WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.779 Welcome back to the Deep Dives. Today we are 00:00:02.779 --> 00:00:06.620 looking at a very specific sequence of four words. 00:00:06.820 --> 00:00:09.099 Just four words, yeah. Right. Four words that 00:00:09.099 --> 00:00:11.679 you almost certainly know. Words that probably 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:13.859 make you picture a killer robot wearing leather. 00:00:14.060 --> 00:00:17.719 Oh, absolutely. We are talking about hasta la 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:20.519 vista, baby. It's iconic. I mean, it is arguably 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:23.280 one of the most recognizable catchphrases in 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:26.600 cinema history. And what's wild is that the source 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:29.289 material we're looking at today reveals this 00:00:29.289 --> 00:00:31.589 whole backstory that most people have no idea 00:00:31.589 --> 00:00:34.530 about. We have a huge stack of sources covering 00:00:34.530 --> 00:00:37.270 the history, the usage, and the cultural ripples 00:00:37.270 --> 00:00:39.750 of this exact phrase. Because it didn't just 00:00:39.750 --> 00:00:42.490 start with the movie. Exactly. Our mission today 00:00:42.490 --> 00:00:46.009 is to figure out how a completely standard, polite 00:00:46.009 --> 00:00:49.030 Spanish farewell turned into a massive global 00:00:49.030 --> 00:00:50.689 catchphrase. Yeah. Because we're talking about 00:00:50.689 --> 00:00:53.210 a phrase that involves a Grammy winner, a legendary 00:00:53.210 --> 00:00:55.890 stand -up comedian, and some really complex linguistics. 00:00:55.990 --> 00:00:57.869 Yeah, it's not just us sitting here quoting movies 00:00:57.869 --> 00:00:59.630 for 20 minutes. Right, though we will definitely 00:00:59.630 --> 00:01:02.630 be doing some quoting. Hard to avoid. But the 00:01:02.630 --> 00:01:05.560 goal is to understand that evolution. How does 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:08.260 a polite greeting get used by everyone from hip 00:01:08.260 --> 00:01:11.439 -hop artists to prime ministers? So let's just 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:14.579 jump right in Looking at the origins in the research 00:01:14.579 --> 00:01:18.780 pre -terminator We have to start with the literal 00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:21.939 Spanish translation the foundation of it all 00:01:21.939 --> 00:01:25.379 right hasta la vista Literally it translates 00:01:25.379 --> 00:01:28.459 to until the view which is actually very poetic 00:01:28.459 --> 00:01:30.640 when you think about it it is or you know more 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:33.140 commonly it just means until we see each other 00:01:33.140 --> 00:01:35.859 or See you later. And the key thing to remember 00:01:35.859 --> 00:01:38.079 for the listener is that in Spanish, this is 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:40.879 a very formal, polite way to say goodbye. Totally. 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:43.200 It lacks any sort of edge. It's what you would 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:45.200 say to your grandmother or a shopkeeper. It's 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:47.819 optimistic. But in the view, it's nice. And for 00:01:47.819 --> 00:01:49.620 a long time, the sources show that's all it was. 00:01:49.819 --> 00:01:52.879 It was just grammar. There's a note here about 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:55.459 an early popularization in an American comic 00:01:55.459 --> 00:01:58.519 strip called Gordo. Yes, Gordo. It ran in the 00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:00.620 mid -20th century, and it was actually pretty 00:02:00.620 --> 00:02:03.340 significant for introducing Mexican culture to 00:02:03.340 --> 00:02:05.920 American audiences. Oh, interesting. Yeah. And 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:08.439 it used hosta la vista. But again, in that totally 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:10.860 traditional, polite context, it wasn't a punchline. 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:14.360 But then we hit 1970 in the timeline. This is 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:16.620 where it gets weird. This completely threw me 00:02:16.620 --> 00:02:19.840 for a loop. The sources show a major pop culture 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:23.419 usage in 1970, and it is not from an action star. 