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Bored Panda

Lifestyle

Indrė Lukošiūtė

81 Stereotypically White Phrases That Crack People Up Every Time

Pete

Some say white people can't dance and that's debatable. But they sure do know how to spit a good phrase and claim it for life. Whether it's a clever quip about the weather, a sarcastic remark about a lazy coworker, or a well-placed "buddy," many of our pale-skinned friends have a special way with words that we can't help but laugh at.

If you really want the stereotypical white words to come flying at you, try pushing Karen's buttons. Their arsenal is filled with gems like, "For Pete's sake," "I've had it up to HERE," and, "You're cruising for a bruising." But be warned: take it too far and you might just get a "knuckle sandwich."

Someone shared their unfiltered thoughts on Threads the other day when they casually stated, “White people ate when they said ‘you and what army.’" And Jeez Louise, the crowd went wild. The cat dragged in more than 5,000 comments and Bored Panda has put together the best of them. So sit back and keep scrolling, pal. Don't forget to upvote your favorites.

#1

“You kiss your mother with that mouth?”

Stereotypes are just that: an oversimplified, generalized belief or idea about a particular group of people or things. So it goes without saying that not all white people use the phrases featured here, and not only white people use them, either.

In fact, where I come from, many of the gems featured on this list are used by people of color, too. But we can't deny that each culture or race often does have its own sayings, catchphrases, and colloquialisms that have been passed down through generations. Many are so good that they end up getting adopted by other cultures, too.

#2

A white woman got mad at me on a flight for getting off before her and yelled “Well who made you the Queen?!”

#3

Also when they say “You can’t just WALTZ in here!”

This list got me wondering who the heck Pete ("for Pete's sake") and Louise ("Geez, Louise") are...

It led me to a Mental Floss article, which aimed to answer the question, "Who is Pete?" According to that piece, "for Pete’s sake" first appeared around 1903, more or less the same time as "for the love of Pete." Some argue that Pete may actually be St. Peter, while others say Pete isn't/wasn't a person at all.

#4

My White dad: “I’ve had it up to HERE” whilst holding his hand over his head.

#5

My favorite is “get a load of this guy.”

#6

The person who first said “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it” was on different timing.

As the Mental Floss article explains, "for pity’s sake" has been around since the 17th century; and its predecessor, "for pity," dates all the way back to the 15th century. It goes on to reference Michael Quinion, who wrote that people who wanted to curse without really cursing could have played a part in "pity" becoming "Pete." The two words can sound a little similar, depending on who is uttering them.

"Pete’s sake sounds even more like 'peace sake'—a phrase that popped up at various times over the centuries," adds Mental Floss.

#7

Our greatest achievement is still the “knuckle sandwich”.

#8

Nah, I’m about to bring back, “You’re barking up the wrong tree, buddy”.

#9

“You’re cruisin’ for a bruisin.”

What about Louise? Jeez, who is she, even? Well, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest known use of the interjection "Jeez Louise" is in the 1950s. It seems to have come about because certain people were poets but they even didn't know it.

"At least as early as the late 1900s, English speakers started inserting words into their speech that sounded like a blasphemous cuss word that 'took the lord’s name in vein,' but skirted it by rhyming or sounding similar to the forbidden profanity," explains Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. "In the 1930s, when rhyming slang became briefly popular, somebody paired “geez” with “Louise” and that relic of the era lived on as an expression of exasperation."

#10

"Workin hard or hardly workin?" is gonna hit every Friday.

#11

"Oh for cryin out loud."

#12

I live in Ontario, Canada and -

"Knuckle sandwich" is a sort of obvious one: a rather special way to say "punch in the face."

It's often used more as a joke than an actual threat. "The humor hides in the metaphor," explains the Emma Brooke from englishgrammerpro.com. "A sandwich is something you serve, share, or hand someone. Swapping out bread and filling for a fist gives the phrase a silly twist. You get a mix of toughness and comedy wrapped into one short expression."

#13

my dad kept us in line with a stern “I beg your pardon?!”

#14

I give you my Dad’s most famous line of all time, to use when you’ve stayed up too late and have to wake up early: “You can’t cluck with the chickens if you’re hootin with the owls!!”

#15

Me: ‘It’s not my first rodeo.’
Also me: never been to a rodeo.

#16

When the check comes “what’s the damage?”

#17

“I've got bigger fish to fry.”

#18

"Well, look what the cat dragged in" was definitely a banger.

lordsantana_:
I love that “Look what the cat dragged in” can be used interchangeably for excitement or irritation when someone walks into a room.

#19

Every white person that has to come back for their car keys...."not gonna get far without these!"

#20

Or when someone gossips to them and they pull the
“not my circus - not my monkeys.”

#21

Omggggg. You guys. I’m hanging out with my Spaniard husband watching the game.
Something happens and he replies “that’s why they get paid the big bucks.”
I am CACKLING.
“Babe, that is the most white man thing you’ve ever said.”

