"In Like Flynn" Real Phrase? Or is NoSoup crazy? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

NoSoup · 10-13-2005, 07:35 AM

Last night I was out with a couple of friends, and I said "In like Flynn"

They said it didn't exist, I believe it does. I'd like to know if I am crazy or not - I could swear I've heard it before, but couldn't think of any particular times last night...

Help TFP!

cameroncrazy822 · 10-13-2005, 07:38 AM

It actually came about from Erol Flynn and his exploits of closing the deal with "young" women. When you know you're gonna get something or get something, you're "In like Flynn".

Leto · 10-13-2005, 07:39 AM

hmmm... I thought it was "in like flint' as in the flint used in lighters.

probably wrong tho, as in the case of all those mis-heard lyrics.

Astrocloud · 10-13-2005, 07:43 AM

The actual expression is "In like Flyman"

Charlatan · 10-13-2005, 07:44 AM

I can't vote because my choice isn't there...

YES "in like flynn" is a saying BUT NoSoup is still crazy...

NoSoup · 10-13-2005, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cameroncrazy822

It actually came about from Erol Flynn and his exploits of closing the deal with "young" women. When you know you're gonna get something or get something, you're "In like Flynn".

AH HA!

Thanks Cameron

*Does the sane dance*

10-13-2005, 08:35 AM

In like Flynn

ratbastid · 10-13-2005, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leto

hmmm... I thought it was "in like flint' as in the flint used in lighters.

Close! It's a reference to the title character in the 1966 film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059557/">Our Man Flint</a>.

Though I usually say (when I say it, which is rare) "in like Flynn".

Coppertop · 10-13-2005, 10:49 AM

In like...

?

Coppertop · 10-13-2005, 10:52 AM

Errol Flynn predates Our Man Flint by decades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Errol_Flynn

Quote:

Flynn was well known for drinking, womanizing and throwing wild parties. However, his lifestyle caught up with him when teenagers Betty Hansen and Peggy Satterlee accused him of statutory rape in November 1942. A group organized to support Flynn, named the American Boys Club for the Defense of Errol Flynn (ABCDEF); its members included, surprisingly, William F. Buckley, Jr.. The trial took place in January and February of 1943, and Flynn was cleared of the crime. The incident served to increase his reputation as a lady's man, and the term "In Like Flynn" came to be synonymous with succeeding in romantic endeavors. His suave, debonnaire, and devil-may-care attitude towards both ladies and life has been immortalized into the English language by author Benjamin S. Johnson as "Errolesque" in his treatise on the subject, "An Errolesque Philosophy on Life." [1]

10-13-2005, 11:15 AM

This is the text from my previous link:

Quote:

IN LIKE FLYNN

[Q] From Gustavo Bruckner: “What is the derivation of in like Flynn?”

[A] Reference books almost universally assert that this set phrase, an American expression meaning to be successful emphatically or quickly, especially in regard to sexual seduction, refers to the Australian-born actor Errol Flynn. His drinking, drug-taking and sexual exploits were renowned, even for Hollywood, but the phrase is said to have been coined following his acquittal in February 1943 for the statutory rape of a teenage girl. This seems to be supported by the date of the first example recorded, in American Speech in December 1946, which cited a 1945 use in the sense of something being done easily.

The trouble with this explanation is that examples of obviously related expressions have now turned up from dates before Flynn’s trial. Barry Popik of the American Dialect Society found an example from 1940, as well as this from the sports section of the San Francisco Examiner of 8 February 1942: “Answer these questions correctly and your name is Flynn, meaning you’re in, provided you have two left feet and the written consent of your parents”. To judge from a newspaper reference he turned up from early 1943, the phrase could by then also be shortened to I’m Flynn, meaning “I’m in”.

It’s suggested by some writers that the phrase really originated with another Flynn, Edward J Flynn—“Boss” Flynn—a campaign manager for the Democratic party during FDR’s presidency. Flynn’s machine in the South Bronx in New York was so successful at winning elections that his candidates seemed to get into office automatically.

