The Simpsons Quotes

Context

This famous line is spoken by Bart Simpson, voiced by Nancy Cartwright on The Simpsons (multiple episodes).

While everyone's favorite neon yellow rapscallion may have been the one to popularize the phrase, the idea of "having a cow"—or basically overreacting to something relatively minor—dates as far back as the 1950's. But Bart sure put his stamp on it. The term went from pretty obscure to being on the lips of every pre-teen boy from Springfield, Alabama to Springfield, Oregon.

Bart repeated the line often, generally as a means of placating (or further agitating) some adult authority figure, most often his dad, Homer. Needless to say, Homer never once took his son up on his suggestion to stop "having a cow." If anything, his cow would only get worse.

Only slightly less popular was Bart's "Eat my shorts." Thanks for the offer, buddy. We'll pass.

Where you've heard it

The Simpsons is the longest running scripted prime time show ever, so… yeah, a lot of people have seen it. And because the line was a repeated one, not limited to a single episode, every Simpsons watcher—plus many who have never even seen a second of it—are familiar with the catchphrase.

Understandably then, it's gotten plenty of play in pop culture. You may see it referenced in a book review or in an article announcing the release of a new brand of "milk" (and we use the term loosely).

When might you hear someone udder the phrase in everyday life? Oh, any time a person is talking about something cow- or milk-related. Or even just when they think you're freaking out about something unnecessarily. 

To be honest, it's good advice. You really should be conscious about restricting your cow-having.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

As if anyone could ever accuse a sweet, innocent young simpleton of being pretentious. Actually, using the word "simpleton" makes us feel a little pretentious. Hm. Okay, the line gets a 1, but we're giving ourselves an 8.