“Four for you, Glen Coco! You go, Glen Coco!”

From: Mean  Girls

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Damian

The story behind the quote: The quote comes the cult classic, Mean Girls. Even though it was released over 10 years ago, many fans still remember the quotes from the film. While some of these quotes weren’t put in the film to be memorable or quotable, the writing of Mean Girls as well as the delivery of the lines actually inserted them into the public consciousness. One such quote comes from the middle of the movie.

Cady and her friends (Janis and Damian) continue with their plot to take down The Plastics, the most popular and meanest clique of the school. One of the ways they plan to do it is to get Gretchen Wieners to turn on Regina George, the leader of the Plastics. One such way was to trick Gretchen into thinking Regina was cutting her out of the group. In order to do this, Damian starts distributing candy canes which were supposed to have come from the other students. And, apparently, Glen Coco, managed to score four candy canes…

Geek wisdom: When people do things that are spectacular, we do take these achievements for granted or, even worse, tell them what they did wasn’t anything special at all. Always remember to give props to people who deserve it as it does help them recognize that what they did was actually something to be admired.

“‘Maybe, Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, in fact, means a little bit more.”

From: How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Genre: Cartoons, Television

Who said it?: The Narrator

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the Dr. Seuss’ classic How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Dr. Seuss’ book was already very popular but what catapulted it into the public consciousness was the 1966 animated version. It’s been repeated on television ever since.

The quote comes from the very end of the story. The Grinch after stealing all of the Christmas gifts down in Whoville, waits upon a mountaintop, hoping to hear the villagers wait out in sadness as all their gifts have been stolen. However, instead of crying, The Grinch sees the citizens of Whoville singing for joy. After pondering as to why they’re celebrating, The Grinch comes to a realization about the holiday.

Geek wisdom: Every Christmas, we all get wrapped up with all of the gift buying and all of the gifts we’re going to receive. But, like the Grinch realized at the end of the story, Christmas is much more than that. Christmas is about spreading good cheer to your fellow man, regardless of race, religion and gender. It’s a time to get together with others.

Merry Christmas!

“I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow in the knee.”

From: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Genre: Video Games

Who said it?: Lots of NPC guards in the world

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. The game is a massive game that has many people to talk to and many places to explore. However, the game’s most memorable quote doesn’t come from any of the main characters. Rather, it comes from the lowly town guards you see throughout the your time in Skyrim.

The guards have a lot of stock dialog but the most popular one is regarding their past before they became guards…

Geek wisdom: As we grow older, it becomes harder to do the same rigorous activities we used to be able to do in our youth. We also tend to outgrow all of the ridiculous and dangerous activities we did in our younger days. But that doesn’t mean that these days should be forgotten. These are important parts of our life and actually help form you into the person you are now.

There’s nothing wrong with reminiscing about the past. It’s only a problem if we get stuck in the past.

“I’m the best there is at what I do. But what I do isn’t very nice…”

From: X-Men

Genre: Comics

Who said it?: Logan/Wolverine

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from Wolverine, everyone’s favorite yellow spandex wearing, cigar chomping Canadian mutant. He is probably the most popular and most recognizable X-Men character in the world today. Which is kind of astonishing since, originally, his first appearance was in Hulk #181 (as an opponent to both The Incredible Hulk and Wendigo). It wasn’t until much later that Logan joined a new group of X-Men to rescue the original members.

Logan pretty much acknowledges that he is a vicious killer and will do things that may seem unnecessarily violent. But he does recognize that his skills do serve a purpose as noted by his catchphase.

Wolverine Quote

Geek wisdom: Everyone has his or her own special talent and, no matter what it is, it’s something that you should be proud of. There may be times when you feel your special gift should be hidden away or it should be something you should be ashamed of. But everything you’re good at has to be shared with everyone… because it deserves to be shared with others.

“I love it when a plan comes together!”

From: The A-Team

Genre: Television

Who said it?: John “Hannibal” Smith

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the 80s television show, The A-Team. The basic story of the show is actually told in the intro of the show. Essentially, a special commando unit was tried unjustly of a crime they didn’t commit. After escaping the group, consisting of John “Hannibal” Smith (leader and master of disguise), Templeton “Face” Peck (suave con man), “Howling Mad” Murdoch (delusional ace pilot) and BA Baracus (the team’s strong man), now lends their services as soliders of fortune called The A-Team. The show was a massive success, partly because of the entertaining interactions between the characters as well as Mr. T’s charisma and popularity at the time.

The quote is actually Hannibal’s catchphrase. As he’s the one who lays out the schemes and works them to suit each team member’s individual strengths, he’s able to create ingenious and unorthodox strategies that, against all logic, work out in the end.

Geek wisdom: We like to rush things out and hope for the best, hence, we love to just fly by the seat of our pants and let the chips fall where they may at times. Of course, when something goes wrong, we have to keep improvising quick fixes instead of finding solutions. This can prove to be costly and a waste of time when, if you actually tried to resolve the issue by creating meticulous plans, these problems could’ve been avoided.

“Winging it” may work sometimes but nothing beats a good plan.

“I don’t believe in a no-win scenario.”

