"It's getting so bad now that if you kill a punk, you might as well dump the body somewhere, the DA will crucify you. A punk can kill a cop, but if a cop kills a punk... Am I right, or am I right?"
— Charlie McCoy, Magnum Force
A Stock Phrase used by the group comedian, usually after some kind of wry observation. This is also commonly used in fiction by a bad stand-up comedian, who can't resist highlighting his terrible jokes. The dialogue equivalent of facing the camera and waggling your eyebrows. Usually used after an intentionally lame line. A longer version is "Am I right, or am I right?" A version commonly used on the internet is "amirite" or "mirite". A similar line is "I know, right?" used to react to someone else's observation.
The Japanese Language has the word "ne", which pretty much means the same thing. Using it at the end of an English sentence still counts as Gratuitous Japanese, ne? The fact that this is a natural and frequently occurring feature of the language doesn't mean, however, that it can't be overdone, as you can simply expand it to, "Nee nee? So desu nee?" Ad nauseam.
French has a similar equivalent, n'est-ce pas? In Canadian English, the famous Verbal Tic "eh?", in Real Life, is most often used for this purpose, eh? (For the record, Canadian French has an equivalent, hein?)
Contrast Don't Explain the Joke.
Examples:
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Advertising
- Geico's supposedly comedic Peter Pan commercial from 2015, starring Thomas Barbusca, who says, "You don't look a day over 70, am I right?"
Comedy
- Ellen Degeneres has been known to use the formulation "Am I right, ladies?"
Comics
- Used by The Joker in The Killing Joke
"You had a bad day once, am I right?"
Films — Live-Action
- In Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, the character Wes Mantooth pulls it out in a battle of wits.
"Nice clothes, gentlemen! I didn't know that the Salvation Army was having a sale. Am I right? Am I right?"
- In the film Waiting... Monty uses it:
"I know what you're thinking now. You think we're all gay, don't you? Think we're all just a bunch of deviant lifestyle-living same-sex having motherfuckers, am I right?"
- In National Lampoon's Vacation, Rusty uses it:
"Who would have thought my sister had the legs of a thoroughbred. Am I right?"
- Done to perfection in Groundhog Day by Stephen Tobolowsky
"Am I right or am I right? Or am I right? Am I right?"
- Pink Flamingos - Crackers says, "They think they're filthy? We'll just see what the furniture thinks! Am I right, momma? Am I right?"
- Square Pegs - Marshall, the Class Clown, says this several times in the episode "Open 24 Hours."
- The Big Lebowski:
- Inverted and subverted when Walter tries to justify pulling a gun on a possibly-cheating bowler:
Walter: Am I wrong, dude? Am I wrong?The Dude: No Walter, you're not wrong, you're just an ASSHOLE!Walter: *shrugs* Okay, then.- Inverted again in the "World of Pain" scene:
Walter: Dude, this is a league game, this determines who enters the next round robin. Am I wrong? Am I wrong? - "Am I right, or am I right?" is used frequently by Wimpy in Popeye.
- Inverted in Some Kind of Wonderful
Laura: "Any fool can get into a college. Only a precious few may say the same about Amanda Jones. Am I wrong?"
- From Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
Soldier: Listen: in order to maintain air speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings 32 times per second, right?
King Arthur: (impatiently) Please!!!
Soldier: Am I right?
Arthur: I'm not interested!
Literature
- Used by Diane in Trainspotting:
"Do you find that this approach usually works, or, let me guess, you've never tried it before. In fact, you don't normally approach girls, am I right?"
- It's noted in Unseen Academicals that if the Patrician had ended his analysis of Glenda with "Am I right?" he'd have looked like a smug git, but he doesn't, because Lord Vetinari does not need to ask people if he's right.
Live Action TV
- In the episode "Four Weddings and a Funeral(Minus Three Weddings and One Funeral)" of Happy Endings, Jane combines this with prop humor-she's on a roller board, cleaning under her couch, so she can make jokes.
Jane: *slides out*I haven't seen anything that choreographed since Colin Powell's UN testimony on WMDs. Am I right? *slides back in*
Max: Are you really cleaning underneath the coach, or are you just waiting to slide out with an out-dated zinger?
Jane: *slides out*I haven't seen anything that needlessly complicated since the third season of Lost, am I right? *slides back in*
Max: Asking 'am I right?' is not gonna make it funnier.
Jane: Yeah I'm right! *slides back under* - Said by Cordelia Chase in the episode of Angel called "The Trial":
"I mean, not only is she putting his life at stake, but ours. I'm sorry, but after four hundred years of death and destruction, It seems to me you get voted off the island. Am I right?"
