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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"You've been wrong so many times that I'm not even going to say something is wrong anymore. I'm going to say that it's 'Dorian.'"''
|'''Dr. Cox''', to John Dorian, ''[[Scrubs]]''}}
Pop culture can be an interesting thing. Slang is in a constant state of flux, always changing. But for some things that stand the test of time, it will be adapted into our descriptive terminology.
This is best used when it comes to the more universally understood terms. For example, instead of saying "Bob fell down the chimney", someone will say "Bob pulled a Santa Claus". In other times, just to play with this trope, writers will put in the most [[Viewers Are Geniuses|obscure reference]] to throw people off. A closely related use of this trope is to acknowledge the actual reference instead of just using it as a substitute, e.g. "So... is Santa Claus your hero?"
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Related to [[Buffy-Speak]]. Compare [[Popcultural Osmosis]], [[Sein Language]], [[Malaproper]], [[Memetic Mutation]] and [[Weird Al Effect]]. Also check out the various [[Self-Referential Humor]] tropes.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* The English translation of one of the later volumes of ''[[Love Hina]]'' has Naru screaming at Keitaro "Don't go all [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Shinji]] on me!", when our hero is being [[Emo|mopier than usual]].
* The ''[[Lupin III]]'' English translation would occasionally give [[Woolseyism|some gems]] in the dialogue. After performing a daring but unnecessary car stunt, Lupin and Goemon looked at Jigen and asked what he was doing. With a sly grin he replied, "I was inspired by the spirit of Steve McQueen."
* In ''[[
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090208003247/http://www.onemanga.com/Katekyo_Hitman_Reborn/50/07/ This page] of [[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]] has Tsuna's mother "pulling a Yamamoto". (Which is to cheerily come up with a mundane explanation for the obviously dangerous situation at hand.)
== Comic Books ==
* A ''[[Justice League (animation)|JLA]]'' comic had Green Lantern moan to himself, "Doctor Light pulled a [[Harry Houdini|Houdini]] on me."
* In one issue of her comic book, [[Flare]] says of a script titled ''The Romance of Venus'': "I wouldn't want it to be like [[Wheel of Fortune|Vanna]] in [http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0095230/ that TV movie], though."
* In ''[[Booster Gold]] #1'', second series, the title character mentions he ''"pulled a Pete Ross"'' when he had to lose a football game on purpose.
* [[Batman]] is known for [[Stealth Hi Bye|vanishing abruptly while in the middle of a conversation]]. So when Nightwing, his first protege, does it to him, he smiles and mutters "Kid pulled a me".
* ''The Adventures of Johnny Bunko'' involves the titular character's surname becoming a verb at his workplace for "to mess up". {{spoiler|A little career advice from a helpful fairy later turns it into something positive.}}
* In the ''[[Transformers]]'' fanfic community, [[Fanon]] especially, something blowing up or exploding is known as 'Wheeljack' and 'Pulling a Wheeljack', such as "Dude, your computer just pulled a Wheeljack."▼
* ''[[Harry Potter and
== Film ==
* ''[[The Fugitive (
* In ''[[The Matrix]]'', Neo was "doing his [[Superman]] thang."
* In ''[[
* The two protagonists of ''[[
* In ''Man of the House'', a pair of the cheerleaders are being dragged back to the house after starting to get in a barfight, and complains about being 'rescued' by saying "I was about to go all [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy]] on his ass."
* In ''[[
* In ''[[The Sorcerer's
* In ''[[The Gamers]]'':Dorkness Rising, when Flynn is [[Back
▲== Fanfiction ==
▲* In the [[Transformers]] fanfic community, [[Fanon]] especially, something blowing up or exploding is known as 'Wheeljack' and 'Pulling a Wheeljack', such as "Dude, your computer just pulled a Wheeljack."
▲* ''[[Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality]]'', Professor Flitwick rants at Harry and Dumbledore that if there are any other odd plans or plots that go wrong in spectacular fashion again ([[Long Story]]), then Flitwick would kick Harry out of Ravenclaw and he could go to Gryffindor where all of the Dumbledoring belonged.
== Literature ==
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* At the end of [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[Carrie]]'', it's said that "to rip off a Carrie" passed into teen slang, meaning "to commit arson".
** [[Truth in Television|Life Imitates Art]], but twisted: "Pulling a Carrie," or "going Carrie on [something]," actually did become synonymous with someone acting crazy after being humiliated.
** This one's become so well-
** Oddly enough, to "Carrie someone" usually refers to the act of inflicting such humiliation on the person rather than the act of retaliation. For example, in an episode of ''[[30
* In the [[Meg Cabot]] novel ''How to Be Popular,'' the phrase "Don't pull a Steph Landry" is the basis for the entire plot.
