Q.
What makes some movie quotes so memorable?

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A.

Let’s start with The Hollywood Reporter’s 2016 poll of its readers around the most memorable movie quotes of all time. How many of the Top 10 can you place? Answers 👇🏼

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THR Top 10 Movie Quotes Poll
i. “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
ii. “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
iii. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
iv. “May the Force be with you.”
v. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
vi. “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
vii. “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”
viii. “You talkin’ to me?”
ix. “There’s no place like home.”
x. “The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club.”

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Why are these particular phrases so memorable? Sure, the words came out of the mouths of some impressive actors, but they uttered lots of other things, often at more climactic moments.

In ‘You had me at hello: How phrasing affects memorability’, a Cornell University research group led by computer scientist Cristian Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil set out to scrutinize those quotes that stick with the public, decades after the first screening.

After testing a range of quotes for their memorability, this Cornell group ran multiple analyses to discover what it is that makes certain quotes so sticky. And what did they find?
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Highly Memorable Quotes
• Use distinctive word choices but
• Build them into common grammatical patterns
• Tend to be more general and
• Easily applicable in a variety of contexts
• Often use pronouns other than ‘you’
• Rely more on the indefinite ‘a’ than the definite ‘the’
• Use the present tense more than the past tense.

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THR Top Movie Quotes Poll Answers
i. “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Gone with The Wind
ii. “Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.” Casablanca
iii. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Jaws
iv. “May the Force be with you.” Star Wars
v. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” The Wizard of Oz
vi. “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” The Godfather
vii. “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” Casablanca
viii. “You talkin’ to me?” Taxi Driver
ix. “There’s no place like home.” The Wizard of Oz
x. “The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club.” Fight Club

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“As If”. Clueless. 1995. #90