25. Think Heckerling came up with Cher’s signature slam on her own? As if! Something of an amateur linguist, the screenwriter is “always compiling slang words because I am just interested in how people use language,” she explained to The Hollywood Reporter in 2016 of the line’s origins. “At that time, which was like early ’90s, ‘As if!’ was floating around in the gay community. and I thought it was really a multiuseful, multipurpose word. I thought it would be a good thing for teenagers to be saying.”
26. While the phrase ranked in the outlet’s 100 Favorite Movie Quotes, Heckerling’s personal favorite came from Cher’s impassioned debate class speech: “I guess, in a goofy way, I have always been proud of ‘It does not say RSVP on the Statue of Liberty.'”
27. Crafting the full lexicon required some thoughtful research. “When I auditioned the kids, I’d always ask for new words,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “That’s where I got ‘going postal.'” As for other terms, “‘Betty’ was based on Betty Rubble, who was very pretty,” she shared. “And ‘Barney’ is like, How did he get her?”