References that have somehow lasted for ages.

[Icehaven]

It's strange how some seemingly random titles/names seem to stick and form the basis of endless variations for decades, to the point where many people probably won't even be aware of the original. The most obvious and much mentioned examples are Watergate and Woodstock, but there's also things like there's a current TV programme "Dogs Behaving Badly", a reference to a sitcom that ended 20 years ago, and "My Big Fat..." still pops up all over the place (fnar) despite the original film being 16 years ago. And it's probably more closely associated with Gypsy Weddings since they adapted it anyway. Is it just lazy title choices or is there some conspiracy to keep Men Behaving Badly and My Big Fat Greek Wedding in the public consciousness? What else aren't we being allowed to forget?

[Sebastian Cobb]

Watergate was almost 50 years ago, yet hacks are still clumsily appending it to any minor scandal that'll be forgotten in a fortnight.

[greencalx]

Old references never die. They just become literary allusions.

[mothman]

I nearly just did a variation on a "I agree with Nick" post. That's from nearly 9 years ago now.

[flotemysost]

Documentaries called 'Sex, Something and Something' or 'Sex, Lies and Something'. The film Sex, Lies and Videotape is 30 years old but the trope is so overused that it's just become a lazy way of making something sound a bit salacious.

[bim sherman shirts]

30something (and expanded to include 20something, 40something etc etc). From a popular at the time but barely remembered late 80s TV show.

[DrGreggles]

"As fit as a fiddle"

Said it myself the other day.
No idea why fiddle-level fitness is considered a good thing.
Or how it can be calculated.

[Konki]

The full saying is actually "as fit as a butcher's dog having a fiddle with itself". I hope this clears things up.

[thenoise]

"As gay as a window"

[poodlefaker]

It's just creative bankruptcy among the people who think up names for  TV documentaries, isn't it? Others include "When [Person A] Met [Person B]", "A Very British [subject]", "[subject] and Me". There's probably ten of 'em on the i-player right now, all presented by Lucy Worsley.

[kngen]

I had a conversation with a friend about 20 years ago where I posited that 'High Noon' would fall from favour as a term for a do-or-die deadline approaching because less and less people would be familiar with the original film.

A Google trends search shows that I was talking complete bollocks, as it has been consistently used since 2004 with a few peaks and troughs. However, the number one search using that term is 'What is High Noon?' so I'm claiming a victory of sorts.

[flotemysost]

"A Very British [subject]"

Ah yes, I was gonna post that one too.

Not exactly a cultural reference, but the DM Sidebar of Shame (and similar tabloid celeb gossip sections) have a habit of making puns out of really archaic-sounding phrases that I doubt many people actually use regularly any more. So if someone's been papped wearing a thong on a beach it's '[C-list celeb] looking PEACHY KEEN in Antigua', or if they're wearing a short skirt it's 'LEGS ELEVEN: [C-list celeb] flaunt her pins', etc.

(I looked up the origins of 'peachy keen' out of interest after typing that, and found this blog: http://disappearingidioms.com/ - I was interested to learn the origins of 'gaslighting', as that's one I've seen quite a lot lately and didn't realise it went that far back.)

[Soup Dogg]

Yes there's a weird stanle of archaic sort of mid 20th Century terms that maintain a sort of linguistic currency in the very specifc field of the tabloid headline. "Romp" is definitely one of them, but I've had a whole two beers and I'm tired so you'll have to finish my point for me.

[flotemysost]

Oh yes, and any news relating to a scientific study has to be attributed to 'boffins', and so on. Not really a specific reference but I'm sure someone must have been the first to use those terms.

[Alberon]

It's like how many old nautical sayings stay in use long after people forget where they came from. Such as -

UNDER THE WEATHER

ABOVE BOARD

AT A LOOSE END

CLOWNE

SQUARE MEAL

BINGE

[MidnightShambler]

Yes there's a weird stanle of archaic sort of mid 20th Century terms that maintain a sort of linguistic currency in the very specifc field of the tabloid headline. "Romp" is definitely one of them, but I've had a whole two beers and I'm tired so you'll have to finish my point for me.

