Tag: ben stiller

“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”

From: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Patches O’Houlihan

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the 2004 sports comedy film, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. The film is about a scrappy group of misfits who join a dodgeball tournament with the hopes of using the prize money to save their local gym from Globo Gym.

The quote comes in the middle of the film. Retired professional dodgeball player Patches O’Houlihan (played by Rip Torn) decides to train the group after finding out Globo Gym’s owner, White Goodman (played by Ben Stiller), created his own team to thwart the good guys. However, it turns out Patches O’Houlihan’s training is very unorthodox as his training involved throwing wrenches at them. He does explain why by delivering the quote.

Geek wisdom:  Skills aren’t just in a vacuum. Some of them will bleed into other skills and will actually help you learn new things.

“I have nipples, Greg. Could you milk me?”

From: Meet The Parents

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Admiral Ackbar 

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the 2000 comedy film, Meet The Parents. The unfortunately named Gaylord “Greg” Fokker (played by Ben Stiller) intends to propose to Pam (Teri Polo), his girlfriend. However, he finds out that he has to ask permission from her parents first. The couple travel to Pam’s home and Greg hopes to get Pam’s parents blessing. Unfortunately, Pam’s father, Jack (played by Robert De Niro), takes an immediate disliking to Greg for several reasons (his name and his occupation as a male nurse for example). Because of this, Greg tries to find way to curry favor from Jack.

The quote comes from one of the tall tales Greg weaves in the hopes of impressing Jack. In order to get out of a lie, Greg says he milked a cat…

Geek wisdom: We do feel the need to stretch the truth now and then. However, if you get caught in a lie, it’s pretty painful. There are a lot of implications when people find out you’re a liar as well. People can start distrusting you or not believe you, even when you are just giving the facts. As much as possible, it’s a good idea to avoid lying altogether.