!?)
33
Please tell me that you people, on the other side of the pond, don't really say anything as dopey as that.
Thanks
Thanks
34
I think the phrases jumping the shark and growing the beard should only apply to serial fiction of any medium. Provided the terms are used for their original intent, these terms are fine for continued use. Regarding nuking the fridge, or vampires playing baseball, I'm happy to wait for the these phrases to enter common parlance before adopting them myself.
That said, the life and times of Sarah Palin cannot jump the shark. She's a real person. As I've noted before, to paraphrase West Wing White House Counsel Lionel Tribbey, it's time for her to write her book.
Jumping the shark cannot, itself, jump the shark. It can become cliché, (like accusing someone of Nazism) but I don't think jumping has done that. I think the phrase has become frequently misused and inappropriately applied, (not unlike begging the question), but remains valid and fresh for its original intent.
That said, the life and times of Sarah Palin cannot jump the shark. She's a real person. As I've noted before, to paraphrase West Wing White House Counsel Lionel Tribbey, it's time for her to write her book.
Jumping the shark cannot, itself, jump the shark. It can become cliché, (like accusing someone of Nazism) but I don't think jumping has done that. I think the phrase has become frequently misused and inappropriately applied, (not unlike begging the question), but remains valid and fresh for its original intent.
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