The existence of the examples found by Mr Popik certainly suggest the expression was at first unconnected with Errol Flynn, but that it shifted its association when he became such a notorious figure. Since then, it has altered again, because in 1967 a film, In Like Flint, a spy spoof starring James Coburn, took its title by wordplay from the older expression, and in turn caused many people to think that the phrase was really in like Flint.

ratbastid · 10-13-2005, 01:03 PM

UH, yeah, that'll show me for posting too fast...

I believe the term is "In like Flynn". However, I've heard others claim that it's a bastardization of "In like Flint", and cite the afore cited film as the source thereof.

noodle · 10-13-2005, 02:25 PM

I've always been in like Flynn... and y'all?

edit only cause i cain't speel

uncle phil · 10-13-2005, 03:02 PM

no soup for you, charlie...

Tophat665 · 10-17-2005, 06:53 PM

NoSoup is right.
Crazy too.

Anxst · 10-18-2005, 04:38 AM

I said no....

But ONLY in an attempt to get you to go to therapy.

View Poll Results: Is "In Like Flynn" a real phrase?
Yes - NoSoup is Not Crazy	21	80.77%
No - NoSoup needs to go to therapy	1	3.85%
No Idea - But voting makes me feel important.	4	15.38%
Voters: 26. You may not vote on this poll

10-13-2005, 07:35 AM	#1 (permalink)
NoSoup Non-Rookie Location: Green Bay, WI	"In Like Flynn" Real Phrase? Or is NoSoup crazy? Last night I was out with a couple of friends, and I said "In like Flynn" They said it didn't exist, I believe it does. I'd like to know if I am crazy or not - I could swear I've heard it before, but couldn't think of any particular times last night... Help TFP! __________________ I have an aura of reliability and good judgement. Just in case you were wondering...

10-13-2005, 07:44 AM	#5 (permalink)
Charlatan Getting it. Super Moderator Location: Lion City	I can't vote because my choice isn't there... YES "in like flynn" is a saying BUT NoSoup is still crazy... __________________ "My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars." - Old Man Luedecke

10-13-2005, 03:02 PM	#14 (permalink)
uncle phil comfortably numb... Super Moderator Location: upstate	no soup for you, charlie... __________________ "We were wrong, terribly wrong. (We) should not have tried to fight a guerrilla war with conventional military tactics against a foe willing to absorb enormous casualties...in a country lacking the fundamental political stability necessary to conduct effective military and pacification operations. It could not be done and it was not done." - Robert S. McNamara ----------------------------------------- "We will take our napalm and flame throwers out of the land that scarcely knows the use of matches... We will leave you your small joys and smaller troubles." - Eugene McCarthy in "Vietnam Message" ----------------------------------------- never wrestle with a pig. you both get dirty; the pig likes it.

10-17-2005, 06:53 PM	#15 (permalink)
Tophat665 Minion of the scaléd ones Location: Northeast Jesusland	NoSoup is right. Crazy too. __________________ Light a man a fire, and he will be warm while it burns. Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

10-13-2005, 07:38 AM	#2 (permalink)
cameroncrazy822 Junkie Location: MD	It actually came about from Erol Flynn and his exploits of closing the deal with "young" women. When you know you're gonna get something or get something, you're "In like Flynn".

10-13-2005, 07:39 AM	#3 (permalink)
Leto Junkie Location: The Danforth	hmmm... I thought it was "in like flint' as in the flint used in lighters. probably wrong tho, as in the case of all those mis-heard lyrics.

10-13-2005, 07:43 AM	#4 (permalink)
Astrocloud Apocalypse Nerd	The actual expression is "In like Flyman"

10-13-2005, 08:35 AM	#7 (permalink)
zen_tom Guest	In like Flynn

10-13-2005, 10:49 AM	#9 (permalink)
Coppertop Getting Medieval on your ass Location: 13th century Europe	In like... ?

10-13-2005, 01:03 PM	#12 (permalink)
ratbastid Darth Papa Location: Yonder	UH, yeah, that'll show me for posting too fast... I believe the term is "In like Flynn". However, I've heard others claim that it's a bastardization of "In like Flint", and cite the afore cited film as the source thereof.

10-18-2005, 04:38 AM	#16 (permalink)
Anxst Condensing fact from the vapor of nuance. Location: Madison, WI	I said no.... But ONLY in an attempt to get you to go to therapy. __________________ Don't mind me. I'm just releasing the insanity pressure from my headvalves.