5 'Looney Tunes' Catchphrases That Became Everyday Slang

By far the most iconic line in the "Looney Tunes" canon, Bugs Bunny’s “What’s up, Doc?” made its debut in the 1940 cartoon “A Wild Hare.” Animator Tex Avery reportedly drew inspiration from his upbringing in Texas, where the phrase was a casual greeting among his friends.

"The humor itself wasn’t in the words spoken, but in the context: a bunny calmly eating a carrot while in danger," says Enos. "The juxtaposing casual confidence of Bugs Bunny was a hit with viewers, with Americans beginning to quote ‘What’s up, Doc?’ in everyday situations."

“A Wild Hare” went on to earn an Oscar nomination for best short subject (cartoons), though it lost to MGM’s “The Milky Way.”

Decades later, director Peter Bogdanovich borrowed Bugs Bunny’s famous catchphrase for the title of his 1972 romantic comedy What’s Up, Doc? starring Barbra Streisand, who delivers the line while crunching on a carrot.

After making his debut in the 1937 cartoon “Porky’s Duck Hunt,” Daffy Duck quickly evolved from a supporting character into a featured star. Created by Avery and Clampett, Daffy became known for his theatrical outbursts and larger-than-life personality.

Audiences first heard his signature catchphrase "You're despicable!" in the 1951 short “Rabbit Fire,” part of the celebrated series of cartoons pitting Daffy and Bugs Bunny against hunter Elmer Fudd. “The biggest influence of 'Looney Tunes' wasn’t the individual phrases, but the spreading of a specific style of speech,” Enos says. “Bugs Bunny’s dry sarcasm and relaxed confidence long influenced American humor … and Daffy Duck’s theatrical outrage allowed children to imitate these characters’ personalities.”

“Nimrod” traces back to the Bible, in which Nimrod, a great-grandson of Noah, is described as a “mighty hunter.” The name also belonged to the ship used by explorer Ernest Shackleton during his 1907–1909 Antarctic expedition.

It took on a new life in "Looney Tunes," where Daffy Duck sarcastically called the hapless hunter Elmer Fudd a "little nimrod.” The joke played on the biblical Nimrod’s reputation.

While the name had been used as a sarcastic insult before "Looney Tunes," the cartoons likely helped popularize its modern meaning. Over time, “nimrod” itself became an insult to describe a foolish or inept person.

Sylvester the Cat made his debut in the 1945 short “Life With Feathers,” where he uttered a version of what would become his signature exclamation: “Suffering succotash!”

The precise origin of the expression is difficult to pin down, but it belongs to a long tradition of minced oaths—mild expressions used in place of profanity or religious exclamations. Such substitutions were particularly common in the Victorian era, when speakers devised colorful alternatives to words considered improper or blasphemous.

Succotash itself is a vegetable dish traditionally made with corn and lima beans or other shell beans.

“That’s all, folks!” is one of the "Looney Tunes'" oldest and most enduring catchphrases. It appeared at the end of countless shorts both on screen and, eventually, as a spoken sign-off.

The phrase was featured in “Sinkin’ in the Bathtub” (1930), the first "Looney Tunes" short, which starred Bosko, a character created by animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Other characters delivered versions of the phrase during the early 1930s before it became more standardized later in the decade. By 1937, it was Porky Pig's signature sign-off. “It was Porky Pig that made the phrase iconic,” Enos says.

Mel Blanc, the voice behind Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and many other "Looney Tunes" characters, had the famous phrase inscribed on his headstone.