From: Star Trek

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: James Kirk

The story behind the quote: This is actually the second time I’m getting a quote from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The quote comes from the beginning of the film where Lt. Saavik and the crew of the Enterprise receives a distress call from the Kobayashi Maru, a Starfleet vessel that is stranded in the Klingon Neutral Zone. As Saavik attempts to rescue the crew of the crippled ship, the Enterprise is attacked by waves upon waves of Klingon starships, resulting in the eventual deaths of the crew of the ship.

It turns out the entire scene was just a test for Saavik to see how she would handle a “no-win” scenario. However, it’s revealed shortly after that there was actually someone who “beat” the Kobayashi Maru simulation; Admiral James T. Kirk managed to complete the scenario on his third try.

Geek wisdom: When you think you can’t succeed, chances are you’ll fail because you already let yourself think it’s okay to not succeed. Sometimes, it’s even better to fail so that you can have an excuse for not trying something again. But if you believe that you have to perform a task and actually do it correctly, you will push yourself harder to do so.

“Look to La Luna”

From: Mortal Kombat

Genre: Video Games

Who said it?: Reptile

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the first Mortal Kombat. The arcade fighting game stood out from the rest of the other Street Fighter clones as it used digitized actors instead of sprites. Oh, and you could murder your opponent if you beat him!

The game was also popular for having hidden secrets and one of those secrets was a computer controlled character named Reptile. It took a long time to figure out how to fight him but the green ninja would drop down and drop hints on how to do so. One of these quotes just so happens to be the quote mentioned:

Geek wisdom: Just a few decades ago, people had dreams to go to the moon. And we actually did. However, something happened between then and now. We stopped going to the moon and, in a way, we also stopped dreaming. In these modern times, we tend to look at the ground or look at what’s in front of us. We never really look up in the sky and wonder anymore. We tend to create short term goals and we don’t think of any long-term goals these days.

Once in a while, take a moment, go outside and look at the moon. And wonder and dream of endless possibilities.

“Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?”

From: Rush Hour 1 & 2

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Carter & Lee

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from the first and second Rush Hour films. The films revolve around Hong Kong Detective Inspector Lee (played by Jackie Chan) and Los Angeles Police Detective Carter (played by Chris Tucker), their partnership and their adventures around the world solving crimes.

During the first movie, Lee travels to Los Angeles in order to investigate the kidnapping of a Hong Kong diplomat’s daughter. He is greeted by Carter in the airport. Although Lee understands the language, he feigns ignorance when Carter tries to talk to him.

In the sequel, aptly titled Rush Hour 2, Carter travels with Lee to Hong Kong to get a much needed vacation but their time off is interrupted when the US Consulate General building is destroyed by a bomb. Lee believes Carter was killed because of misinformation given to him. Lee and Carter independently track the culprit to a yatch and board the vessel separately. He is relieved to see his friend is actually alive but has difficulty explaining it to him.

Geek wisdom: People have the habit of not getting to the point or using overly complex words when explaining things. Sometimes, it’s better to get straight to the point. It’s also important to choose your words as well as speak clearly in order to be understood right away.

“Wolfman’s got nards!”

From: The Monster Squad

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Horace AKA “Fat Kid”

The story behind the quote: This quote comes from the 80’s cult classic, The Monster Squad. In the film, Dracula and other classic monsters terrorize a small town in search for an amulet that could defeat him. They are opposed by The Monster Squad, a group of kids obsessed with classic horror creatures. It’s up to the Monster Squad to defeat Dracula and his band of evil.

The quote comes from the middle of the film, where the Monster Squad manage to track down the amulet that can defeat Dracula. The kids are ambushed by The Wolfman. Sean (the leader of the Monster Squad) tells Horace (the “Fat Kid”) to kick The Wolfman between the legs. Horace questions his judgement but does it anyway, causing the Wolfman to keel over in pain. Horace then delivers the quote, astonished that it actually worked.

Geek wisdom: Sometimes we forget the things that should be obvious to us. Although it should be fairly obvious that the wolfman, being a human male (somewhat), would have the appropriate genitalia for his gender and would be hurt if he was attacked in that area, we don’t really think of it. Nevertheless, it should be self-evident if you really think about it.

We can sometimes overly complicate things and second guess ourselves. It’s best to go simple once in a while and just go for the obvious choice.

“Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.”

From: Billy Madison

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Knibb High School Principal

The story behind the quote: The quote comes from one of Adam Sandler’s first films, Billy Madison. The movie focuses on the titular character’s quest to complete all school levels, starting from the elementary level until high school, and graduate in order to inherit his father’s company.

The quote comes from the very end of the film when Billy is challenged to an Academic Decathlon by the antagonist of the film (played by Bradley Whitford) and get control of the company. When trying to explain how the industrial revolution affected the world, Billy uses a first grade book, The Puppy Who Lost His Way, as a way to answer the question. After delivering a long answer (which Billy is really pleased with), the Knibb High School principal, who was moderating the quiz, tells Billy how stupid his answer is…

Geek wisdom: There are times when you think you have a ingenious answer to something. Or you have something you want to say that, in your mind, seems really clever. So you blurt it out, without filtering it. And, just as you’ve finished saying it, you see, too late, how wrong you were or how stupid the statement really is.

Think before you speak. Sometimes, you have to evaluate what you’re about to say. It’s better than realizing that you’ve just put your foot in your mouth.