Seinfeld expressions
 

 
     
 

Seinfeld expressions:
Some of them became popular phrases in everyday speech (Seinfeldisms). Among the most well-known:

Relationships:
"It's not you, it's me" - George claims he invented this famous break-up line.
Bad breaker-upper - someone who says the things you don't mean when you break up, but means them.
Mimbo - a male bimbo, specifically used by Jerry to describe Tony, one of Elaine's many boyfriends.
Schmoopie - nauseatingly sweet term of affection used by couples for each other, as in "I love you, Schmoopie!" Jerry uses it with a girlfriend, to George and Elaine's disgust.
Two-face - describes a girl who looks good in one lighting condition, and ugly in another. Also used: "hotsy totsy, hotsy notsy."
Worlds Theory - A theory of George's explaining that if relationship George and independent George where to meet then both his worlds will collide and explode. Unaware of this theory, Jerry suggested Elaine should be friends with Susan given that Elaine had no women friends. Kramer knew about this theory, Jerry apparently did not.


Boys - slang for genitals.
Conjugal visit sex - the second best sex to have, fugitive sex being first and make-up sex being third.
Fugitive sex - the one thing better than conjugal visit sex.
Make-up sex - the sex when making up after an argument, which is best type other than conjugal visit sex and fugitive sex.
"I was in the pool!" - George's defense of being seen naked in "The Hamptons" episode. He says it twice, because he is short-changed by temporary shrinkage of his genitals.
"Hipster doofus" - given by Kramer's girlfriend, the word accurately described and defined the character of Kramer for many of the viewers. Often taken as "someone who is intellectual and spirited; knowing the real design of life and not caring at all." Believed to be the roughest prototype of today's metrosexual man.
Kavorka - "The lure of the animal". A powerful sexual attraction that Kramer possesses.
"You mean the panties your mother laid out for you?" - An attempt at dirty talking by Jerry. What does it mean? No one is sure. This phrase caused Elaine's too-talkative work colleague Sandra to break up with Jerry in the middle of sex. Although as George points out, "Well, that's not offensive. It's abnormal, but it's not offensive."
Shrinkage - the shrinking of a man's (specifically George Costanza) penis in cold water. "Like a frightened turtle," as Jerry says.
Mulva - the name Jerry guessed for a woman he was dating whose name he couldn't remember, all he knew was that it rhymed with a part of a woman's anatomy. After she stormed off in a huff because he couldn't remember her name, he realized it was Dolores.


Susan

Trifecta - combining sex, watching television, and eating into one activity.
Queen of the castle - used to describe woman's (Elaine's) fortitude in refraining from masturbation; feminine form of "master of my domain." Elaine was queen of the castle until she saw John F. Kennedy Junior in an exercise class.
Master of my domain - used to describe one's fortitude in refraining from masturbation.
Sexual camel - someone who can go long periods between sex.
"So who's having sex with the chicken?" - the climax to Frank Costanza's dinner table commentary while he and Estelle are meeting Susan Ross' parents for the first time.
The tap - during sex, to get a tap on the shoulder by your partner to cease activities because of subpar performance.
The move - Jerry's complicated special move he uses during sexual intercourse. It ends with a swirl (as opposed to George's unpopular alternative, which ends with a pinch). George was able to master Jerry's move only with crib notes he scribbles on his hand (which got him in trouble).
"Not that there's anything wrong with that" - politically correct standard disclaimer, used to indicate that while one was not homosexual, one did not particularly disapprove of it.
Spongeworthy - that a potential sexual partner is particularly worthy; in the original episodes, being "spongeworthy" meant Elaine was willing to use one of her limited supply of (no longer produced) contraceptive Today sponges with this person.
Stopping short - the technique of a driver of a car (usually male) who slams on the brakes, in order to get a cheap feel of the person in the passenger seat. Frank Costanza was notoriously good at this, and became angered when he believed Kramer had stopped short on Estelle.
"They're real, and they're spectacular" Explanation by Jerry's girlfriend about her real body.


Invented words:
Festivus - a December holiday created by Frank Costanza to counteract the commercialism of those other December holidays.
Anti-dentite - someone who discriminates against dentists, which Kramer accuses Jerry of being.
Baldist - someone who discriminates against bald people, George often being the victim.
Manssiere/Bro - names proposed by Frank Costanza and Kramer (respectively) for support garments for male breasts.
Cantstandya! - a nickname given to George by his high school gym teacher.
Moops - a typo for "Moors" on a Trival Pursuit card; seized upon by George to deny the Bubble Boy the win.
Shiksappeal - someone who is appealing, but non-Jewish; a play on the Yiddish word shiksa.
Vile weed! - term used by Newman to describe broccoli.
Double-dipper - a person who inserts chip into dip, takes a bite, and unhygenically re-dips the chip, thereby essentially putting the whole mouth into the dip. George's double-dipping causes a scuffle at a funeral.
Re-gift/re-gifter - take a (usually undesirable) present given to you, and give to someone else.
Close talker - a person who doesn't understand the concept of personal space during conversation.
High talker - a person who speaks in an abnormally high pitch, usually to describe a male who sounds like a female.
Low talker - a person who speaks very softly. This can have very adverse effects especially when Jerry was 'low talked' into wearing a puffy shirt on The Today Show.
Ribbon Bully - someone who forces to you wear a red AIDS ribbon.


