Yogiisms

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Yogiisms are quotations by Yogi Berra, who, besides being a baseball player, was also famous for fracturing the English language in provocative, interesting ways. Similar phrases, spoken by other people, are also sometimes called "Yogiisms" (or 'Colemanballs' in the UK).

Contents

1 Examples
2 Other quotes
3 In context
4 In advertisements
5 Nature of Yogiisms
6 See also

Examples

It ain't over till it's over.

This quotation is undoubtedly the best-known Yogiism. However, what he really said was You're never out of it 'til you're out of it in regard to the 1973 National League pennant race.

I want to thank you for making this day necessary.

This was said at Yogi Berra Day in St Louis in 1947. It is supposed to be the first Yogiism. By his account, he asked teammate Dr. Bobby Brown to write a short speech, and he misspoke, replacing the word 'possible' with 'necessary'.

It's like déjà vu all over again.

Many people think that Berra would have never said the word déjà vu, as it wasn't his kind of language. But Yogi himself insists that he said this in reference to home runs by Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, who often hit homers.

When you get to a fork in the road, take it.

Berra insists that this is part of some driving directions to his house. In his hometown of Montclair, New Jersey, there is a fork in the road and either way you take, you will get to his house. Some people find this to be a very poignant quotation, thinking it means that when you find a challenge, overcome it.

I never said half the things I said.

Yogi can't even escape creating a Yogiism in his disclaimer for not creating all of the Yogiisms. He was pointing out that he didn't say everything that people think he said, which is very likely.

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

This one may have been invented by someone else. Yogi said it regarding Ruggiero's, a restaurant in St. Louis where he and Joe Garagiola had worked as waiters, which had become so popular that his old friends couldn't get in anymore.

Tomorrow night is another day.

Yogi said it when his team lost a night game. He knew they would play better the following day.

We have a good time together, even when we're not together.

This quote was talking about his wife Carmen. Apparently it makes perfect sense to them, and it means that he likes to spend a little time away from her, but wants to be back together after it.

Our similarities are different.

This quotation was actually said by Dale Berra, Yogi's son. It's interesting to note how similar they are in their linguistic qualities.

I thought they said steak dinner, but then I found it was a state dinner...

...It was hard to have a conversation with anyone; there were so many people talking.

This was about a fancy dinner he attended at the White House.

We make too many wrong mistakes.

This quotation was about his team, the New York Yankees, when they lost the World Series in 1960.

Other quotes

"Slump? I ain't in no slump... I just ain't hitting."

"You can observe a lot by watching."

"It gets late early around here..."

"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."

"If I didn't wake up I'd still be sleeping."

"I usually take a two hour nap from 1 to 4."

"If you don't know where you're going, you'll wind up somewhere else."

"The future ain't what it used to be."

"If people don't want to come to the ballpark, how are you gonna stop them?"

"Always go to your friends' funerals, otherwise they won't go to yours." (This was reportedly said by Yogi after arriving late to practice so that he could attend the funeral of a friend who had passed away. It is assumed that the friends Yogi really meant to refer to when he said "they" to are not the same friends that are deceased.)

"You have to give 100 percent in the first half of the game. If that isn't enough, in the second half, you have to give what is left."

"Never answer an anonymous letter."

"Think?! How the hell are you gonna think and hit at the same time?"

"Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel!"

"Ninety percent of this game is mental, and the other half is physical." (A variation on this is, "Ninety percent of this game is half mental.")

"Prediction is very hard, especially when it's about the future."

"The first 90% of any trip takes 90% of the time, and the last 10% takes the other 90%."

In context

When asked what makes a good manager of a baseball team, he said "A good ball club".

When asked what time it is, he said "What? You mean right now?"

When he was asked if first baseman Don Mattingly had exceeded expectations, Yogi said "I'd say he's done more than that!"

His wife Carmen asked where he would like to be buried, and he said "Surprise me!"

He was told by the wife of the Mayor of New York that he looked cool in his summer suit, and he said "You don't look so hot yourself."

At a dinner in an Italian restaurant, he was asked how many slices should be cut in his pizza, and he replied "You better make it four, 'cause I don't think I could eat eight."

While he was a guest on a radio show (with fellow Hall of Fame member Tommy Lasorda), the subject of epitaphs came up. Yogi quipped that his epitaph will read "It's over" — a reference to the quip "It ain't over 'till it's over," which is often attributed to him.

"I don't know if it's good for baseball, but it sure beats the hell out of rooming with Phil Rizzuto!" — On hearing team-mate Joe DiMaggio was to marry Marilyn Monroe.

In advertisements

Television commercials have taken advantage of Yogi's fame in speaking, specifically his Yogiisms, and advertisers have scripted some things for him to say that, though not true Yogiisms, are similar to his malapropisms.

In an Entenmann's commercial, Yogi said, "You can taste how good these cookies are just by eating them" and "this box is always open until it's closed."

In a print advertisement for the Yankees' YES Network, Yogi said, "I love the YES Network so much, I don't watch TV anymore."

In an AFLAC commercial, Yogi said, "If you get hurt and miss work, it won't hurt to miss work. And they give you cash, which is just as good as money."

Nature of Yogiisms