Growing up as a Preacher’s Kid, I never heard my Father (or Mother) tell dirty jokes. It’s rather limiting, so since he didn’t tell dirty jokes, it means he didn’t tell many jokes. For the most part, his jokes were puns. This is one of the few I recall:
A rope walked into a bar, and the bartender said “Sorry, we don’t serve your kind here.” The rope left in a huff, and thrashed about on the ground, coiled angrily and twisted himself into knots. As he lay panting on the ground, he got an idea. He went back into the bar, and had a seat at a bar side stool. The bartender looked closely at him, and said “Excuse me, but you look like that rope I just told to leave. You wouldn’t happen to be him, would you?” “No” the rope confidently replied, “I’m a frayed knot.”
In Star Trek, the phrase “I’m afraid not” is used with remarkable frequency. It’s the kind of thing someone wouldn’t notice, but since I always notice the use of “I’m afraid not,” it becomes more noticeable than the rest of the dialog. It isn’t just The Original Series; its use is frequent and continues all the way up to Star Trek: Enterprise. Yes, it’s even in some of the films as well. I don’t actually recall it in the newest Star Trek film by J. J. Abrams, but I’m a-frayed I might notice it in that film as well.
When you watch an entire series in a row as I have with Netflix, you start to notice certain things. They stay fresh in your mind, and don’t have a chance to fade away over the course of a normal week as the original writers may have intended. Sorry if I’ve ruined it for you; if you do decide to see a few episodes of Star Trek in a row, I’m a-frayed you might start to notice it as well.
Speaking of recurring phrases, I know I’ll never be able to watch an action film without waiting to hear “Get out of there!” after watching this video.
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