I didn't say 'Fudge': 5 favorite movie lines

Screenwriters generally don't garner as much red-carpet attention as actors and actresses, but without them, the Meryl Streeps and Christoph Waltzes of the world would be as silent as Mary Pickford, and every now and then, their words have a way of slipping into our collective consciousness and staying there. Below are five movie lines that have become part of my everyday conversation.

1. "I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd." It's hard to find a line from a Quentin Tarantino script that's suitable for publication in a family newspaper, but this one -- uttered by Samuel L. Jackson's character in "Pulp Fiction" as he's sparing the life of a would-be robber -- is my go-to response when someone tests my patience.

2. "Why does it say 'paper jam' when there is no paper jam?" Every single time the printer malfunctioned at my old office, this line from "Office Space" would explode from someone's lips. I still can't refill a paper tray without muttering it.

3. "Oh, no! I shot my eye out!" I can't even walk in heels without tripping, but years ago, I inexplicably decided my uncoordinated little self needed a motor scooter to ride to work. After nearly everybody in the known universe assured me I'd be killed, I joked that I was beginning to feel like Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" -- "You'll shoot your eye out!" Approximately 15 seconds into my first ride, I drove my shiny new scooter into a ditch. The first thing out of my mouth was Ralphie's lament at his self-inflicted BB-gun wound. (OK, maybe the second thing. The first thing out of my mouth might have been another familiar line from that film. "Except," as adult Ralphie notes, "I didn't say, 'Fudge.'")

4. "Wax on, wax off." When I taught high school, Mr. Miyagi's instructions in the original "Karate Kid" became a kind of shorthand for, "Don't argue with me; I'll explain later." I'd respond to an impertinent question with, "Wax on," and my sophomores would invariably reply, "Wax off." It came in very handy.

5. "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve?" About once a year, I get laryngitis. When my voice starts coming back, I spend a few shining, golden hours sounding exactly like Lauren Bacall in "To Have and Have Not." I'd be an idiot to waste that.