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:26.759 It's from Bob Hope. I still can't quite picture 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:30.240 it, honestly. It's so funny. Bob Hope, the ultimate 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:33.120 establishment comedian, and he uses the full 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:36.319 phrase, hasta la vista, baby. And the context 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:38.419 of this is just incredible. Right. It was on 00:02:38.419 --> 00:02:41.289 a television special. starring Raquel Welch. 00:02:41.409 --> 00:02:44.409 The sex symbol of the era. Exactly. And Bob Hope 00:02:44.409 --> 00:02:47.169 says this to her during a tribute sketch to the 00:02:47.169 --> 00:02:49.849 Beatles song, Rocky Raccoon. It's just such a 00:02:49.849 --> 00:02:52.990 bizarre collision of 1970s pop culture. You've 00:02:52.990 --> 00:02:55.669 got the Beatles, Bob Hope, Raquel Welch, and 00:02:55.669 --> 00:02:58.009 this phrase. And it really shows how pop culture 00:02:58.009 --> 00:03:00.729 just recycles and borrows things. Because Bob 00:03:00.729 --> 00:03:02.990 Hope isn't saying it to be a tough guy. No, not 00:03:02.990 --> 00:03:04.789 at all. It's an early example of using a bit 00:03:04.789 --> 00:03:07.569 of Spanish to sound kind of casually cool, a 00:03:07.569 --> 00:03:09.569 bit of dad joke counterculture. Hey, like trying 00:03:09.569 --> 00:03:12.750 to prove he's hip. Exactly. He didn't invent 00:03:12.750 --> 00:03:15.789 the phrase, obviously, but putting it on a national 00:03:15.789 --> 00:03:18.289 TV broadcast shows, it was already percolating 00:03:18.289 --> 00:03:20.930 in the American consciousness. But it doesn't 00:03:20.930 --> 00:03:24.150 get that real attitude, that edge, until the 00:03:24.150 --> 00:03:28.169 1980s. The musical evolution. Yes. The late 80s 00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:30.659 music scene really shifts the tone. Looking at 00:03:30.659 --> 00:03:34.000 1987, we have Jodie Watley. A massive artist. 00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:37.900 Huge. Grammy winner. She releases the hit song, 00:03:38.099 --> 00:03:40.639 Looking for a New Love. And the hook of that 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:43.500 song isn't just a polite goodbye. It's hasta 00:03:43.500 --> 00:03:46.219 la vista, baby. And that addition of baby is 00:03:46.219 --> 00:03:48.060 doing a lot of work there. It's doing all the 00:03:48.060 --> 00:03:50.340 heavy lifting. It really is. Because Watley isn't 00:03:50.340 --> 00:03:52.860 saying, I hope we see each other again. She's 00:03:52.860 --> 00:03:54.979 using it as a total dismissal. She is shutting 00:03:54.979 --> 00:03:57.939 the door. Yes. She bridged the gap between a 00:03:57.939 --> 00:04:00.520 standard polite farewell and this attitude -filled 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:02.919 street -smart put -down. It's the ultimate kiss 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:04.800 -off. Yeah. And the sources point out she wasn't 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:06.699 the only one in the music world using it. Right. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:10.919 The very next year. 1988, in the single Wild 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:14.400 Thing, which was everywhere. Everywhere. So before 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:16.360 Arnold Schwarzenegger ever put on the sunglasses, 00:04:16.939 --> 00:04:19.560 this phrase was deeply cemented in the hip hop 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:22.519 and pop zeitgeist. It was already cool. Which 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:25.300 perfectly sets up segment two of our research 00:04:25.300 --> 00:04:29.709 stack. 1991, Terminator 2. Judgment Day. The 00:04:29.709 --> 00:04:32.170 cinematic moment that changed everything. And 00:04:32.170 --> 00:04:33.829 looking closely at the scene where the phrase 00:04:33.829 --> 00:04:35.970 actually happens, because I think people misremember 00:04:35.970 --> 00:04:38.649 it, it's not during an action sequence. No, it's 00:04:38.649 --> 00:04:41.550 a very quiet character building scene. Right. 