You’re The Worst was one of the most well received new shows of 2014, and the highly anticipated second season lands this week. While its roots may have been in romantic comedy, You’re the Worst managed to sidestep every cliche that plagues the genre in a whirlwind of alcohol, bad behavior, and quick wit. With a focus on cleverness and sly jokes instead of easy punchlines, the show almost feels more like a traditionally British sitcom than an American one. Perhaps the show itself sums it up best in the pilot, when Jimmy is explaining to Gretchen why he loved her post-hookup, angry rant, despite the fact that is was directed at him: “It was funny and true… and mean. My favorite kind.”
Part of what makes You’re The Worst the best is the hilarious slang terms that the show has surely added to the cultural lexicon. Here are a few of the best for you to use with the people you love to hate.
“19 Types of Trouble”
Gretchen and Jimmy get off to a rocky start, and their relationship stays rocky for pretty much the entire first season. But after that initial hook up after Becca and Vernon’s wedding, their first fight, and Gretchen stealing Jimmy’s car, it’s clear to them both that while extremely volatile, there is definitely something between them. Jimmy refers to her as “19 types of trouble,” and he couldn’t be more right.
When To Use: When your best friend starts dating someone who is clearly wrong for them, but also hot, so you discourage them from starting something while giving them a “go for it” sign on the down low.
“Soul Vampire”
Gretchen and Jimmy met at Becca and Vernon’s wedding, and Jimmy and Becca had previously dated. There is definitely still plenty of animosity between the exes that was definitely exacerbated by Jimmy’s rude wedding behavior. Lindsay, Becca’s little sister and Gretchen’s BFF, refers to Jimmy as a “soul vampire” who would take over Gretchen’s entire life and personality, leaving her a husk of the woman that she was before the relationship. While this is pretty harsh, the petulant Jimmy hasn’t done much yet to prove them wrong.
When To Use: When your friend is no longer ever an “I”, only a “we.”
“The Detroit Redwings Are In Town”
Sometimes you just need a good period euphemism, and Gretchen’s explanation that “the Detroit Redwings are in town” is one of the best since The IT Crowd‘s Aunt Irma.
When To Use: Whenever you need to turn in a ladies only “get out of jail free” card. It’s the worst every month, and this is the only way you can use it to your advantage is to get out of that boring dinner party that you didn’t want to go to in the first place.
“Eject!”
Poor Edgar. Ex-military and suffering from PTSD (the real kind, not the kind later in the list) and drug addiction, Edgar is a pretty dark character to put into a comedy. But despite that darkness, he is easily one of the best and kindest characters on the show, despite his love of heroin and obsession with Rachel Ray. He doesn’t really have anyone to talk to about his experiences, and when Gretchen has a brief moment of niceness and tries to listen, she’s so horrified by his war stories that she covers her ears and yells “eject!” immediately ending the conversation.
When To Use: When your mother starts asking when you and your significant other are going to get married/have kids/move closer, etc.
“Delivering The P*ssy”
While she may be a mess in her personal life, Gretchen is actually pretty good at her job as a PR representative to various rap groups. Sam Dresden is her most prominent client, and is one of the most hilariously offensive aspects of the show. When he’s showing Gretchen his new house, he makes it clear that the girls will be coming to him now, not the other way around. Basically, his new craftsman home will be “delivering the p*ssy, piping fresh in 30 minutes or less.”
When To Use: Probably never. While hilarious, this one’s pretty gross.
“Sunday Funday”
OK, Sunday Funday existed before You’re The Worst, but they elevated it to an art form. On You’re The Worst, the Sunday Funday brunch experience is a full day drunken event planned to perfection by Edgar. Even when a hilariously insufferable Thomas Middleditch tries to commandeer their plans at every turn — “fun hipster sh*t is just poor Latino sh*t from 10 years ago” — Edgar is undeterred in providing the best Sunday Funday possible. Even if poor Paul has to wait in the car.
When To Use: Every Sunday. Brunch is the best and should be enjoyed whenever possible, and you should probably learn the words to their song too.
“Phil Collins or Peter Gabriel?”
When Gretchen has to finally choose between Jimmy and her douchey director hookup Ty, Jimmy asks her to choose between style and substance, Phil Collins or Peter Gabriel. Gretchen is on to his insecure mind games, and eventually chooses him, a.k.a. Peter Gabriel, and breaks it off with Ty for good.
When To Use: With every major decision. This analogy actually works pretty brilliantly.
“The Salad Eaters”
Lindsay is torn between Gretchen’s never ending life of cocaine and binge drinking and a more stable life provided by her husband, Paul. When explaining her early Sunday Funday exit to go to a party for Paul’s firm, she refers to the trophy wives as “the salad eaters.” Despite not having their lives together in any way, Gretchen and Lindsay are extremely judgmental of the yuppies in Paul’s circle of acquaintances, but when someone shows up to a party in full equestrian gear, they’ve earned that derision.
When To Use: When you’re just trying to enjoy your burger but some terrifying Booster Club moms come in and ruin your food buzz.
“PTSD”
While you may be thinking of the horrible mental scars left by a traumatic incident, You’re The Worst introduces a new meaning: “previously taken or sucked d*cks.” During and ill-advised hook-up challenge between Gretchen and Jimmy when they’re desperately fighting off the urge to become exclusive, Lindsay describes past partners as PTSD, and thus only worth half a point.
When To Use: When talking to that one friend who always hooks up with her ex and always regrets it out of breaking the cycle of bad sex and regret.
“Draco Malfoy”
Harry Potter provides some great material for creative insults, but this one is perfect in its simplicity. Pale, English, snobby Jimmy is a less evil Draco Malfoy. Jimmy’s despair at being insulted thusly is palpable and telling: maybe he isn’t as disdainful at all forms of popular literature as he says if he’s that torn up about Harry Potter.
When To Use: For your worst enemies, or at the very least that guy who keeps stealing your lunch from the office fridge.
“Trash Juice”
Vernon may be the least convincing doctor in the history of television. An overgrown frat boy with a penchant for asinine abbreviations (if a dude asks you “if you’ve had your gaz yet,” dump him immediately) and childish behavior, Vernon decides that the best thing that he can do for his wife’s barbecue is make a giant batch of “trash juice,” which is basically just the entire contents of his liquor cabinet with some fruit chunks thrown in, and then proceed to drink all of it himself.
When To Use: When you’re ready to make some questionable choices.
“Cockaholism”
Lindsay may be adorable and charming, but she makes some very hurtful choices regarding her husband, Paul. He may be dull as a post, but he’s kind and doesn’t deserve her scorn or her rampant infidelity. When she is trying to justify her behavior to her sister, Becca calls her out on her crap, explaining that her “cockaholism” isn’t a valid excuse. In a rare moment of awesomeness, Becca informs her that her “only disease is that you don’t love your husband.”
When To Use: When talking about that one friend who’s thing is “putting bad stuff in her mouth.”
