Everyone has favorite catchphrases from hit movies such as, “May the force be with you.” Maybe yours is from a TV show; “We were on a break.” Or maybe just from a favorite celebrity, “Another one.” There’s also the catchphrases everyone knows and uses, like “see ya later alligator” or “good golly, miss Molly!” But, did you know there are a lot of trademarked catchphrases right here at St. Dominic? That’s right, plenty of teachers here at school have coined a word or phrase that any of their students can recognize. 

One of the teachers that has a fairly well known phrase is Mr. Hennekes. He is known for having some of the more difficult stem classes in the school, so his students often complain about the workload given. Hennekes gives the same answer to them every time: “bummer.”

“I was sitting, working on an engineering project. My classmate seemed to get a worried look on his face. He raised his hand and told Mr. Hennekes, ‘My computer deleted all my files.’ I will never forget the tone and lack of sincerity when Mr. Hennekes replied, ‘Bummer, you better get back to work’,” junior Malachi Gnade said.

Another teacher with a common catchphrase is Mrs. Goins. Different from Mr. Hennekes, though, Mrs. Goins isn’t always aware of how often she uses her phrase. Junior Tori Larner made sure to let her know one class.

“In one lit class, I noticed how much Mrs. Goins says ‘in any case.’ After two or three times, I started counting how many times she said it and showed her after class. She had no idea how much she said it, but she found it super funny,” Larner said.

Some of the faculty also have some phrases that are said frequently. Dean of students Mr. Tock comes over the intercom everyday before lunch at school and always says “enjoy the great outdoors/indoors” depending on the weather for that day.

“I hardly ever eat lunch outside, but I always listen to hear whether Mr. Tock will let us know to enjoy the great outdoors or indoors,” junior Kalea Reeves said. 

Some teachers have things more similar to traditions rather than phrases, like Mr. Asher. Before every test in all of his classes, Mr. Asher has a very specific prayer before tests that he uses. 

“Something that I’ve started doing before tests is saying the ‘Bless us O Lord’ prayer. It’s not for any specific reason other than just doing something different. I’ve never yet said it without smiling, which I think is another good reason to keep saying it,” Mr. Asher said.

The last teacher with a major catchphrase is Mr. Moore’s infamous “minus one.” Any student who’s had Mr. Moore as a teacher has more than likely heard him say “minus one!” at least once in class, if not outside of class as well. 

“I’ve known Mr. Moore as both a teacher and as a coach, and the amount of times he’s said minus one to me is insane,” senior Emily Marut said.

There are plenty more phrases that the teachers have other than the ones here. Maybe now during your classes, you can listen extra carefully to see what specific catchphrase your teachers use on the daily!