The Fun Stuff
Catchphrases, trivia, and pure Ernest goofiness. KnoWhutIMean?
Say it with Ernest
“Hey, Vern!”
The greeting that launched a thousand commercials.
“KnoWhutIMean?”
Ernest’s all-purpose punctuation. (You do, in fact, know what he means.)
“You got it!”
Delivered with maximum, unearned confidence.
“Ewwww!”
That rubber-faced reaction to anything gross, scary, or both.
Did you know?
- We never see Vern’s face in the commercials — the camera is Vern, so Ernest is really talking to you.
- Ernest started as a local ad gimmick in 1980 and ended up headlining ten feature films.
- Jim Varney reportedly had a near-photographic memory and a genuine love of Shakespeare.
- Hey Vern, It’s Ernest! won a Daytime Emmy Award.
- That’s Varney’s voice as Slinky Dog in Toy Story — a whole second fandom for a whole new generation.
- Ernest Saves Christmas and Ernest Scared Stupid remain seasonal-TV traditions for a lot of families.
Quote of the character
“Hey Vern… KnoWhutIMean? You got it!”