14 Phrases & Sayings That Only Exist Because Of Seinfeld

"Seinfeld" is one of the most influential sitcoms in television history, overcoming incredible odds after its pilot was hated by test audiences, and just barely received high-enough ratings to warrant a second season renewal. It took several years for the show to become the top of water cooler conversations across the country, but not only did its cultural rise pave the way for future comedy series like "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and "Girls," but it also skyrocketed the careers of its stars, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus going on to be an 11-time Emmy winner for "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and "Veep," while co-creator Larry David's follow-up "Curb Your Enthusiasm" received critical acclaim for the two decades it was on. 

Among the greatest accomplishments of "Seinfeld," however, was its ability to introduce new phrases and sayings into everyday usage, thanks to the combined observations of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. Because it's a show all about four friends and their struggles with social behavior, or as they would describe it, "nothing," "Seinfeld" has completely changed the way we interact with one another in ways you might not even know. 

For your education, here are 14 phrases and sayings that exist because of "Seinfeld."

Have you ever been telling someone a story and, unconsciously skipping over details, uttered the phrase "Yada, yada, yada," mid-sentence? Whether you knew it or not, you have "Seinfeld" to thank for the phrase's popularity, albeit the show was not its inventor. The origins of "yada, yada, yada" date back to the 1940s, and it was frequently utilized by stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce in his performances. However, it was featured prominently in one episode in season 8 of "Seinfeld," aptly titled "The Yada Yada," in which George becomes paranoid over his new girlfriend's liberal use of the phrase to skip over important details in a story about her run-in with an ex.

In one of the episode's best scenes, George doubts one would "yada, yada" over sex, but Elaine counters his argument with an admission of having done it many times. Funnily enough, writer Peter Mehlman was surprised that "yada, yada, yada" gained renewed popularity, rather than another phrase coined by the episode, "anti-dentite," which Kramer calls Jerry after the latter complains about Tim Whatley, played by a pre-"Breaking Bad" Bryan Cranston. 

Many episodes of "Seinfeld" revolve around a specific social faux pas, and in the case of season 4's episode "The Implant," that faux pas was double-dipping. As you've probably encountered before at many a social event, double-dipping is the act of dipping a chip (or other dippable food) in a public dip, taking a bite, and then re-dipping the bitten delicacy in the same dip in which others are consuming. In "The Implant," George turns himself into the center of attention at his girlfriend's aunt's funeral after double-dipping, accused of "putting [his] whole mouth right in the dip!"

Not only did the episode popularize the term "double-dipping," but it also popularized it as a truly heinous crime against humanity. Inspired by the episode, Harvard Medical School conducted a study on the effects of double-dipping on public healthy and safety, ruling it "[possible] that a person who is sick (or about to be) might spread a disease by re-dipping a chip," advising people that the more conscious alternative to double-dipping would be to dip from the unbitten side of the food. Ergo, being a double-dipper is not George Costanza's best job on "Seinfeld." 

Before Bryan Cranston was on "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Breaking Bad," he was Tim Whatley, a dentist and one time lover of Elaine's who is the subject of many transgressions against Jerry throughout his recurring appearances on "Seinfeld." Among one of the more egregious social errs of Whatley comes in the season 6 episode "The Label Maker," in which Whatley's reciprocal gift to Jerry in exchange for Super Bowl tickets is a label maker, which Elaine notes is the exact same one she had gifted him while they were an item. 

The term "re-gifting" was coined in the episode for the act of foisting an unwanted given item to another, with Macmillan English Dictionary noting its "negative overtones due to its association with deception, i.e. the idea that by regifting you were not only deceiving the recipient, but also the person who originally gave you the gift by not being honest about the fact that you didn't want it." Ironically, during production of "The Label Maker," Julia Louis-Dreyfus essentially re-gifted a cold to Bryan Cranston during a kissing scene between their two characters, which might be some justice for Whatley's act of re-gifting in the episode. 

If you were an adult woman in the 80s and 90s, you were likely familiar with the contraceptive sponge, a temporary method of birth control that was available until 1995, when the FDA discovered bacterial contamination at a manufacturer of sponges made by Today. This inspired "Seinfeld" writer Peter Mehlman to pen "The Sponge," an episode from the sitcom's seventh season in which Elaine, after hearing about the discontinuation of her preferred contraceptive, begins hoarding the item and refusing to have sex with a partner until she deems them "sponge-worthy."

As a result of the episode, the term "sponge-worthy" has since entered the lexicon to more generally describe a person you'd like to be intimate with. In fact, "sponge-worthiness," as attributed to "Seinfeld" and Elaine, was the subject of economist Avinash Dixit's paper on option value problems in 2011. Perhaps one of the reasons this episode sticks out to fans is because of how bold it was in openly discussing birth control on television, likely one of the many reasons Julia Louis-Dreyfus doesn't think "Seinfeld" could get made today. 