* Played with in ''[[Dave Barry]] Slept Here: A Sort of History of the United States'', describing the occasion of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on the first July Fourth ([[Running Gag|October 8]], 1776): "The members took turns lighting sparklers and signing their John Hancocks to the Declaration, with one prankster even going so far as to actually write '[[wikipedia:John Hancock|John Hancock]].'"
* The first modern novel, ''[[
* ''[[Harry Potter and
* Done rather cruelly in ''[[Flowers for
* As usual, Shakespeare invented this one - "He out-Herods Herod."
** This one's an allusion to one of the old cycles of Biblical Miracle Plays which were the roots of English theatre; the raging tyrant Herod was one of the most melodramatic, over-the-top roles. Hamlet's warning against overacting.
** Another Shakespeare example: "She Phebes me", from ''[[As You Like It]]''.
* From one of the ''[[Dinotopia]]'' books, any instance of [[Aint No Rule]] or [[Loophole Abuse]] is referred to as "Pulling an Andrew", after said Andrew wins an obstacle course race against a ''far'' more athletic dinosaur by simple virtue of ignoring the obstacles and running down the straightaway between the courses.
* [[The Dresden Files|Jim Butcher]] says on [https://web.archive.org/web/20110811102031/http://www.cipher-wotr.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348 this page] about writing the middle of a novel: "It lurks between the beginning of your book and the exciting conclusion, and its mission in life is to [[The Neverending Story (
** For the unfamiliar, the mire was a swamp in the middle of the film that would suck in and trap anyone like a tar pit unless they had a certain frame of mind.
** Never minding the number of times that Harry Dresden himself does this in the novels. Like the time he tosses a stake to Inari and tells her to "make like Buffy."
*** Not to mention the fact that "To Dresden" means accidentally causing severe property damage, in-universe.
* Towards the end of Rob Grant's ''Colony'', the main character comes up with a plan to save the ship that everyone comes to know as "The Morton Maneuvre." He however believes that if the plan fails, then the term "Morton Maneuvre" will forever be associated with spectacular failures such as the Charge Of The Light Brigade and the Hindenburg (which he reckons should have been called the Mortonburg).
* In ''The View from Saturday'', the character Luke is such a genius that people believe his name will eventually become a verb, "[[Stuck
* In ''[[Crysis (
* ''[[Little Green Men (
* In the ''[[Discworld]]'' novels, Ankh-Morpork slang for "mad" is "completely [[Talkative Loon|Bursar]]".
* In [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s short story "Metzengerstein," it is said that the eponymous baron's behavior "out-Heroded Herod," a phrase which, as mentioned above, originated in [[Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] ''[[Hamlet]].''
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* ''[[Smallville]]'' does this all the time. Clark was beaten up badly after losing his powers and Chloe remarked, "You said it was bad but not ''[[Raging Bull]]'' bad."
** This show, and Chloe's character in particular, do this a lot. Lois picked up the habit when she began trying to be a journalist. When the two talk it's crazy.
* On ''[[
{{quote|
'''Britta''': No, I double-checked them... wait, are people using my name to mean "make a small mistake"?
'''Jeff''': (Shifty-eyed) ...[[Sure, Let's Go
** Later in [[Community
{{quote|
'''Pierce''': You're using it wrong!
'''Jeff''': Wow. You Britta'd "Britta'd".
'''Abed''': Yeah, way to pull an Abed.
'''Shirley''': I don't get it.
'''Jeff''': Shirley, don't Pierce.
'''Pierce''': I don't get it. }}
* In ''[[Scrubs]]'', when Elliot's sorority sister [[Percussive Maintenance|hit the Jukebox to start it back up]]: "Hey, I'm the [[Happy Days|Fonz]]."
** JD also once tells Turk angrily that he [[The Brady Bunch|Marcia Brady]]'d his ass. Amusingly enough, Turk's confusion stems not from his not getting the reference, but rather from disbelief that the clinic would choose JD over Turk.
{{quote|
'''Turk''': What?
'''JD''': You know, when Marcia was working at the ice cream shop and she got Jan a job and they liked Jan better, so they fired Marcia.
'''Turk''': Yeah, 'Marcia Gets Creamed', season 5, episode 3. Don't ever question me on 'The Bunch'. Besides, there's no way they liked you better than me. }}
** They detailed the formation of one of these when Dr. Cox got so frustrated with JD that he decided to substitute the word "wrong" with "Dorian." The staff soon caught onto the new phrase, which annoyed JD to no end. But later JD caught himself saying, "Dorian! ...Oh, great, now I'm saying it!"
