catch phrase

What comes to your mind when you hear “you are fired” or “that’s hot”? Chances are you associate these phrases with Donald Trump and Paris Hilton. Catch phrases as they are called are simple phrases that are recognized by their repeated utterance.

So who uses them and why do they use them? Well anybody who has anything to sell, a product, an image, or an idea. And many a times even by ordinary people not perhaps to sell anything but just out of habit.

One of the teachers in my high school had this habit of using an unusual phrase “Jo Hai Ki” in his normal speech. One day while attending his class I counted the number of times he uttered Jo Hai Ki. It was seventy two times in a thirty minute class. No one pointed out to him, his habit of repeating this phrase and he blissfully continued to utter the phrase every time he spoke. And although he may not have intended it this way but every time I think of him I remember his Jo Hai Ki.

That’s how catch phrase catch on, they help you recall something they are associated with and often they works the other way round, you see something and remember the catchy phrase associated with it. Who can forget jingles and catch phrases like “Mango Fruiti, fresh n juicy”, “Gale mein khich khich, gale mein khich khich kya karoon”, or “Khao gagan raho magan”, they will forever be associated with the product they endorsed.

In fact catch phrases are used more often than we may even realize. It is very common for political parties, companies, advertisers, celebrities, and people trying to get the audience's attention to try to come up with a phrase that will be their signature line. Advertisers are always coming up with a phrase that can become a trademark for the product they are advertising. Many television hosts have a signature line that audiences associate with them. When Katie Couric moved to the evening news, she told the public that she was trying to come up with a signing off phrase and thousands of viewers even sent suggestions.

There was a time when even I tried to come up with a catch phrase; I zeroed in on Go jump and Go take a walk. It gave me immense satisfaction whenever I used the catch phrase, it was kind of my thing but I had to give it up soon. Some people actually started jumping or going for long walks and never coming back.

Good or bad, catch phrases are like labels, or logo, they help you identify the product, person or the idea and set them apart from others.