{"id":6174,"date":"2022-08-29T18:54:56","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T18:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=6174"},"modified":"2022-08-29T18:55:42","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T18:55:42","slug":"youre-killing-me-smalls-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/youre-killing-me-smalls-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"You\u2019re Killing Me Smalls \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone that grew up in the late 1990s to the early 2000s has likely seen the well-known movie, The Sandlot. <\/em>Whether you chose to watch it on your own, or a parent made you, we\u2019ve all seen it. From that movie comes the iconic phrase \u201cyou\u2019re killing me, smalls\u201d that many people still quote to this day.<\/p>\n

But what does this phrase really mean? This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

The phrase \u201cyou\u2019re killing me, smalls\u201d (also commonly seen as \u201cyou\u2019re killin\u2019 me, smalls\u201d) is a term that expresses exasperation or frustration toward someone else. Typically, you would say this to someone else who has a certain sense of ineptitude or who is general ly clueless. <\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a term of frustration you may direct toward someone else when you are frustrated with how they are acting in a certain situation, the fact that they may not know how to do something, or if they are not listening to something you are telling them.<\/p>\n

This phrase is very casual, and most commonly used by young adults that grew up with the movie, or their middle-aged parents that made them watch it in the first place. It has quickly become commonplace in modern Internet culture. More information can be found in the video (here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Example Usage<\/h2>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve never seen The Lion King<\/em>? You\u2019re killing me, smalls!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow have you never driven a car, and you\u2019re 20? You\u2019re killing me, smalls!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t I ask you to take out the trash this morning? You\u2019re killing me, smalls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re killing me, smalls. You should know how to do this by now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Origin<\/h2>\n

This phrase is from the movie, The Sandlot<\/em>, which was released in 1993. One of the children asks another if he wants a s\u2019more, then quickly becomes frustrated when the other child (whose last name is Smalls) acts like he doesn\u2019t know what a s\u2019more is. That is when the iconic line, \u201cyou\u2019re killing me, Smalls\u201d, is heard for the first time.<\/p>\n

This phrase quickly grew to have a life of its own, and people that had never even seen the movie before began using it. The actor who said it, Patrick Renna, says the line has followed him through his life, even decades after the movie\u2019s release. The phrase was eventually added to the official English lexicon, and definitions for it can even be found on Dictionary.com, where it was added in 2018.<\/p>\n

Phrases Similar to You\u2019re Killing Me Smalls<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Oh, my god.<\/li>\n
  • I can\u2019t believe this\/you.<\/li>\n
  • Are you serious?<\/li>\n
  • You\u2019re driving me crazy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Phrases Opposite to You\u2019re Killing Me Smalls<\/h2>\n
      \n
    • Good job!<\/li>\n
    • I\u2019m proud of you!<\/li>\n
    • Good idea!<\/li>\n
    • You\u2019re right!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n
        \n
      • \u201cYou\u2019re killing me Smalls\u201d is, in itself, the correct saying.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Ways People May Incorrectly Say You\u2019re Killing Me Smalls<\/h2>\n

        Saying \u201cyou\u2019re killing me, smalls\u201d is a way to express general frustration or exasperation toward someone else for a variety of reasons. Keeping that definition in mind, attempting to use this phrase toward someone who hasn\u2019t frustrated you in any way would be incorrect. Some ways that \u201cyou\u2019re killing me, smalls\u201d is used incorrectly are:<\/p>\n

          \n
        • I love that outfit! You\u2019re killing me, smalls!<\/li>\n
        • That joke made me laugh way too hard. You\u2019re killing me, smalls!<\/li>\n
        • Thanks for the amazing haircut, Andy! You\u2019re killing me, smalls!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Acceptable Ways to Phrase You\u2019re Killing Me Smalls<\/h2>\n
            \n
          • You don\u2019t know what Ben and Jerry\u2019s ice cream is? You\u2019re killing me, smalls!<\/li>\n
          • You\u2019ve never used a wrench before? You\u2019re killing me, smalls.<\/li>\n
          • There is no excuses for leaving the car on while we are in the store, you\u2019re killing me, smalls!<\/li>\n
          • I can\u2019t believe you didn\u2019t know how to work the TV remote. You\u2019re killing me, smalls.<\/li>\n
          • You\u2019re 25, and you don\u2019t know how to cook? You\u2019re killing me, smalls!<\/li>\n
          • I can\u2019t believe you haven\u2019t watched Stranger Things yet, you\u2019re killing me, smalls!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Anyone that grew up in the late 1990s to the early 2000s has likely seen the well-known movie, The Sandlot. Whether you chose to watch it on your own, or a parent made you, we\u2019ve all seen it. From that movie comes the iconic phrase \u201cyou\u2019re killing me, smalls\u201d that many people still quote to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6174"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8230,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6174\/revisions\/8230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}