#22

My white mom: “well excuuuuuse me for livin’ but the graveyards are full!” Plot twist: I had her cremated cause the graveyards are full.

#23

“Newsflash, BUDDY!” Goodness. It’s perfection.

#24

“Selling like hotcakes”. When was there a run on hotcakes??

#25

"Oh that is RICH coming from you!"

#26

“I may have been born in the ‘mornin, but I wasn’t born this ‘morning!” -my Dad any time I lied.

#27

“You bet your bottom dollar” is real player.

#28

My grandma used to say "they ain't worth the powder it'd take to blow em up."

#29

Don’t forget to add “living the dream” after someone asks how you are.

#30

When I hand off a grocery cart to someone after checking out, so they don’t have to go grab one, I say “left a little gas in the tank for ya” it’s a hit every time.

#31

“No more Mr. Nice Guy.”

#32

"I'm THIS CLOSE to losing it 🤏" whilst their fingers are almost touching.

#33

Honorable mention: “Hold My Beer” & “You’re Pushing it Pal”

#34

"Oh yeah, tough guy?"

#35

When my brother and I were bouncing off the walls my mom used to say “stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off.”

#36

White guy coming out of the restaurant bathroom: “Who’s ready to rock and roll?”

#37

Whenever I said i'm thirsty my Dad said "Nice to meet you Thirsty, I'm Friday."

#38

One of my favorites from my dad.. “you need to cool your jets.”
Okay, Chris.

#39

Telling someone to go “pound sand.”

#40

Anyone: I’ll see you later
White people: NOT IF I SEE YOU FIRST.

#41

“Hand me that thingamabob” or “whatchamacallit”.

#42

We always say “he ain’t coloring with all his crayons.”

#43

Last week I told my son, "You're skating on thin ice, buddy" and I finally understood how serious it was.

#44

You can’t forget that any time it rains: “we needed this.”
Or when a line is getting incredibly long: “good thing we got here when we did.”

#45

My favorite is when a middle-aged white guy’s friend comes into the restaurant/bar, and they’re like “Watch out! The terminator is here!” “Uh oh, here comes trouble!” And it’s just a guy who looks like an extra from King of the Hill.

#46

Working as a cashier and hearing the “it must be free!” Or the classic “free 99” whenever something wouldn’t scan, used to send me out..

#47

Older white guy was about to fight at the bar and right before he got laid out…… “ I will rock your world buddy.”

#48

I used to work with the prime example of a mid-west white guy who would ask "Are you smart feller or a fart smeller?" Anytime someone messed up.

#49

Few days ago seen a lady say an ugly [dude] "would make a train take a dirt road" and I couldn't wait for one of these threads to share it lmao!

#50

“You’re on thin ice BUSTER.”

#51

“Don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.”

#52

“I’ve got a bone to pick with you”
Okay???

#53

My mom threatening the teacher who cracked me with a ruler, going “Lady, I will SNATCH YOU BALD.”

#54

That’s a bunch of hoopla / malarkey / baloney.

#55

Mine is “oh for the love of all that’s holy.”

#56

My personal favorites:
“Jeez Louise!!” & “ For Pete’s Sake”

#57

The "that ain't going nowhere" while making sure the strap is tight.

#58

“What am I? Chopped liver?!”

#59

I started transitioning to male and immediately adopted the white guy “just gonna squeeze right past ya.”

#60

“Oh yeah, nice language”….after talking crazy and I respond.

#61

Never forget the time i got told to “kick rocks, skedaddle.”

#62

“Don’t rattle my feathers.”

#63

My favorite- “Here’s the thing-“

#64

My dad’s variation when someone was ugly ‘he/she could chase a bulldog off a meat wagon.’

#65

“Mama where you goin?”
“ too see a dog about a cat”
Then as i got older it finally hit me.

#66

Horse aphorisms:
“You can only lead a horse to water….”
“Hey, don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth”
“Hold your horses”
“You’re putting the cart before the horse”
“Well, that’s a horse of a different color!”
Nothing quite like the inclusion of horses to get a point across.

#67

Whenever a cashier tells my husband a total that is a real date, he says “ah, that was a good year.”

#68

White child: “hey”
White parent: “hay is for horses”

#69

“Whenever you’re feeling froggy, you just go ahead and leap.”
“That (insert person) fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down!”
In my family in particular, there’s the long suffering, emphatic, “*Must* you?” You have to round that off with a disgusted look when you say it.

#70

"Take a hike!"

#71

My Irish mother loves to say “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.”

#72

"Now I've had just about enough of this."

#73

Today I learned, “Does the Elevator not go to the top floor in your brain?”

#74

When that one dude said “you’re not that guy pal.”

#75

“Well knock me down and call me shorty” oh my.

#76

I just heard this yt woman on the phone venting and she said “she’s gonna wish she didn’t rattle my cage.” I was finna holler in the back of her head.

#77

My mom when I came in too late as a college boy - “You wouldn’t be so tired if you weren’t up all night galavanting all over creation doing 90 to nothing.”