In the case of "mimbo," the concept for the word has remained a key part of modern-day lexicon rather than the one coined by "Seinfeld" itself. These days, most people know what a "himbo" is, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary: "an attractive but vacuous man," i.e, the male equivalent of a female "bimbo," originating as early as 1988. "Mimbo," however, was coined by the season 5 episode of "Seinfeld," "The Stall," in which Jerry accuses Elaine of dating Tony (Dan Cortese) because he's attractive even though he's not very smart. 

As one can imagine, Jerry is proven right when Elaine is deterred from dating Tony after a rock climbing incident leaves his face potentially damaged permanently. Despite the more frequent use of "himbo" in everyday life compared to "mimbo," their purported usage between 1980 and 2022 is neck-and-neck. Maybe there's a strong legion of "Seinfeld" fans who prefer to refer to men who are both dumb and strong as "mimbos" rather than "himbos." Either way, of all that Jerry Seinfeld has made from his NBC sitcom, royalties on "mimbo" certainly isn't one of them. 

Some would argue that being called a "racist" is worse than racism itself, but those people are likely stupid. However, "Seinfeld" poses the question of which is worse: to be bald or to discriminate against the bald? Such is the topic of season 3's "The Tape," in which Elaine pranks Jerry by recording an explicit message on his tape recorder, only for it to end up in the hands of George, who forms a crush on Elaine after listening to it over and over. When Elaine rejects him later in the episode, George accuses her of being "baldist," or rather not being attracted to him because of his inherent baldness. 

There may in fact be some validity to the idea that being bald is something people are discriminated over, but in the case of "Seinfeld," Elaine's prejudice against the bald doesn't deter her by season 8's "The Little Jerry." In that episode, Elaine dates Kurt (John Michael Higgins), a man who shaves his head bald, and when Elaine convinces him to grow it back, discovers he's actually balding, for which Elaine inevitably breaks up with him. Meanwhile, when George starts wearing a toupee in season 6's "The Beard," he is disgusted when the woman he goes on a blind date with turns out to also be bald, exposing him as a baldist. 

Some people are good at keeping secrets, while others are Elaine Benes. In season 9 of "Seinfeld," the episode "The Betrayal" centers on Elaine being invited to a wedding of her rival, Sue Ellen (Brenda Strong), whilst Jerry deals with the repercussions of secretly sleeping with George's girlfriend. At the beginning of the episode (or, technically, the end thanks to its reverse chronology), Jerry swears Elaine to secrecy, but when she replies, "I'll put it in the vault," Jerry reminds her that too many people know the combination, which is getting her drunk. 

This isn't the only mention of "the vault" in "Seinfeld," which is repeated by all of the characters numerous times as a metaphor for keeping a secret. It has since caught on as a pretty useful idiom for being trustworthy, and it has even been referenced in articles about the WikiLeaks scandal in the 2010s, with Elizabeth Gaucher writing for Esse Diem, "I suppose I will forever be of the generation that views bizarre situations through the 'Seinfeld' interpretive lens." As for "The Betrayal," Jerry probably wishes Elaine didn't exist, given how terrible she is at keeping his secret from George. 

"The Contest" is one of the best episodes in the history of "Seinfeld," mainly because of how much it tested the limits of what the show could get away with on a network like NBC. Airing during the show's fourth season, "The Contest" sees the foursome of Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer agreeing to a bet on who can go the longest without masturbating. Following the advice of NBC's censor, the episode uses numerous euphemisms for the act of self-pleasuring, one of which being writer Larry David's coined phrase: "master of my domain."

Not only did "The Contest" win David an Emmy for outstanding writing in a comedy series, but the usage of "master of my domain" rather than explicitly referencing masturbating likely contributed to the memorable episode. As Donna Dorsett claimed for Audiophile Audition, "If the word had been used, even once, the show would not have been nearly as hilarious." It's no wonder Larry David put his job on the line for this series-defining "Seinfeld" episode, because the risk certainly paid off and likely contributed to the sitcom's rise in popularity. 

Season 3 contains Jerry Seinfeld's least-favorite episode of "Seinfeld" with "The Alternate Side," which the series' co-creator claims has to do with the plotline involving a stroke victim passed out on Jerry's couch. However, there might be another reason why Seinfeld is particularly... should we say... salty about this episode. In "The Alternate Side," Kramer is cast in a Woody Allen film with a single, seemingly-innocuous line: "These pretzels are making me thirsty." Believe it or not, this line became such a phenomenon that Seinfeld would encounter fans heckling him with it during his stand-up performances.

Among the many reasons why the line is so iconic is the scene in which Jerry, George, and Elaine all try giving their own line readings of the sentence, which likely helped it get stuck in so many fans' heads. You can now find "These pretzels are making me thirsty" adorning T-shirts and posters, and when in doubt, it makes for a good conversation starter in any party where there's dead air, but for the love of God, if you're going to see Jerry Seinfeld perform stand-up, don't interrupt the show by screaming it.

