[lrek]

A little context:


"It's that man again." (page 3)


I'd heard this phrase in The Thin Man spoken by Nick Charles as he refreshes everyone's drinks, but I had no idea of its origins.

It turns out it was originally used to refer to Adolf Hitler in some Daily Express headlines, after which it became a catchphrase of Liverpudlian actor Tommy Handley in radio and film in the late '30s and early '40s.

I'm still not exactly clear on what it means, though. There have been some radio episodes online, but they appear to be gone now.

Link to the book: Comicolour 10

[The Australian Panther]

Well, catchphrases don't have to mean anything, they just trigger a response. Many classic comedians and TV shows used them. I'm thinking of one that is in current vogue, which is assumed to mean something but may not hold up when you look closer. Not that there is anything wrong with that!     

[Andrew999]

It was used initially to refer to Hitler in the late thirties (pre-war) when he kept issuing demands - one after the other - eg Sudetenland - that belongs to Germany! - Alsace-Lorraine - that's Germany too! Austria? German! - Bohemia? Moravia? Danzig? Guess what!!

To British people, at least, ITMA has a sense of resigned fate ("Guess who's coming") - like when that hated boss always turns up when you least need him to, asking dumb questions - or perhaps when a newspaper keeps printing articles on a celebrity or a politician to the point where it drives you nuts.