00:04:41.850 --> 00:04:44.269 It's John Connor, played by Edward Furlong, and 00:04:44.269 --> 00:04:47.170 the T -800, played by Schwarzenegger. And John 00:04:47.170 --> 00:04:50.389 is basically giving this cyborg a lesson in linguistics. 00:04:50.550 --> 00:04:53.170 It's a teenage boy trying to teach a literal 00:04:53.170 --> 00:04:55.889 killing machine how to sound human. And not just 00:04:55.889 --> 00:04:58.490 human, but Cool. Because the Terminator is talking 00:04:58.490 --> 00:05:00.610 like a manual. He's saying things like, affirmative. 00:05:00.810 --> 00:05:03.790 Which John completely rejects. It's too robotic. 00:05:03.970 --> 00:05:06.269 So John gives him a menu of slang alternatives. 00:05:06.589 --> 00:05:09.009 It's such a great snapshot of the 90s. The rejector 00:05:09.009 --> 00:05:11.910 options are fascinating. He suggests, no problemo. 00:05:12.029 --> 00:05:14.129 Which gets approved, actually. He uses that one. 00:05:14.290 --> 00:05:17.670 True, true. But then he suggests, eat me. A bit 00:05:17.670 --> 00:05:19.910 too aggressive for the main catchphrase. And 00:05:19.910 --> 00:05:22.439 shine them on. Which means to... blow someone 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:25.160 off, or ignore them. Right. And then John says, 00:05:25.459 --> 00:05:27.819 if you really want to shine them on, you say, 00:05:28.100 --> 00:05:31.439 hasta la vista, baby. It's presented as the ultimate 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:34.060 dismissal. The absolute trump card of slang. 00:05:34.420 --> 00:05:36.300 And the way Schwarzenegger delivers it is so 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.500 specific. The staccato rhythm, hasta la vista. 00:05:39.980 --> 00:05:42.899 Exactly. He doesn't say it smoothly. The humor 00:05:42.899 --> 00:05:46.199 comes from this machine applying brutal mechanical 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:49.420 precision to a casual street slang. And then, 00:05:49.420 --> 00:05:51.259 of course, the payoff later in the film. The 00:05:51.259 --> 00:05:54.379 climax. The T -1000 is frozen solid by liquid 00:05:54.379 --> 00:05:57.139 nitrogen. And the T -800 just stands there, aims 00:05:57.139 --> 00:06:00.060 his gun, says the line, and shatters the guy 00:06:00.060 --> 00:06:03.040 into a million icy pieces. It completely redefines 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:05.120 the phrase forever. It's no longer just a cool 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.800 music hook. It's a declaration of total victory. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.300 And the franchise knew it. The sources note the 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:12.660 phrase didn't even die with that specific T -800. 00:06:12.939 --> 00:06:16.100 Right, in the 2003 sequel, Terminator 3, Rise 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:18.319 of the Machines. John Connor says it, played 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:20.680 by Nick Stahl in that one. It became the legacy 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:23.759 DNA of the entire franchise. But this brings 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:25.980 us to what I think is the most mind -bending 00:06:25.980 --> 00:06:28.420 part of the source material. The translation 00:06:28.420 --> 00:06:32.839 issue. Yes. Segment 3, The Linguistic Twist. 00:06:33.100 --> 00:06:36.420 This is such a great aha moment in the research. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:38.939 It really highlights how complicated language 00:06:38.939 --> 00:06:42.240 can be in pop culture. So we know the line works 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:44.600 in English because it's code switching. It's 00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:46.540 an English speaker dropping Spanish to sound 00:06:46.540 --> 00:06:49.519 cool and exotic. Right. The foreignness of it 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:51.980 is the point. But the sources pose this amazing 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:54.839 question. What happens when the audience already 00:06:54.839 --> 00:06:57.579 speaks Spanish? Right. What happens to the Castilian 00:06:57.579 --> 00:07:00.339 Spanish dub of the movie playing in Spain? If 00:07:00.339 --> 00:07:02.660 the Terminator just says, hasta la vista, baby, 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:05.480 in Madrid, it's not slang. Not at all. It's just 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:07.899 a guy saying a perfectly normal, polite goodbye 00:07:07.899 --> 00:07:10.040 right before shooting someone. See you later, 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:12.920 man. Boom. It completely loses the attitude. