I decided to give my character a catchphrase. I am not a fan of catchphrases, particularly when used in comedy; it is a lower form of wit than sarcasm, which is actually quite a high form of wit, and certainly a hell of a lot higher than innuendo. In conclusion, if you use innuendo regularly, you are probably a moron and an irritant. Anyway, I decided to give my character a catchphrase to humanise them and can't decide upon it, I'm stuck on three: - "Take your first number and add mathematics until I like it." "Potatoes are a good source of complex carbohydrates and were eaten by 19th Century English and Spanish sailors to fend off scurvy. They are surprisingly rich in immune-boosting Vitamin C, but whoever heard of a potato salad?" "There are two ways we can do this, my way, or your way." This character is a bad arse and would get right up into someone's face before delivering this killer catchphrase. They just aren't quite working for me, any thoughts?
Potato salad is a thing, though. Is he supposed to live behind the moon, too? ;-) The first one is too complicated to use in many contexts, I think. The third one is a bit too harmless, but may I suggest: "There are two ways we can do this, my way, or the idiot way."?
I think the first one works, just taking two simple scenarios: - Scenario one: - "It'll cost you one thousand dollars" "Take your first number and add mathematics until I like it." Scenario two: - "It'll cost you ten thousand dollars" "Take your first number and add mathematics until I like it." Although in these cases they would need to add minus mathematics.
It's not that it doesn't work as a phrase, but I agree with @QueenOfPlants that is tailored to quite a specific situation of negotiating money, as in both your above examples - I'm not sure it's quite flexible enough to be considered a catchphrase. I would say your third option is the most promising, as the second is a bit too long to be as punchy as a catchphrase needs to be. With the third one, it could be very interesting to see how the way the line is delivered changes based on the context of the situation and what props the character has to hand at the time to appear threatening or jovial etc about it.
You probably need shorter catchphrases. Like the third one. That's nice and reusable. But the others seem good only for one line of dialogue, if only for length alone. #2 seems random and complicated to me. I like #1, though. It could work.
I'm a bit confused. I'm not sure why he needs a catchphrase. Give him a certain way of phrasing things, sure, but who ever really says the same thing more than once?
