Kathy Rohloff:
Good Lines from the Movies

Every family has their own code language that only they can understand. This may include words mispronounced when the children were young, so that ever after omelets are "schlamas", over easy eggs are "dippin" eggs, and if you sense that someone has chocolate on their breath, you accuse, "I smell something, what’s that smell?" At least that’s what you do at our house.

Over the years movie phrases have become part of our daily communication. When Russ and I were sitting in the town square in Antigua, Guatemala, as I’m entering a crowded classroom prior to a PowerPoint presentation, or running to catch a connecting flight, a voice inside my head comments, "Something tells me that I’m not in Kansas anymore." (The fact is that I’ve never been to Kansas, but Oz is a familiar place.)

Thanks to the Terminator, Russ heads off to the dump and his parting remark is, "I’ll be back."

On the days we drive to work together, one of us remarks, "Time to go!" and unlike Brendan Frazier in "The Mummy," we are not running ahead of a torrent of water.

We’re not sure if it’s just Hans Solo that we thank when we "have a really bad feeling about something," but some situations do cause us to "be afraid, be very afraid."

If you are feeling a little under the weather, well, at least "you’re not dead yet." And if you are racked with fever and body aches, "you may only be mostly dead" and not "all dead". In that case maybe Miracle Max should be called from "The Princess Bride."

Whenever anyone is in trouble they cry, "Ruh ro!" It always works for Scooby-Doo.

Often times a word may be used in a sentence that is inappropriate. Like those times someone "lay prostate on the floor." The reply, of course, is, "I do not think it means what you think it means."

If you are out grocery shopping you should always "choose wisely" and when Russ and I pass the chip aisle we instinctively hear Gandalf cry, "Fly, you fools!"

It’s not just us. While on the streets of Randolph I heard two girls calling out to the departing back of their friend as he sped away, "Run, Forrest, run!"

Not long ago I picked up a phone and our friend Merrill greeted me by saying, "Hello. My name is Indigo Mantoya."

I replied, "You killed my father."

And Merrill added, "Prepare to die." Funny, that’s all I remember about the conversation.

Merrill talks in movie quotes all the time. While we were sharing a table at a recent wedding he felt compelled to somberly intone prior to the toast, "Marwige, marwige is what bwings us togethaw."

My favorite quote happened recently while we were hiking in Maine on vacation. The mosquitos were fierce and I had already sprayed myself three times to avoid being eaten alive. Unfortunately, we were in the woods for quite some time and I really needed to go to the bathroom. Time passed, I couldn’t wait any longer, so I dropped my pants, squatted and heard Russ quote from The Lord of the Rings trilogy as the mosquitos swarmed, "Looks like meat’s back on the menu, boys!" That’s when I knew that it was "time to go."