Art Streiber/NBC Ten years ago on October 11, 2006, the world met Liz Lemon, a beleaguered comedy writer on a low-rated late-night sketch series on NBC. 30 Rock's Liz (Tina Fey), Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski), Kenneth the page (Jack McBrayer) and Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) became household names—but the characters aren't the only legacy 30 Rock left behind.
Sure, Jenna will be remembered as a wacky and lovable sociopath and people will forever identify with Liz Lemon (especially her New Year's resolutions, "Yes to love, yes to life, yes to staying in more!"), but with Fey at the helm, 30 Rock left its mark on our lexicon: Liz Lemon and Co. contributed slang and terms you probably forgot about.
Let's start with the two most well-known (and still used, especially by yours truly) phrases:
"I want to go to there."
Liz Lemon started saying this in season three of 30 Rock and Fey credits her daughter Alice for coining the phrase often used when discussing food or some kind of luxury. "Some of the great catchphrases of 30 Rock have come from Alice," Krakowski told the New York Daily News. "Like, 'I want to go there!'—that's Alice. It's so funny because I hear people say it on the street, and that was [Tina's] daughter!"
"Blerg"
When "blah" just isn't enough, "blerg" can also be used in frustration with a harsher tone. It's classic Liz Lemon.
And the rest...
"Nerd rage!"/"Nerds!"
Queen of the nerds, Fey's Liz Lemon used this generally when she was outraged. Sure, she didn't come up with the word "nerd," but she sure used it in a new way out of frustration and annoyance.
"What the what!"
A classic Liz Lemon surprised expression.
"Whuck"
Again, not necessarily created by 30 Rock, "whuck" is "what" and "f—k" combined, often used when confused and/or agitated.
"That's a dealbreaker."
Liz Lemon almost got her own talk show after her TGS sketch with this phrase went viral. Used when describing a somebody's romantic situation: "Yeah, there's no such thing as bisexual. That's something they invented in the 90s to sell hair products. Dealbreaker."
"Shut it down"
Often used by Alec Baldwin's Jack to end some kind of action or conversation. Other characters used "shut it down" as well for various reasons.
Jenna on Hardball from SFL-TV on Vimeo.
"Ya burnt!"
Another phrase not necessarily coined by 30 Rock, but made famous by the show, "ya burnt!" is a response to, well, burning (zinging) somebody.
"Camera"
Have you ever had the opportunity to be on camera and then suddenly couldn't stop pronouncing it cam-er-ah? Thank Jenna Maroney.
30 Rock gave us so much: Absurdly great characters, seven years of laughs and ways to express rage (nerd rage included), frustration and confusion we never would have thought of. Happy anniversary, 30 Rock.