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.740 It loses the edge. So the filmmakers and translators 00:07:15.740 --> 00:07:17.579 had to solve this. They couldn't use the original 00:07:17.579 --> 00:07:20.319 line. They had to rely on a concept called language 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.339 shift. or functional equivalence. That's means. 00:07:23.620 --> 00:07:26.160 It means you aren't translating the literal words, 00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:28.279 you're translating the feeling of the words, 00:07:28.459 --> 00:07:30.819 the impact. You need a phrase that sounds foreign? 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:34.079 Cool and a little high tech to a Spanish audience 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:37.100 in 1991. Exactly. So they changed the script 00:07:37.100 --> 00:07:39.899 entirely. And it went with Japanese. Sayonara, 00:07:39.899 --> 00:07:42.920 baby. Sayonara, baby. It's brilliant. It really 00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:45.779 is. It preserves the exact feeling of the original 00:07:45.779 --> 00:07:48.500 English scene, but tailored for a completely 00:07:48.500 --> 00:07:50.459 different linguistic reality. Because in the 00:07:50.459 --> 00:07:52.800 early 90s, Japan was the peak of high tech cool. 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:55.639 Oh, absolutely. The future felt Japanese. So 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:58.259 a cyborg speaking Japanese made perfect sense. 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:00.139 It's just wild to think that one of the most 00:08:00.139 --> 00:08:03.480 famous Spanish quotes in cinema history is actually 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:05.939 Japanese in Spain. It's a perfect paradox. Okay, 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:08.060 so moving into the final segment of our research, 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:12.819 the cultural ripples. Because this phrase did 00:08:12.819 --> 00:08:15.500 not stay confined to Hollywood. It escaped the 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:18.259 lab, so to speak. It really did. The sources 00:08:18.259 --> 00:08:20.519 track it showing up in international cinema, 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:23.959 like the Canadian film Les Invasions Barbares 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:27.699 in 2003. And the French film Cased Apart in 2011. 00:08:27.980 --> 00:08:30.620 But the most surreal example in the stack has 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:34.740 to be the political usage. Oh, the Boris Johnson 00:08:34.740 --> 00:08:37.240 moment. Yes. Former Prime Minister of the United 00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:40.100 Kingdom. The context of this is just staggering. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:42.840 We are talking about his final appearance at 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:44.960 Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament. This 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:47.279 is the heart of British government. A very formal, 00:08:47.379 --> 00:08:49.879 very historic setting. And he's concluding his 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:52.159 time in office. And how does he say his final 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:55.029 goodbye to the House of Commons? He literally 00:08:55.029 --> 00:08:58.450 quotes a sci -fi action movie. Hasta la vista, 00:08:58.809 --> 00:09:01.830 baby. It's so surreal. It is. But when you unpack 00:09:01.830 --> 00:09:04.269 it, why does a head of government do that? Well, 00:09:04.309 --> 00:09:07.250 think about what the phrase implies now. Thanks 00:09:07.250 --> 00:09:09.769 to the movie, it's not a sad goodbye. It's a 00:09:09.769 --> 00:09:12.750 defiant one. It's triumphant. Exactly. It almost 00:09:12.750 --> 00:09:15.509 implies, I'll be back. It's a way to reframe 00:09:15.509 --> 00:09:18.509 a political resignation as a mic drop. It just 00:09:18.509 --> 00:09:20.830 proves the phrase has completely transcended 00:09:20.830 --> 00:09:23.610 its origins. It's a global shorthand for attitude. 