What’s this summer’s latest catchphrase?
In the U.S., the latest phrase to go viral is, “That’s a clown question, bro.”
Used by Major League Baseball outfielder, Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals, the phrase popped up earlier in June in Harper’s response to a reporter’s question about whether he’d be having a beer after a game. Harper is 19-years-old, BTW. The legal drinking age in the U.S. is 21. Here’s a video of the exchange:
Then, in a big leap from baseball to politics, the phrase was used a week later by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a more serious setting — a news conference about immigration. Here’s the video posted on Sen. Reid’s YouTube channel:
It turns out that just one day after Harper used the phrase, he registered it as a trademark with the USPTO. The slugger has an endorsement deal with Under Armour and reportedly the company plans to start selling t-shirts sporting the phrase. The trademark registration is in International Class 25 (apparel), as seen below in the record from Corsearch® Advantage™:
Catchphrases come and go, but some remain in the lexicon for years. Who can forget “You talkin’ to me?” The last time we wrote about catchphrases they happened to belong to Charlie Sheen (“Winning” and Dyin’s for fools”). Sheen probably summed up the fuss about catchphrases best when he said, “It’s about commerce dude, it’s all about commerce.”
Do you think ‘That’s a clown question, bro” has legs?
