10 Iconic phrases said on Mexican television (some have become memes)

Some colloquial phrases were born on television and, although the years pass, they continue to remain in the collective memory. It is a group of funny and unexpected expressions that came out of the mouths of famous actors and comedians to contextualize a situation or laugh at it. For example: “They didn’t count on my shrewdness” to highlight the “brilliant” ideas of Chapolin Colorado, “It is that I slipped away”, when Chaves talked too much and “Worse, worse, son”, by Laura León in a soap opera, although this The latter, in fact, was a mistake that netizens did not forgive.

O awesome.club created a list with some of the phrases heard for the first time on Mexican television and that many still use them, whether to make a joke or to be serious.

“Come with me to see this sad story” was a maxim said by Silvia Pinal in the program’s introduction Women, real life cases (1985-2007). The phrase recently went viral as an internet meme, to ironically refer to a situation that looked good but turned out to be a disaster. Pinal, who is now 88, was consulted on the matter but was completely unaware of the joke. However, she took it for the best, as she took it as confirmation that the show remains a reference. SBT made a Brazilian version, real life casesbroadcast from January 5 to February 27, 2004, with Silvia Abravanel as presenter.

“They didn’t count on my astuteness” is one of the popular phrases that Roberto Gómez Bolaños managed to patent in one of his numerous humorous characters. The reference is from Chapolin Colorado (1973-1979), who used the expression to boast after doing something “smart”.

The phrase “Worse, worse, son!” 🇧🇷Worse, worse, hijo!”) was heard for the first time in Mexican homes when the actress and singer Laura León, in the role of Dona Refugio Urbina, in the soap opera double life (2011), scolds her son for wanting to leave university to devote himself to journalistic and commercial photography. The expression said incorrectly (the correct one in Spanish would be “worse”), was immortalized and many still remember her.

Xavier López, better known as Chabeleo, is an eminence of Mexican television and was a presenter for 48 years of In family with Chabeleo (1968-2015). It was on this program that the expression “cataphyxia” was heard for the first time, which, according to López, he invented it himself. The term means to make an exchange for something else unknown. Therefore, the television presenter asked the participants “Do you want to enter the cataphyse?”, and they, without knowing the risk, often accepted, choosing a card with a number and waiting for a wall, identified with the same number of the card, to turn over. and show a better or worse award.

Mexico met in 2002 the reality show Big Brother (2002-2015), in which 12 participants are isolated in a house for a long time, while being watched by television cameras 24 hours a day. The second season was called Big Brother: The Plot, and the symbol phrase was “The rules change”, used to promote the program, which had changed the dynamics of participant eliminations. Some use the expression “the rules change” to refer to a fact that is transformed, as did the Mexican assistant coach of the MLS team Seattle Sounders, Gonzalo Pineda, when he said: “Mexican football is like the Big Brotherthe rules change”.

“Nobody has patience with me” is the constantly repeated phrase used by Chaves in El Chavo del 8 (1972-1983) whenever he pissed someone off. It is a symbolic phrase of this character, as well as the already known ones: “This, this, this”, to reaffirm that someone understood what he was trying to explain without much success; “It was unintentionally wanting”, when he said more than he should and “Okay, but don’t get angry”, whenever he wanted to calm the spirits of Professor Girafales, Seu Madruga or Senhor Barriga.

The character “El Tata”, who was played by the late actor Jorge Arvizu on the show My guests (My Guests), broadcast from 1979 to 1983, was the one who invented the famous phrase “QUIERO MI COCOL” (“I want my cocol”). The characterization was that of an elderly man, always in pajamas, glasses and disheveled hair, who said “cocol” as a reference to the old sweet aniseed bread, typical of Mexican cuisine. Another expression widely used in the country is: “The thing is cocol”, which according to the Royal Spanish Academy and the Cervantes Virtual Center, means that the situation is complicated to resolve.

The expression immediately reminds us of the evil Soraya Montenegro in Maria do Bairro (1995-1996). Mexican actress Itatí Cantoral brought this character to life and said the famous phrase more than 20 years ago. Everything happens when Soraya, in an attempt to harm María Hernández, (Maria do Bairro – Thalía), tries to win over her son Nandito, but he is in love with Alicia, a girl with a physical disability. She discovers them and screams to the four winds: “Why are you kissing the cripple?”, which has become an internet meme and a non-politically correct joke.

It was a normal day on the show winding (1996-present), when presenter Pedro Sola had to make a merchandising of Hellmann’s mayonnaise. However, while doing the advertising he was wrong and said: “McCormick Mayonnaise”, that is, he promoted a competing product live. Her reaction was immediate. The mistake cost her dearly, as she said in an interview. Evidently, his expression became a meme and he didn’t lost the chance to laugh about what happened.

Before the arrival of television, one of the most listened to radio stations in mid-1937 in Mexico City was XEW, which broadcast The crazy monk. This character was played by the announcer Salvador Carrasco, who always said: “Nobody knows, nobody knew”. His phrase transcended time and in 1998, Eugenio Derbez created for derbez when (1998-1999) the counterpart called “Lonje Moco”, a parody that began with the mythical quote, accompanied by “It was horrible, it was horrible”, which also became famous.

Which of these phrases is your favorite? Are you one of those who, to joke, use any of these expressions when talking to someone? Which iconic expression of Brazilian television do you remember?