Mate of mine who was a Fleet Street journalist (although surprisingly not a complete cunt to boot) told me once that that's known as 'bastard measure' because the old printers would only have a certain amount of space to set out the type (and it was a quite a complicated process, supposedly) so words like 'romp' and 'tryst' would be used simply so they'd fit. Or presumably the printer would shout 'bastard' trying to make it fit. Don't know if it's true or not but seems plausible.

Same fella tells me a cracking story about sharing a room in The Priory (forced to by The Mirror) with Curly Watts from Corrie. Heady days.

[Wet Blanket]

It's like how many old nautical sayings stay in use long after people forget where they came from. Such as -

UNDER THE WEATHER

ABOVE BOARD

AT A LOOSE END

CLOWNE

SQUARE MEAL

BINGE

'Sweet Fanny Adams' which I always thought was a polite way of evoking the initials of 'fuck all' actually comes from sailor humour referencing a 1867 murder case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Adams#Legacy

[Blue Jam]

'LEGS ELEVEN'

'NUMBER TEN, THERESA'S DEN'

[Blue Jam]

'Sweet Fanny Adams' which I always thought was a polite way of evoking the initials of 'fuck all' actually comes from sailor humour referencing a 1867 murder case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Adams#Legacy

Is the thing of the "Mick" in "Taking the Mick" being short for "micturation" an urban myth? Wikipedia sez it's Cockney rhyming slang- Mickey Bliss, piss. It looks like no-one really knows for sure...

[thecuriousorange]

Rick Astley. He should have been re-forgotten after that Rick Roll meme, but it seems to have cemented his position in pop culture and I think he had a new album of new music in the charts last year. I wonder how far Bros can ride their current thing. At the very least they'll be at Glastonbury in the ironic Thursday night slot.

[JesusAndYourBush]

Rick Astley. He should have been re-forgotten after that Rick Roll meme, but it seems to have cemented his position in pop culture and I think he had a new album of new music in the charts last year. I wonder how far Bros can ride their current thing. At the very least they'll be at Glastonbury in the ironic Thursday night slot.

Over the last year on a site where people upload live music I've seen a couple of recent Rick Astley radio sessions being posted, and although I wasn't interested in downloading them I looked at the tracklist out of curiosity, and on both occasions he didn't play Never Gonna Give You Up, the ungrateful sod!

[Petey Pate]

Until I just looked it up now, I wasn't aware that 'Everything You've Always Wanted To Know About _ (But Were Afraid to Ask)' was originally a title of a book that the Woody Allen film was loosely based on. I'm sure there are people who use the phrase who aren't even aware that it's a reference to a film.

[Chollis]

It's like how many old nautical sayings stay in use long after people forget where they came from. Such as -

UNDER THE WEATHER

ABOVE BOARD

AT A LOOSE END

CLOWNE

SQUARE MEAL

BINGE

3 sheets to the wind

[Dex Sawash]

Hung for buggery

[Jumblegraws]

It's strange how some seemingly random titles/names seem to stick and form the basis of endless variations for decades, to the point where many people probably won't even be aware of the original. The most obvious and much mentioned examples are Watergate and Woodstock, but there's also things like there's a current TV programme "Dogs Behaving Badly", a reference to a sitcom that ended 20 years ago, and "My Big Fat..." still pops up all over the place (fnar) despite the original film being 16 years ago. And it's probably more closely associated with Gypsy Weddings since they adapted it anyway. Is it just lazy title choices or is there some conspiracy to keep Men Behaving Badly and My Big Fat Greek Wedding in the public consciousness? What else aren't we being allowed to forget?

It's often media that is unremarkable in and of itself as well. "Dude, Where's My X?" and "X 2: Electric Boogaloo" both derive from mediocre-at-best films.

[Dannyhood91]

Some outliers still do the WAAAZZUP thing. You hear it once every three years around March time.

[Misspent Boners]

Some outliers still do the WAAAZZUP thing. You hear it once every three years around March time.

Still extremely disappointed by my fellow humans that "dilly dilly" actually caught on somewhat as a thing to say. When I saw that advert I cringed so hard and thought no one will ever imitate something so pathetic

I was wrong :(