It's a 'Word'-erful Life
Many of us enjoy Frank Capra's classic film "It's a Wonderful Life" each holiday season. But we sometimes overlook the delight and emotional punch provided by its nifty nomenclature, clever wordplay and surprisingly harsh language.
Did you know that ...
... the two clerks in George Bailey's building and loan company, Eustace and Tilley, are named for Eustace Tilley, the monocled patrician who serves as the emblem of The New Yorker magazine?
... George and Mary's exuberant rendition of "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight?" foreshadows the marriage of George's brother, Harry, to a woman from Buffalo, N.Y.
... the "Sesame Street" characters Bert and Ernie were named for Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in the film.
The movie is sprinkled with many other verbal snowflakes. The title of the short story that inspired the film, "The Greatest Gift" by Philip Van Doren Stern, is echoed in the opening scene of the movie when an angel says that the suicidal George is "thinking seriously of throwing away God's greatest gift." And the movie's title comes from Clarence's key revelation to George: "You really had a wonderful life."
It's a punderful life as well. As George paces back and forth along Mary's picket fence, she shouts, "What are you doing, picketing?" Mary's last name is "Hatch," and, when George marries her, his aspirations of leaving town to become an architect or construction engineer go down the hatch.
The aptly named George Bailey bails out his townspeople many times, and Mary, like the Virgin Mary, brings forth a miracle on Christmas Eve when she gathers those same citizens to bail out George himself. Likewise, the owner of the town bar is "Martini," the oddball angel is Clarence "Odbody," and impoverished tenants live in a potter's field owned by -- who else? -- Henry F. "Potter."
Some of the film's slang terms are delightfully outdated: "necking," "joint," "scare baby," "plugged nickels," "eats" and "trick ear," but this film known for its sweetness includes some nasty insults and epithets, e.g., "brainless," "hard-skulled character," "sick man," "idiot," "stupid, silly old man," "scurvy little spider." Yet the prudish RKO studio censors deleted from the script terms that now seem less offensive, e.g., "impotent," "nuts to you," "lousy," "jerk" and "dang."
So you want to know more about the words in this dang film, huh? As the distraught George Bailey replies when his son asks him how to spell "Hallelujah," "Wadda' you think I am, a dictionary?"
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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.
Copyright 2025 Creators Syndicate Inc.
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