Original artwork, not a still
Leapin' lizards!
— Little Orphan Annie · 1924
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the sound of a child who has seen something outrageous and is not going to be intimidated by it. The phrase became a general old-fashioned exclamation of surprise, helped later by the stage musical and films, and now sits in the same drawer as "Great Scott!" and "Jumpin' Jehoshaphat".
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Little Orphan AnnieShow the scene
Annie's cry of surprise is one of her two stock exclamations, along with "Gee whiskers". Harold Gray's strip began in a test run in the New York Daily News on 5 August 1924, became a Sunday strip that November, and followed a plucky orphan girl with blank circles for eyes, her dog Sandy and her rich guardian Daddy Warbucks. Whenever something shocking happens, whether a kidnapping, a villain's scheme or a disaster, Annie reacts with the same words. The strip, which ran for decades, spread the exclamation far beyond its pages.
Sources (1)
- Wikipedia: Little Orphan AnnieCharacters; Publication historyReference checked
Context reviewed