Lots of popular television shows have spawned famous catchphrases, such as "Friends" giving us "How you doin'" or "Saturday Night Live" providing Wayne and Garth's famous "Schwing!" But how many TV shows have spawned holidays? "Seinfeld" may be one of the few, thanks to the season 9 episode "The Strike," a Christmas episode in which Kramer becomes obsessed with Frank Costanza's holiday Festivus, celebrated on December 23rd as Frank's way of avoiding the pandemonium of Christmas. 

Aside from Festivus dinner, the holiday replaces the bright and wintry Christmas tree with a large metal pole with no decorations and practices such as "the airing of grievances" and "the feats of strength. Surprisingly, the Festivus holiday from "Seinfeld" has real-life origins, as a family tradition of the episode's writer, Dan O'Keefe, who told Today about the holiday's popularity with fans across the world, "Was I surprised that actual human people adopted a weird TV holiday based on a crazy family tradition that bordered on child endangerment? That would be 'yes.'" However, many of the Festivus traditions weren't part of O'Keefe's celebrations, but we're glad that he enhanced the holiday for our entertainment.

In one of the few episodes of "Seinfeld" that takes place outside the city of New York, "The Hamptons" sees Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer all travel to the titular destination for a friendly getaway that turns out to be incredibly stressful for one of them in particular. Another episode from writer Peter Mehlman, George becomes the subject of humiliation when he is caught by Jerry's girlfriend Rachel (Melanie Smith) changing, causing her to see his, er, domain just after getting out of the pool, causing it to appear smaller as a result of "shrinkage."

"Shrinkage" as a word has existed since the 1800s, but not in the way "Seinfeld" used it to describe how swimming affects the size of a male's privates. Mehlman told Mel Magazine that when Larry David suggested the plot point where George is caught naked, "I said to Larry, 'Oh, you mean, like, he's got shrinkage?' And Larry, with his fireproof comedic brilliance, says to me, 'Yes, shrinkage, and use that word a lot.'" Some experts in urology have even adopted "shrinkage" as an official term for the occurrence, given that there never was a proper word for that incredible inconvenience before "Seinfeld."

"The Stranded" was originally meant to be in the second season of "Seinfeld," but was postponed until the third season due to Larry David's own unhappiness with the script. Therefore, it was advertised as a "lost episode" with a disclaimer at the start for continuity errors. It's a good thing the episode eventually aired, as it's one of the most underrated episodes of "Seinfeld," producing one of the most memorable quotes from Elaine, when her reaction to a boring conversation with a woman at a party looking for her fiancé is to retort, in an Australian accent, "Maybe the dingo ate your baby." 

Despite it being a famous moment from "Seinfeld," the dingo quote actually originated from the tragic story of Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton losing a child in 1980, which was adapted into the 1988 film "A Cry in the Dark" starring Meryl Streep. Nevertheless, the quote's comedic context is all thanks to the bravery of "Seinfeld," or in a sense, the bravery of Elaine to reference a very tragic news story as a way to get out of an awkward conversation. Since "The Stranded," "the dingo ate your baby" has been referenced in "Frasier," "The Simpsons," and "Tropic Thunder." 

It's no secret that television has come a long way since the early '90s. Four years before Ellen DeGeneres' historic coming-out in "Ellen," "Seinfeld" made a bold, if-baby-stepped acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community with the season 4 episode "The Outing." In the episode, Jerry and George are mistakenly identified by Sharon, an NYU reporter interviewing Jerry, as a gay couple. After being seemingly "outed" by the press, Jerry and George make it their mission to correct the record, though in an act to disprove their homophobia, cushion their denials of not being gay by adding, "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

As a result of the episode, "Not that there's anything wrong with that" has sort of become a calling card for clarifying a statement as not homophobic, with the episode awarded by the GLAAD Media Awards. However, "The Prime-Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV" by Stephen Tropiano countered, "The episode, in a way, becomes a wry, self-reflexive commentary on television's uncertain treatment of homosexuality ... even with the disclaimer, is it okay to derive humor by having characters mistaken for, or pretending to be, gay?" It's up for debate, but whether the episode's messaging is outdated or not, at least it insists many times over that there's nothing wrong with being gay. 

Perhaps one of the most memorable and iconic episodes in all of "Seinfeld", "The Soup Nazi," didn't air until its seventh season, the final one in which Larry David was involved. The episode revolves around the gang's interactions with a revered soup chef in New York City, Yev Kassem (Larry Thomas), affectionately called "the Soup Nazi" due to his strict rules surrounding soup orders. For numerous reasons, the gang earn the ire of Kassem and are banned from his store for a year, declaring "No soup for you!"

The Soup Nazi's existence and famous quote has remained one of the most famous pop culture imprints from "Seinfeld," having been referenced in numerous commercials and TV shows, and Thomas has even appeared in soup kitchens to support the homeless. However, as most "Seinfeld" episodes are based on experiences from the writers, the real-life Soup Nazi feuded with Jerry Seinfeld over his supposed portrayal in the show, and he has subsequently refused to serve Seinfeld at his restaurant in Manhattan. That being said, it's easy to sympathize with the Soup Nazi when you imagine having to hear "No soup for you!" every day since 1995.