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** When Willow is going on her [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]], Andrew angrily chews out the others for not helping him and Jonathan "before [[Star Wars|Darth]] Rosenberg goes [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Dark Phoenix]] on our asses!"
** Then when she goes back to her senses and has a meeting with Giles, we have this bit:
{{quote|
** "Looks like she pulled a [[Flash|Barry Allen]] on us. Jay Garrick? Wally We--She moved real fast. Never mind."
** One entire episode revolved around the idea of Xander being [[Marx Brothers|"the Zeppo"]] - most useless and overlooked - of the gang.
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** In "School Hard", when [[Badass Decay|pre-Decayed]] Spike first confronts Angel about having a soul: "You were [[Old Master|my Yoda]], man!"
** In "New Moon Rising", the normally [[Book Dumb]] Buffy threatens to "pull a [[William Telling|William Burroughs]]" on somebody. Nobody gets it.
{{quote|
* In ''[[The X
* Sawyer and Hurley on ''[[Lost]]'' regularly supply such references. In "Eggtown," Kate tricks Hurley into a [[You Just Told Me]] revelation, to which Hurley replies, "You just [[Scooby Doo]]'ed me, didn't you?"
* In the ''[[Supernatural]]'' episode "Simon Said," a character uses a mind control on Dean Winchester to take his [[Cool Car|beloved 1967 Chevy Impala]] for a spin. Dean then calls Sam and says, "He full-on [[Jedi Mind Trick|Obi-Wan-ed]] Me!"
** And in the second season premiere, Dean is stuck in an out-of-body experience where he can't touch or affect anything around him. So he watches Sam and their father get into an argument, and Dean gets really angry at them for it, so he knocks a glass of water onto the floor. His father and brother stop and stare, and Dean says, with a look of shock on his face, "I full-on [[Ghost (
* Frequently [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] on ''[[Bones]]''. When someone makes a witty line, pop-culture challenged Brennan says [[Catch Phrase|"I don't know what that means."]] It's pretty much a [[Running Gag]] both saying it regularly, by Brennan herself and the other characters at one time or another, and the few times she does know what it means.
{{quote|
'''Brennan''': "I don't know what that means." }}
* Police procedurals in general seem to like to use "pulled a Louganis" as a euphemism for someone taking a suicidal leap; both ''[[CSI]]'' and ''[[NCIS]]'' have used it, and possibly others as well.
** Also used on [[Veronica Mars]] in reference to the previous season's killer leaping off the roof of the hotel Logan lives at.
* ''[[
* In the ''[[Star Trek:
** Temba, his arms wide! Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra. Which becomes Dathon and Picard at El Adril.
*** Dathon at Tanagra. Picard at Tanagra. Rai and Jiri at Lunga. Kadir beneath Mometah. Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra. Dathon and Picard at El Adrel. The Beast of El Adrel. Kailash when it rises. Uzani, his army; Shaka when the walls fell. Kiazi's children, their faces wet. Picard at El Adrel. Sokath, his eyes uncovered. Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. Darmok and Jalad on the ocean.
*** After figuring out enough context to cooperate and survive to be rescued, Picard tells Dathon the oldest human written story, the Epic of Gilgamesh.
* This trope is a defining feature of the main character in ''[[Psych]]'', who frequently uses references to obscure 80's pop-culture, possibly in order to keep the
** From "Poker? I barely know her!":
{{quote|
* In ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', after Claire beats up someone trying to attack her, the attacker says "don't go all [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer
* ''[[Fringe]]'' has the following, during a discussion about a man who apparently disappeared into thin air:
{{quote|
* ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'' episode where Ray tapes over his wedding video; everyone jokes that this monumental blunder is going to be known as "pulling a Ray Barone".
* For an episode of ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', people started using "Ted out" (to overthink) and "Ted up" (to overthink with disastrous consequences).
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* On ''[[Cheers]]'', Frasier was [[Runaway Bride|jilted at the altar]] during a lavish ceremony in Italy. When he returns, he claims that Italian slang now calls kicking an own-goal (in soccer) "doing a Frasier", but knocking yourself out on the goalpost while doing so is "doing a Frasier Crane".