§             "Hello, Newman" - Jerry's greeting to a certain annoying postal worker.

§             "Newman!" - spoken with hatred, usually by Jerry when he identifies that Newman is responsible for something, or all, that's bad. Variations include "Kramer!" and "Bania!" when other characters are believed to have slighted Jerry.

§                  1st and 1st - the street that intersects itself, known to Kramer as the nexus of the universe.

§             Bottle Wipe - When someone taking a sip of your water wipes the bottle thoroughly before taking the drink, despite having previously given you an open mouthed kiss. Not a good sign.

§             Costanza Leave Behind - Keys, gloves, scarf -- go back to her place to pick it up...date number two.

§             Coup de'toe – George's comedy bit that Jerry performs unsuccessfully about the second toe outgrowing the big toe.

§             Dry heave set to music - used to describe Elaine's horrendous dancing.

§             Even-Steven - a person [specifically Jerry in "The Opposite"] who always comes out even no matter what. For example, Jerry breaks even in Poker, Loses a gig and then gets another one, throws a twenty dollar bill out the window and later finds twenty dollars.

§             "Get Out!" - Elaine's trademark line, usually accompanied by pushing someone backwards on the chest.

§             Getting upset - used in the third person as in "George is getting upset!", exclaimed by George Louis Costanza himself. Self-reflective speech was initially a defining attribute of Jimmy ("The Jimmy").

§             "Giddyup!" - Kramer's trademark line, meaning "it's all good" or "let's go".

§             "Go!" - Another one of Kramer's trademarks. He would occasionally pick up the phone and use "Go!" instead of the standard, "Hello?"

§             Hand sandwich - a type of layered handshake: one hand on top and the other on the bottom while shaking another person's hand.

§             "Happy, Pappy?" -

§             "Hello!" - the catchphrase of an imaginary, portly character who was inspired by the belly button of one of Jerry's girlfriends. This was eventually popular among Jerry, George, and Kramer.

§             "Hello, Vargas" - Kevin's greeting to a certain friendly FedEx worker, who's the same size as Newman. This was intended as a joke, as Kevin and Vargas share a laugh over it.

§             "Hoochie Mama!" - an exclamation used by Kramer, and ultimately Frank Costanza, in place of "Serenity Now!" (see below). Kramer also uses it to express surprise or awe throughout the series.

§             The Human Fund: Money For People - a fictional charity made up by George in order to save on spending for actual Christmas presents. After having donated people's presents to the Human Fund, his boss, Mr. Kruger, decides that the company should make a significant contribution and thinks the Human Fund is a worthy cause. As a result, George becomes an overnight philanthropist.

§             "I am Aware" - Yelled by George when one of his faults has been brought to his attention several times. Such as when he was pestering Elaine to have her friend fix him up with Marisa Tomei and she said "but you're engaged" to which he replied "I am Aware".

§             In the vault - an expression to indicate a secret, told in confidence, as in don't worry, "it's in the vault."

§             Man hands - phrase to describe a woman's hands when they are 'less than feminine.'

§             "No soup for you!" - an exclamation used in the event where someone changes his or her mind about giving something to someone else. The word "soup" may be replaced with the object at hand; the reference to the show can still be very obvious if the speaker uses the correct tone of voice.

§             "Oh Moses, smell the roses!" - interjection comparable to "Sweet, fancy Moses!"

§             "Oh, the humanity!" - the phrase used by Newman after his U.S. Postal Service truck catches fire while he is driving at night. Newman is repeating the famous radio call of the Hindenberg disaster by Herb Morrison.

§             "Pretty big matzah ball" - the phrase "I love you" when said and unreturned hangs out there like a matzoh ball.

§             Pop in - the act of visiting without invitation or notification. Jerry claims to dislike the "pop in" but has no choice as George, Elaine, and especially Kramer often "pop in" to his apartment.

§             Poor little Pinkus - used by Kramer when he thought he pushed Steve Gendason, his golf buddy and a former baseball player, over the edge, Gendason murdering Pinkus, the dry cleaner.

§             "Serenity now!" - something that George's father Frank paradoxically yells as a mantra to calm down. Unfortunately, when one uses the "serenity now" method of anger management, the person swallows the anger until it reaches a critical level and he or she explodes. Lloyd Braun claims that this is how he was driven insane: "Serenity now. Insanity later."

