"You had me at 'hello.'"

The Movie: Jerry Maguire, 1996 (Cameron Crowe, screenwriter and director)
Who says it: Renee Zellweger as Dorothy Boyd, a single mother who’s staked her career on the success of maverick sports agent Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise)
The context: Jerry has just come back to Dorothy to beg her forgiveness and give her a long speech about how much she means to him.
How to use it: To short-circuit any long speech you don’t want to hear.

This is probably my least favorite Cameron Crowe movie -- I don't buy this scene, in particular -- but the quotation's appropriate because the McLaughlin crew is gathering tonight at Paco's Tacos, which features prominently in Jerry Maguire. Paco's is our favorite Mexican restaurant; in the movie, Jerry takes Dorothy there on their first date, and she's badly overdressed.

I wrote off a blind date once because I suggested we meet at Paco's, and he said, "I don't know -- they use lard." Sheesh. Lard is the POINT of Paco's. They make their tortillas by hand, and the flour tortillas are like the world's best pie crusts. Maine, I fear, will not have anything remotely like Paco's.

And while we're destroying our own arteries, we'll be sending best wishes to Bill Clinton on that coronary bypass...