Close Talkers and Double Dippers: 15 Phrases Seinfeld Spawned

It’s been 18 years since Seinfeld said goodbye and went off the air, but fans of the all-time favorite American sitcom will never forget these funny phrases that the show created. Maybe you can find your favorite classic Seinfeld catchphrases here in this gallery!

“He’s nice, bit of a close-talker.”

On the episode “The Raincoats,” guest-star Judge Reinhold plays as Aaron, Elaine’s new boyfriend. He is a person who has the tendency of standing too close to people while speaking to them, essentially interrupting their personal space. Fortunately for Jerry and Elaine, they ditched Aaron on Seinfeld’s parents, who never seem to be bothered about someone intruding into their personal proximity.

Jerry is complaining that his dentist Dr. Tim Whatley has converted to Judaism just “for jokes.” After that, Jerry goes on to make dentist jokes and complains about the painful dental procedure. Because of this, Kramer calls Jerry an “anti-dentite.” (shown on the episode “The Yada Yada.”)

The term “yada yada yada” is used excessively to cover up the more boring details of the long story. However, things go awful when “yada yada yada” is also used to conceal more intriguing information. George tries to use these three words to avoid mentioning the death of his fiancee Susan, but when his new girlfriend Marcy tells him that her ex-boyfriend dropped by her house the night before and “yada, yada, yada,” he grows suspicious that Marcy might have had sex with her former date. (Shown on the episode “The Yada Yada.”)

On the episode “The Sponge,” the contraceptive sponge is taken off the market. Elaine hoards up the remaining supply of the “Today sponge” and conserves them by choosing not to sleep with a man unless she is sure he is “spongeworthy.”

Inside a movie theater’s restroom, Elaine realizes she doesn’t have any toilet paper. She asks the woman in the next stall if she has any toilet paper to spare. But the woman, who happens to be Jerry’s girlfriend and movie date, tells Elaine she “can’t spare a square” of toilet paper. The episode also introduced another word “mimbo,” short for “male bimbo,” a term that Jerry uses to describe Elaine’s handsome new date.

On the episode “The Hamptons,” the gang goes to the Hamptons to visit Elaine’s friend’s new baby over the weekend. To make the long story short, George is caught naked by Jerry’s girlfriend Rachel. He tries to explain (but in vain) by yelling “I was in the pool!” meaning that he has gotten out of the cold water and thus his own manhood experiences a “shrinkage.”

These words “serenity now” are uttered by George’s father, Frank Costanza, every time his blood pressure goes up. Sort of an approach to deal with anger management every time he gets caught up in stressful situations, such as when George botches his dad’s computer business.

Jerry, discovering that he will be unable to attend the Super Bowl, gives the tickets to his dentist Tim Whatley. In returrn, Tim gives Jerry the label maker (which is also the title of this particular episode). It just so happens that Elaine gives Tim the same kind of label maker, making her to suspect that the dentist is “regifting” the thing.

When the wedding that Jerry has chosen to attend over the Super Bowl is postponed, he plans to “degift” the tickets he has given to Tim. In the end, he finds himself regifting the label maker to the male roommate of George’s new girlfriend (and George finds that the roommate looks exactly just like him, much to his own disappointment).

On the episode “The Outing,” Jerry and George are mistakenly described as a closeted gay couple by a university reporter. Because of this, they are trying very hard to deny that they are gay but in the same breath they reassure, “not that there’s anything wrong with that.” While the pair fear being seen as gays, they don’t otherwise want to be perceived as homophobic.

“The Soup Nazi” features one of Seinfeld’s most memorable one-off characters, the eponymous role played by actor Larry Thomas. As memorable as his character is, it is the line that the Soup Nazi utters, “No soup for you!” that people remember. The term “Nazi” here is an exaggerated term that refers to the strict regulations that he frequently demands of his customers.

The episode “The Contest” is seen as one of Seinfeld‘s best episodes. In fact, it won numerous awards and rave critical reviews. It also has one of the memorable catchphrases, the “master of your (my) domain” which has become a metaphor for anyone holding back from any desire, whether they’re in a contest or not.

One of the funniest episodes on Seinfeld is “The Puffy Shirt.” Kramer’s fashion designer girlfriend Leslie is a “low talker” who speaks too softly that she can’t be heard. While Jerry, Elaine, Kramer and Leslie are dining together at a restaurant, Leslie says something that Jerry and Elaine can’t hear, but pretend to nod in agreement. It turns out that Jerry has accidentally “agreed” to Leslie’s request to wear her creation, the embarrassing puffy shirt (that the pirates used to wear). Reluctantly, Jerry wears the puffy shirt when he makes his scheduled appearance on The Today Show. The results are hilarious.

On the episode “The Race,” Jerry finds out that his new girlfriend’s boss is his old high-school rival, who still believes that Jerry cheated in their high-school race and wants to have some kind of a rematch with him. However, despite suggestions even from Jerry’s girlfriend to re-run against his old rival, Jerry still refuses saying, “I choose not to run,” defending his victory.

The Christmas tradition of the Costanza family is focused on the “Festivus” feast.  The Festivus is a parodic and secular holiday held two days before Christmas day, and is based on a real-life family tradition of one of the show’s scriptwriters. The celebrations include the airing of grievances, feats of strength, the bare aluminum pole, the Festivus dinner and Festivus miracles. The Festivus is seen as an alternative to the more commercialized Christmas celebration. Since after the episode “The Strike” first introduced us to the Festivus, it has been considered a real holiday and a part of the American pop culture.

On the episode “The Implant,” it shows us one of the things that is considered a big “no-no” at a party (that some of us have been guilty of). It is “double-dipping” where you dip the same chip twice in the dipping sauce, and in that way your saliva spread germs in a shared bowl. George does this at a funeral (of all places), then gets into an argument with his girlfriend’s brother over this offense.

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