§             "Seinfeld, you magnificent bastard!" - when Jerry impresses himself.

§             Slip one past the goalie - to impregnate a woman, as phrased by Jerry in response to Kramer's lament that he had never done it.

§             Soup Nazi - rude and gruff restaurateur who would kick clients out for not following procedures, declaring, "No soup for you!".

§             "Sweet Fancy Moses!!" - exclaimed by Jerry and George when they both are subject to Elaine's horrendous dancing.

§             "That'll be ... five ... ten ... minutes" - to put off those who are in waiting, such as for a free table in a restaurant, for what overtly appears a moderate duration, but with the effect or even the intention to wait indefinitely.

§             "That's a shame" - a line Jerry frequently uses to express half-hearted sympathy. George sometimes says it, too. Kramer uses the line in an episode where he and Jerry switch apartments and personalities.

§             "That's gold, Jerry! Gold!" - phrase used by Bania when Jerry offers him a joke to use in his comedy routine, in place of one of Bania's own.

§             The belt-less trenchcoat - a men's fashion design created by Morty Seinfeld in the late 1940s/early 1950s. Considered by the elder Seinfeld to be one of his greatest accomplishments. Also known as "The Executive."

§             "The jerk store called: they're running out of you!" George's comeback for "The ocean called, they're running out of shrimp," due to George's pigging out on shrimp at a Yankee's meeting.

§             The jimmy leg - a condition that people have when their leg undergoes spasms while sleeping causing his/her significant other to lose sleep. This condition may cause a couple to sleep in different beds; Frank and Estelle Costanza resorted to sleeping in twin beds as a result of her jimmy arm.

§             The old switcheroo - George mistakenly uses this phrase as applying to when someone has done something to you, you do the same thing to them. Jerry explains that George is thinking of "what is good for the goose is good for the gander." George asks, "What is a goose|gander, anyway?" Jerry answers, "A goose that's had the old switcheroo pulled on it."

§             The twirl - Jerry used to sell umbrellas on the street and claims he invented holding the umbrella open over one's shoulder and twirling it. The twirl must be done at a certain speed, otherwise the twirler will disorient the customer.

§             toe thumbs - one of Jerry's girlfriends had a mysterious "tractor story." George suggested she lost her thumbs in a tractor accident and they grafted her big toes onto her thumbs.

§             "These pretzels are making me thirsty!" - a line Kramer was to say in a Woody Allen movie; all four characters practiced saying the line in different ways. Later used as a filler phrase when irritated or nervous, and at a loss for words.

§             "They just ... write it off!" - Kramer expressing his belief in a "write off" being something for which the consequences can be ignored, such as when a company writes off a loss.

§             To name name(s) - an expression of the ultimate and irredeemable betrayal of an (until then shared) idea, or good; in referring to the betrayer.

§             Urban sombrero - Advocated by Elaine, a sombrero designed for the urban business professional, combining "the spirit of Old Mexico with a little big-city panache". After becoming president of the company, Elaine pridefully promotes the hat on the cover of the J. Peterman catalog. The urban sombrero then bombs, and afterwards becomes symbolic of Elaine's hubris and, in general, of failure. As Peterman describes it, when Elaine shows him the catalog in the Burmese jungle, "The horror... the horror." This hat also took away the sales from umbrella salesmen. "Now we got that damn 'urban sombrero' to contend with."

§             "Vargas!" - a positive exclamation, the opposite of "Newman!" as to identify a single individual being responsible for something that's good, from the Bizarro Jerry episode.

§             Walk-and-talk - Used in The Finale. Jerry advised Elaine that it was bad form to talk to a friend and then abruptly hang up on him or her while outdoors on a cellphone. There were other iterations of this expression later in the episode.

§             "Who is this?" - Said by Jerry when called by a friend with a desperate situation.

§             "Yada yada yada" - used largely like "et cetera, et cetera", although in the original Seinfeld episode it was used to gloss over important details. George had a girlfriend who yada yada'd shoplifting. Elaine described a bad date - she yada yada'd sex, but she did mention the lobster bisque.

§             "You are so good looking" - a proposed alternative phrase for when someone sneezes, rather than "God bless you."

§             "You can stuff your sorries in a sack!" - George's annoying retort to Jerry's untimely "betrayal". It was invented by Susan.

§             "You gotta see the baby!" - annoying phrase muttered by new parents to uninterested friends.

§             "You tell that son of a bitch that no Yankee is ever coming to Houston, not as long as you bastards are running things!" - George's sarcastic response to the Astros' question about their team playing against the Yankees. Upon hearing this out of context, Wilhelm angrily slams down the phone, and later Steinbrenner recommends a hot tub to George.

§             Yo-Yo Ma! - A prominent cellist whose name is exclaimed randomly by Kramer after being kicked in the head by "Crazy" Joe Davola

 

  

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