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punch dialogue

noun
/ˌpʌn(t)ʃ ˈdaɪəlɒɡ/UK/ˌpʌn(t)ʃ ˈdaɪəˌlɔɡ/US/ˌpʌn(t)ʃ ˈdaɪəˌlɑɡ/

Etymology

From punch + dialogue, with dialogue used loosely to mean a spoken line. The term possibly compares the force of the line to a punch (similar to punch line), or because many of these lines are delivered immediately preceding a fight scene (compare fighting words).

  1. derived from διάλογος
  2. derived from dialogus
  3. derived from dialoge
  4. inherited from dialog
  5. compounded as punch dialogue — “punch + dialogue”

Definitions

  1. Chiefly in a film

    Chiefly in a film: a retort or a witty line, commonly written to be spoken by the protagonist to excite fans of the actor delivering them.

    • Rajinikanth didn't invent the punch dialogue, but it is safe to say that nobody has popularised the delivery of sharply written lines aimed for maximum effect better than the Tamil screen icon.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for punch dialogue. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA