A cartoon earthworm in a white space suit with a ray gun bounds through a psychedelic junkyard.

Original artwork, not a still

Earthworm Jim

Groovy!

— Earthworm Jim · 1994

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

It is Jim's whole personality in one word: a cheerful, slightly goofy hero who treats a space adventure as a good time. A 1960s cool-guy word in a 1990s platformer is exactly why it fits a worm in a super suit, and why fans still use it for anything that goes right.

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In context

Spoilers for Earthworm JimShow the scene

Earthworm Jim (Shiny Entertainment, 1994, for the Sega Genesis and Super NES) stars an ordinary earthworm who ends up inside a super suit and travels across planets, chased by villains who want it. Jim was created by Douglas TenNapel, who first sketched the worm for Shiny, designed the game and voiced Jim, giving him a slight southern drawl. 'Groovy!' is Jim's catchphrase, alongside 'Whoa, Nelly!' and 'Yippee!', and it carries into the animated series, where Jim is voiced by Dan Castellaneta.

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