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:25.759 And speaking of global, we have to talk about 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.279 the music world examples and the sources. Right. 00:09:28.700 --> 00:09:31.240 Back to music, but specifically Eurovision. The 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:33.740 ultimate international stage. The research points 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:36.220 out this crazy pattern. Three different countries 00:09:36.220 --> 00:09:38.960 have sent entries to Eurovision with the exact 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:43.919 title, Hasta la Vista. Ukraine in 2003. Belarus 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:49.179 in 2008. And Serbia in 2020. It transcends borders. 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:52.860 Yeah. Why that phrase? Well, in a contest like 00:09:52.860 --> 00:09:56.059 Eurovision, you're performing for dozens of countries 00:09:56.059 --> 00:09:58.539 with different languages. Right. You need a hook 00:09:58.539 --> 00:10:00.620 that doesn't need to be translated. You need 00:10:00.620 --> 00:10:02.820 something instantly recognizable. And thanks 00:10:02.820 --> 00:10:04.659 to Schwarzenegger, the whole continent already 00:10:04.659 --> 00:10:07.500 knows what... Ostalavista means. Exactly. It's 00:10:07.500 --> 00:10:09.879 the perfect linguistic bridge. You can sing the 00:10:09.879 --> 00:10:12.820 verses in Serbian or Ukrainian. But when the 00:10:12.820 --> 00:10:15.559 chorus hits, the entire arena in whatever country 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:17.539 you're in can shout it back to you. That makes 00:10:17.539 --> 00:10:19.879 total sense. It's a cultural cheat code. It really 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:22.120 is. So summarizing this incredible journey from 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:23.700 the sources. There's a lot of ground to cover. 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:26.620 We start with a completely standard, polite Spanish 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:29.480 farewell. Until the View. It gets picked up by 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:32.659 legendary comedian Bob Hope for a Raquel Welch 00:10:32.659 --> 00:10:36.419 special in 1970. As a dad joke. Right. Then it 00:10:36.419 --> 00:10:38.919 gets infused with serious attitude by a Grammy 00:10:38.919 --> 00:10:42.340 -winning R &B star Jodie Watley. Then weaponized 00:10:42.340 --> 00:10:46.700 by a killer cyborg in 1991. Translated into Japanese 00:10:46.700 --> 00:10:49.190 for the Spanish market. and eventually used by 00:10:49.190 --> 00:10:51.389 the British prime minister to resign from office. 00:10:51.929 --> 00:10:54.289 And shouted at Eurovision by multiple countries. 00:10:54.490 --> 00:10:57.529 It just shows how fluid language really is. Yeah, 00:10:57.529 --> 00:11:00.889 totally. A phrase can start as this gentle, polite 00:11:00.889 --> 00:11:03.590 goodbye, and through the churn of pop culture, 00:11:03.990 --> 00:11:07.669 evolve into a global symbol of triumph and defiance. 00:11:08.190 --> 00:11:09.629 It's fascinating. And it gives you something 00:11:09.629 --> 00:11:11.669 to think about, right? Yeah. For you listening, 00:11:12.110 --> 00:11:13.710 next time you say goodbye to someone, whether 00:11:13.710 --> 00:11:16.090 you're logging off a video call or walking out 00:11:16.090 --> 00:11:18.940 the door, Think about the cultural weight of 00:11:18.940 --> 00:11:21.200 the words you're choosing. Every casual phrase 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:23.539 has a history. Are you being polite, or are you 00:11:23.539 --> 00:11:25.960 channeling 50 years of pop culture? And hey, 00:11:26.100 --> 00:11:28.000 if you really want to keep them guessing, just 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.519 hit them with a sayonara, baby. Huh, perfect. 00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:32.580 Thanks for joining us on this one. We'll see 00:11:32.580 --> 00:11:33.559 you on the next Deep Dive.