Sweep the Leg! I think it’s actually catching on as a popular phrase
Okay kids, I’ve been on a one-woman mission to bring awareness to the phrase Sweep the Leg. Now before you get all up in my grill about the origins of the phrase I want to make one thing clear: I did not invent this phrase.
I never said I came up with it, I am not implying that I created it and I am not taking credit for it. So let’s not raise those hackles; put that fur right back down where it belongs.
Now onto my story. A while ago Struggling Writer posted a video of the song “Sweep the Leg” by No More Kings. Excellent tune; you must go over there and watch the clip. It’s a little movie vignette; the song starts at the 3 minute mark.
So besides being a tight song, it spawned my desire use the phrase repeatedly because I think it is multipurpose and can (and should) be used in many different situations. Urban Dictionary agrees with me and gives a deserving nod to “The Karate Kid,” however I am suggesting one more usage. I already gave you a primer back in July but I’ll save you the click for the extra definition.
Cardiogirl’s Bonus Definition: Used to express intense dismay or disgust; can be used in place of effing A or, alternately, F*ck.
The scene takes place in the middle of winter on a Wednesday morning. I have a raging sinus infection and am looking forward to all three kids being at school. It has been snowing non-stop since noon the day before.
I boot up the computer and check to make sure school is open. As the computer is coming to life I offer up a silent prayer.
‘God, please don’t let today be a snow day. I’ll give (mulls it over for a minute) $10 for the poor at church if it’s not a snow day. Please, I really feel like shit today. I’m begging you.’
Clicks the website and finds out it’s a snow day — school is canceled.
“Sweep the leg! I knew I should have offered $20 for the poor.”
And that is why I have used this phrase in 20 posts since July of 2009. Now imagine my intense joy when LJ stopped by to tell me, via a comment, that she saw Sweep the Leg on “Better off Ted” the night before. Not once, but twice in a single episode!
I verified that it was used correctly — as a stand alone statement — because I thought maybe it was just part of a gristly episode.
As in two people were cleaning up a dismembered body and one said to the other, “Sweep the leg. Get over there with the broom, you missed the leg on the floor while you were sweeping.” LJ confirmed that it was used correctly.
Then she came back to add the following:
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Speaking of “Sweep the Leg” it seems to be showing up everywhere! Last night (although I didn’t watch the whole show) I caught the last 10 minutes of “Community.” Jack Black was a guest on it and he had a T-shirt on that read: “Sweep the Leg” with an outline of some dude doing a karate move. What is this world coming to?!
Sweep the Leg, gingah!
I want to believe this world is coming to peace and harmony and that a writer for “Better Off Ted” has crossed the moat into the Cardiogirl Empire. And maybe even Mr. Black stopped by, just once. It’s technically within the realm of possibility. I get a few hits every other day from Los Angeles.
Probably there’s some gnarly dude in LA who sits in his stained wife beater and nurses a can of Bud while reading my posts on his laptop. But a girl can dream. And in my dreams Kathy Griffin is using it as a catch phrase and Sweep the Leg is taking the nation by storm.
Tags: Things that actually make me happy, Things that are fun!
Nice. Who’s to say, though, that you weren’t secretly a writer on Karate Kid? You have never proven that you weren’t. Or perhaps a young Cardiogirl was on the playground and said “Sweep the leg” to one of her friends and was overheard by the writers of Karate Kid, thus making history. It coulda happened. :)
Alright! It’s settled then.
I’m sure I must have said “Sweep the leg” once while hanging upside down from the monkey bars.
Clicks the website and finds out it’s a snow day — school is canceled. “Sweep the leg! I knew I should have offered $20 for the poor.”
HAHAHAHAHHAHA!
sweep the leg is so you! if the answer ever appeared on jeopardy as to its origin, i would surely ring in and respond, “who is cardiogirl.” and then i would look left and right at my opponents and say, “what?”
i love new phrases and as long as i know what it means and how to use it. STL has my vote for being added to the dictionary. if not, then i’ll just wait for the cardiogirl dictionary to hit barnes and noble.
i like your definition though. i’m always looking for new ways not to curse or to express excitement. W00t!
lol V…love the jeopardy scene
@V Me too! I do so love a new phrase. I do need to stop swearing. Well, I need to stop swearing via the written word. I am actually very good around my kids.
@Buf I truly cannot wait for the day that she’s on Jeopardy and that question comes up. It will be awesome.
I swear I heard “sweep the leg” used on Better Off Ted the last time I watched it. I thought I was hearing things, I wasn’t really sure it was actually said.
I watched Community this week but not the whole episode, so I didn’t see it.
No. WAY! I *have* to find that on hulu or somewhere on the internet. Hmm, I guess I could actually start watching the show and wait for the rerun. But that seems so old school.
I have never heard of the show Community. Is that a talk show? Is it on cable? What it is it?
Community is on channel 5 (NBC) at 7 on Thursdays and it stars Joel McHale from The Soup.
I saw that episode and immediately thought of you! At first you couldn’t totally see what the shirt said b/c he had a flannel on over it, but I KNEW, lol!
Now that you mentioned Joel McHale this sounds vaguely familiar. Is the show any good? Well, of course that episode was good, but is the show funny?
I absolutely love the fact that my peeps have entwined Cardiogirl with Sweep the Leg. Awesome with a side of bitchin’.
Like V, I always think of you when I hear/see sweep the leg. :) So you may not have created it, but you are at least partially responsible for its increased usage (at least among VIPers) ;) I will now be singing this song for the rest of the day.
YAY-YEAH!
I can get stuck on Urban Dictionary for hours at a time and then my husband laughs at me because I don’t know a lot of common phrases. I was extremely sheltered in my media exposure as a child. I actually watched parts of the Karate Kid so I could see “Sweep the Leg” in it’s original habitat. And I did, I was pretty stoked but didn’t tell jeff afraid he would think I have a blogging addiction.
Be careful, Kathy Griffin catchphrase = Holy F*ckballs in my mind.
Isn’t it funny the stuff you can find over there? I, too, have never heard of half the stuff I find over there. It’s quite the educational tool, is it not?
I haven’t seen “Life on the D-List” in a while. That’s her phrase of choice these days?
I believe it’s from one of her comedy specials.
It does sound vaguely familiar, but I don’t think I’ve heard her say it enough. Although, as you can imagine, I don’t have much of an opportunity to watch her with my kids hangin’ around.
You are famous! YAY!
Sweep the Leg — it’s official!