The Absolute Best Rickyisms From Trailer Park Boys
Sunnyvale Trailer Park resident Ricky (Rob Wells) is no stranger to foul language and, in general, has a tenuous grasp on the English language. That doesn't stop him from being one of the most beloved characters on Trailer Park Boys. If anything, it makes him even more popular. Everyone loved Shakespeare, after all, and he made up words all the time.
As fans of the long-running Canadian laugher know, Ricky has his own way of speaking. Not only does he continuously mess up idioms and common phrases, but at times he appears to create his own neologisms. Sometimes, they almost work.
TPB fans have come to terms with the way Ricky botches words, sentences, and most things that come out of his mouth — so much so, that they now call these English passages "Rickyisms." Throughout Trailer Park Boys' long-running history, the show has been graced with countless Rickyisms — in fact, there's basically one in every episode, at least. While there are limitless Rickyisms — and everyone has their own tub of tea — here, dear Heisensteins, are some of the best ways the self-smarted Ricky has expressed himself on Trailer Park Boys over the years.
Get two birds stoned at once
Throughout Ricky's book learning (a.k.a. reading or studying) days, he's managed to drop some great one-liners relating to animals. Rakins (raccoons) and hornse (horse) are just some of the classic animal-related Rickyisms this Indianapolis Jones has come up with over the years. Although "I toad a so" (translation: "I told you so") is a fan favorite — and technically features an animal — one of Ricky's best wild phrases is "get two birds stoned at once."
What he was trying to say in season 4, episode 3, "Rub 'N Tiz'zug," is "to kill two birds with one stone" — a common saying. It basically means to achieve two goals at once with a singular effort. Ricky wasn't technically wrong, per se. Literally getting two birds stoned at once would technically be killing two birds with one stone, though we doubt this is where he was going with it.
I'm not a pessimist, I'm an optometrist
Throughout all the messed up jobs, prison stays, and half-thought-out plans that usually go wrong, Ricky has somehow managed to remain an optimist — or in his words, an optometrist. One of his most beloved Rickyisms came in season 6, episode 5, entitled "Halloween 1977." The smooth-talking Ricky (all jokes aside, Ricky has a special power to sometimes talk his way out of trouble) tells J-Roc (Jonathan Torrens), "I'm not a pessimist, I'm an optometrist," before suggesting that J-Roc shouldn't trust the eternally shirtless Randy (Patrick Roach).
The phrase he was going for is, "I'm not a pessimist, I'm an optimist" — meaning he looks at situations in a positive light — though, in this case, he doesn't trust Randy. Not exactly a positive perspective. We question whether Ricky even understands the philosophical difference between having a negative and a positive outlook. With a rap sheet like his, positivity might be pretty hard to come by.
For the record, an optometrist is an eye doctor. Close enough?
One man's garbage is another man person's good ungarbage
Ricky is a man with great wisdom. On top of telling people, "Beauty is in the eye when you hold her" and "Keep your friends close, but your enemies toaster," one of his greatest nuggets of wisdom arrived in the form of this Rickyism: "One man's garbage is another man person's good ungarbage." This insightful utterance came in season 6, episode 3, entitled "High Definition Piss Jugs."
What he's likely trying to say is, "One man's trash is another man's treasure," but his wording is emphatically more eloquent, as far as we're concerned. Although it's true that what one person may consider worthless could be valuable to another, Ricky is sticking up for his dad here — a guy who now lives at the dump. He may have a different and altogether more literal understanding of this particular colloquialism.
It's all water under the fridge
For better or worse, there are a plethora of food-related Rickyisms. "Friends with the Benedicts" and "Sweet and power chicken" are some of the most revisited phrases that have come out of Ricky's mouth. But food has to go somewhere, which is why "water under the fridge" takes the Trailer Park Boys' cake as Ricky's best food-related Rickyism.
Ricky presumably meant to say "water under the bridge," meaning past issues should stay in the past. In season 8, episode 1, entitled "Money Can Suck My C**k," the man with great hair drops this gem in reference to a contract gone wrong because he didn't read it. More accurately, Julian (John Paul Tremblay) says Ricky can't even read. It doesn't take rocket appliances to understand that Ricky probably wasn't the world's best English student. Whether his legal troubles were really water under the fridge is for a court to decide, however.
What comes around is all around
In season 1, episode 3, entitled "Mr. Lahey's Got My Porno Tape!," Ricky dropped one of his best Rickyisms of all time, telling Mr. Lahey (the late John Dunsworth), "What comes around is all around."
In this moment, Ricky is demanding that Lahey give Ricky a tape that has incriminating footage that could hurt his relationship with Lucy (Lucy DeCoutere). Lahey responds with, "Don't you mean what's all around comes around, Ricky." The phrase, "What goes around comes around," refers in basic terms to the Buddhist notion of karma.
While Ricky butchers words, his hilarious takes on standard English colloquialisms tend to make sense. Usually. After all, longtime viewers know what Ricky is trying to say when he lets out phrases such as, "A link is only as long as your longest strong chain" and "Good things come to those at the gate." In Ricky's scholarly defense, he's always juggling issues and basically lives in desperation mode. We give him a pass if his brain occasionally short circulates.
There are too many Ricky classics to choose from, but as the king of the trailer park would say, let's just let guy bonds be guy bonds.