Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

I've noticed that people love to use the phrase rinse and repeat.

Where exactly did it come from?

share|improve this question
I typed "Rinse and repeat" in Google and the wikipedia page came up. Voting to close as General Reference. – Alenanno Aug 30 '11 at 21:48

closed as general reference by Alenanno, aedia λ, Daniel δ, Thursagen, Jasper Loy Aug 30 '11 at 22:01

This question is too basic; it can be definitively and permanently answered by a single link to a standard internet reference source designed specifically to find that type of information. See the FAQ for guidance on how to improve it.

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote accepted

It could have some sort of origin in the advertising of shampoo:

Lather, rinse, repeat is a phrase that is a common part of the instructions on shampoo bottles. It is sometimes also used as a humorous way of saying that a certain set of instructions should be repeated until an explicit or implicit goal is reached, or as sardonic commentary on some people's practice of taking descriptions, instructions or expressions literally and without common sense. Often the phrase is shortened to simply "Rinse and repeat".

As you can see, the phrase has been used out of context, so that instead of just referring to shampoo, it can be used for anything now.

share|improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.