** At least once the gang used "Clavin" to mean something bad, as in "Last one there's a Clavin!" {{[[[Captain Obvious]] cf Rotten Egg.}}] Rather than being upset with this Cliff Clavin participated, assuring the others "I'm not going to be the Clavin this time!" (quotes paraphrased)
** "Pulling a Clavin" is also a reference to the episode where Cliff appeared on ''[[Jeopardy
* During one particular episode of ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'', the term "Michael" becomes used to refer to chickening out (generally regarding something wildly illegal):
{{quote|
'''GOB''': "Hey, nobody's going all Michael on anyone." }}
* From ''[[
{{quote|
'''Baldrick:''' Well, when someone sets their foot in something a dog leaves on the street, they do tend to say "Whoops, I've trod in an Edmund." }}
* ''[[Married...
* An in-universe example is found in ''[[The Office]]'' when Andy tries convincing Michael that the employees describe anyone who screws something up horribly as having "Schruted" it.
* ''[[
{{quote|
Liz: That's not a thing people are saying now, is it? Lemoned. Doing it awesome. }}
** ''[[
** There is also an episode centered around both Jack's and Liz' reactions to extreme hilarity or excitement. Jack "jacks" which refers to getting so excited that you vomit. Liz "lizzes" which is a also a portmanteau of laugh and whiz.
** Another episode featured a classical example where Jack bases his relationship strategy on Fabius Maximus and at the end of the episode this strategy is countered by one based on Hannibal. Jack says she "Hannibaled" his "Fabius."
** And yet another episode had a plot to humiliate Liz at her high-school reunion being called an attempt to "[[Carrie]]" her.
* The pilot episode of ''[[Stargate SG
{{quote|
** Also referenced in a ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' episode, in which [[Insufferable Genius|McKay]], after one request for an impossible super-sciencey solution too many, protests that he is not [[MacGyver]].
* In ''[[
* ''[[Friends]]'' had Monica's mother's use of the phrase "Pulling a Monica" to describe awkward mistakes (such as in the episode mentioned, Monica loses one of her false nails in one of the mini-quiches she made for her mother's party, not knowing which one it is). During the episode Phoebe tries to change the meaning to "completing the job you were hired to do" instead.
* Instead of the aforementioned "pulling a Louganis", ''[[Castle]]'s'' medical examiner Lainie said the [[Body of the Week]] "did a [[Superman]] off that roof".
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== Music ==
* [[
* Yes, we've got [[Weird Al]] in here again. When he released ''Dare to Be Stupid'', plenty of people said he "out-Devoed [[Devo]]". Including Mark Mothersbaugh.
== New Media ==
* [[
* Hank Green of the [[Vlog Brothers]] made 'Warner Chilcot' a curse word after the company of that name [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPf8vwnoEtU raised the price of his medication by 1200%.]
* Parodied to the point of [[Refuge in Audacity]] in the [[
{{quote|
''[[Crosses the Line Twice|I heard Michael Vick pulled a]] [[A Date
== Sports ==
* In grappling and [[
** The kimura is an armlock that is now named after judo master Masahiko Kimura, who famously used it to defeat Brazilian jiu-jitsu founder Helio Gracie.
** The inverted kimura used by Phil "Mr. Wonderful" Davis to defeat Tim Boetsch has been called a "Mr. Wonderful" and a "Philmura."
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* "She's No Longer A Gypsy" from the musical ''Applause'':
{{quote|
And pulled a [[Shirley MacLaine]]! }}
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* [[Bionicle]]:
{{quote|
'''Kopeke''': A Pohatu?
'''Tahu''': Yes, that's right, a Pohatu. "When in doubt, smash everything, and then hope you're somewhere else when it all goes 'boom'". }}
== Video Games ==
* The strategy game ''[[
* From ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'', you "pull a Tonya Harding" when you attack people with a club.
** Technically, you pull a Tonya Harding when you have a club equipped in your main hand by hiring someone to beat up your enemy.
* At one point, [[Max Payne (
** The game's film noir-esqe storytelling guarantees plenty of references of this kind. Max "plays it [[Humphrey Bogart|Bogart]]," and has to deal with "a regular [[The Usual Suspects|Keyser Soze]]."
* By the time of ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]] II'', "pulling a Bindo" has come to refer to a Jedi breaking the Jedi Code by marrying, referring to the first game's Jolee Bindo, who did just that. Bad joke, bald guy, long story.
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* The competitive [[Pokémon]] community has a few, usually to describe particular flaws. For example, a Pokemon with an extremely limited movepool suffers from "Flareon syndrome".
* In ''[[My Sims]] Kingdom'', the player needs to gain the ability to make gears, only to find that Princess Butter has preemptively stolen the appropriate scroll.
{{quote|
* The ''[[Escape Velocity]]'' fandom uses the phrase "pulling a [[Monty Python]]" (also called the [[Attack Pattern Alpha|Monty Python Maneuver]]) to refer to abusing the AI's [[Suicidal Overconfidence]] by flying away from the target, then turning around and drifting backwards<ref>partial aversion of [[Space Friction]]</ref> while firing.