- Brother Cavil in the Battlestar Galactica episode "The Eye of Jupiter":
"I suspect the Admiral and Madam President would enjoy some nice, quiet private time with the former leader. Am I right?"
- Xander in Buffy the Vampire Slayer pretty frequently.
- Frank Barone in the Everybody Loves Raymond episode "Driving Frank":
"I don't care if I killed a guy! You're my son, you have to look the other way! Am I right, Ray?"
- In the Gilmore Girls episode "Nag Hammadi Is Where They Found the Gnostic Gospel", Zach says:
"The bottom line here is that breathing should not be louder than a rock band. Am I right or am I right?"
- In the episode "Whatever It Takes", House says:
"My housekeeper, she has it coming. Cleaning the windows means cleaning both sides. Am I right or am I right?"
- Stephen Colbert played with the phrase in the following manner:
"Am I right?" [applause] "Evidently I'm right."
- In Burn Notice, Sam and Mike are watching out for Fi, with the code that if she has two buttons undone on her blouse, something's wrong. Sam says "That's a first. Too many buttons down on a woman's blouse is a bad thing. Come on, am I right?" Doesn't quite break the tension like he'd hoped.
- Also, - Season 2, Episode: Sins of Omission, Victor says, "Nothing like a near-death experience to get the juices flowing, am I right or am I right?"
- On Friends, while panicking that Monica has "baby fever," Chandler declares that she is different now that she is with him and says "I'm right. I'm right. Am I right?" in a less-than-confident tone.
- In Deadly Games (There Is No Such Thing as Notability, amirite?) Peter's catchphrase is "Am I right, or am I right?" Sometimes he'll add "Don't get me right if I'm not right." At one point, it gets stolen by the Big Bad, who takes out an Easter Egg villain while finishing a quip with a very smug "Am I right, or am. I. Right." (As the villain of the week wasn't part of the main game, Jackal doesn't see it as one of 'his' and The Only One Allowed to Defeat You led him to save the heroes.)
- Married... with Children, Season 6, Kelly Does Hollywood: Part 2. Kelly has the joke, "We all want to make our parents happy because they gave us this precious gift of life. Isn't that right, fellow virgin teens just waiting for the right man to come along?
- The notoriously unfunny Alexi from Mimpi Metropolitan has "Am I right?" repeated three timesIndonesian as a catchphrase which he usually says after a bad joke. Or sometimes any sentence he feels proud of.
Video Games
- Halo: Combat Evolved: Sgt. Johnson gives a Rousing Speech to a squad of marines then asks, "Am I right, Marines?"
Marines: Sir, yes, sir!Johnson: Mmm-hmm. Damn right, I am!
Web Animation
- Bubs from Homestar Runner used this during a Halloween episode while performing standup comedy, followed by the immortal line "Am I left?" (which Strong Mad found hilarious).
- Waterman from the Waterman flash animations has said "Am I right or am I right?" at least once.
Web Original
- Maddox says it at the start of his page
: "Am I right or what?"
- StarDestroyer.net repurposed the profanity filter to change the use of a one-word form of this, "Amirite?", to "I'm a smarmy asshole". Apparently one notoriously caustic member turned it into their catchphrase, and eventually the moderators stopped finding it funny.
- An occasional Running Gag on The Comics Curmudgeon is to describe a strip with a weirdly specific joke as if it's a universal experience that we all relate to, generally using the phrase "Am I right, folks?"
Web Video
- In The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, "Am I right?" is one of Lydia Bennet's verbal tics, and it must run in the family, because her sister Lizzie says it as well.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series: "Hey, Joey. Watapon! Am I right?" - Yami, about one of the cards in Kaiba's lame-ass deck when he takes over the duel with Noah.
- Also:
Yami: Huh, five men in one body, eh? Sounds like a typical day for Mai Valentine. Am I right?Joey: Yug, she's in a coma!Yami: Am I right?Joey: It's just very inappropriate is all.Yami: Yes, but am I right?Joey: YUGI!Yami: JOEY! ...Am. I. Right?
Western Animation
- Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender has been known to say this.
- From an episode of The Simpsons called The Homer They Fall:
Indian: "Thank you. I just wish Ben and Hoss and Little Joe and Hop Sing and Sheriff Roy and all your favorites could be alive today to see this wonderful turnout. You know, on the series, we were always trying to kill the Cartwrights. But it looks like Father Time took care of that for us, right? Am I right, folks?"
- In the episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force "Carl", Meatwad is attempting to write a stand-up comedy routine. Unfortunately, it consists entirely of The Deal With Airplane Food and this trope.
- In the first Filmation Heckle and Jeckle cartoon after the two come out of a theater showing an adventure movie:
Heckle: We can do anything those movie heroes can do. Am I correct or am I co-wrong?