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* ''[[Order of the Stick]]'': "Who'd have thought you break Roy's sword and he'd go all [[The Incredible Hulk|Lou Ferrigno]]?"
* ''[[Zebra Girl]]'': Harold's comment on Jack's ascension: "You've pulled a Gandalf! Congratulations, my boy!"
* ''[[Home On The Strange]]'': "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150403120328/http://www.homeonthestrange.com/view.php?ID=22 I Buffy the door!]"
* ''[[Lackadaisy Cats]]'':
{{quote|
'''Viktor''': I don't know. Vanished like, ehh - vhat's his name? - who does alvays those tricks.
'''Ivy''': Houdini?
'''Viktor''': Ya. Houdini.
'''Ivy''': Viktor... someone needs to teach you how to tell a decent lie. }}
* ''[[Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki]]'': After Yuki put hand in a mouth of [[Big Badass Wolf|giant wolf]], Hemrod accused her of "pullin Tyr" in a nice Norse Mythology shout out (not surprising, when you look at a premise...).
* ''[[Wicked Lasers]]'', a side story made by the creator of ''[[Sore Thumbs]]''.
{{quote|
== Western Animation ==
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* In ''[[The Weekenders]]'' episode "To Tish", Tish's name becomes a verb meaning to do something egghead-y.
* In-universe in ''[[The Magic School Bus]]'', Tim likes commenting that the class "got [[Inexplicably Awesome|Frizzled]]".
* ''[[
* In an episode of Dilbert, Wally's name used as an all-purpose pejorative.
{{quote|
* In the [[Terry Toons]] feature ''The Adventures Of Lariat Sam'' (a segment of the ''Captain Kangaroo'' show), whenever Sam and his horse Tippytoes fell victim to a plot from villain Badlands Meeny, Tippytoes would deadpan "We've been Meenyed again, Sam."
* On ''[[
== Web Original ==
* [[
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== Real Life ==
* The verb ''Cantinflear'' (from Mexican actor Mario Moreno "Cantinflas") is authorized by the Royal Spanish Language Academy to describe nonsensical speaking.
* In Japan, ''bush-suru'', to mean barfing. ([[George
* The term "mesmerize" comes from Franz Anton Mesmer, an [[Older Than Radio|18th century]] hypnotist.
* Niccolo Machiavelli lends his name to "[[Manipulative Bastard|Machiavellian]]."
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* In Dutch, being a "Tokkie" means being an anti-social, after a family by that name became famous after they were the subject of a couple of documentaries showing some not so model-behavior.
* Ruben Oskar Auervaara was a Finnish fraud who seduced women in order to get his hands on their fortunes. In Finland, the word "Auervaara" is still occasionally used to describe that kind of a swindler.
* To Bogart a joint is to hold it for a long time without passing it, referencing the way that [[Humphrey Bogart]] would hold a lit cigarette for long periods of time in films without taking a drag.
* [[Gaslighting]] is based on the movie ''[[Gaslight]]''.
* For a short time during and after [[World War II]], Rommel (as in Erwin Rommel) became a verb in the French language. With the approximate meaning of "crushing one's foes with excessive force."
* In the 1992 U.S. Presidential election, Vice President [[Dan Quayle]] held a debate against [[Bill Clinton]]'s running mate, [[Al Gore]]. At one point in the debate, Quayle said: "You're pulling a Clinton. You say one thing, then you do another."
* "Ike Turner" is slang in some places for domestic abuse (for example pulling an "Ike Turner" or "Ike and Tina"), based on the real life case of Ike and Tina Turner. Similarly, for a while after [[Chris Brown]] was arrested for beating up his then-girlfriend Rihanna, his name was slang for domestic abuse.
* Swift Boating, named for the "Swift Boat Veterans For Truth" who came out against John Kerry in 2004. The controversy surrounding the group's authenticity made it a byword for [[Malicious Slander]].
* After ''"allegedly"'' performing a certain act on then president [[Bill Clinton]], White House intern Monica Lewinsky's surname became a sexual euphemism.
* After the Swedish romance scammer Karl Vesterberg used the signature "Sol och Vår" ("Sun and Spring") in his 1916 personal ads, the common Swedish verb for performing a romance scam has been "to sun-and-spring" someone, and a romance scammer is called a "sun-and-springer".
* "Quisling" comes from Vidkun Quisling. [[The Quisling|There is even a trope]] [[Trope Namer|named after him with details]].
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