Context

This line is spoken by Carl Weathers, who plays himself on the TV show Arrested Development (2004).

This nugget of thrifty wisdom comes from Arrested Development, that cult classic comedy about the most dysfunctional of dysfunctional families: the Bluths. We get this meme-worthy quote in the episode called "The Marta Complex." At a Bluth Valentine's Day party, pathetic aspiring actor Tobias Fünke tries to get some advice from his acting coach, former football star Carl Weathers, best known as Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies. Carl doesn't seem to want to talk too much about acting, though, and instead constantly gives Tobias tips on how to save a little cash.

The mad geniuses behind Arrested Development love running gags, and every time Carl shows up, he pulls some stunt to try to save a buck or two. In this case, Carl stops Tobias from getting rid of some rib bones and suggests that instead of wasting them, Tobias should use them to make a stew. If you ask us, Carl's got this one right. For real, check out this clip and just look at all the meat on those bones.

Where you've heard it

This is one of those lines that's just so weird and funny that it's wormed its way up the ranks of the World's Top Idioms List. (Note: the WTIL isn't really a thing, but it should be.)

We haven't found any movies or shows that drop this reference specifically (too soon), but a little Googling finds it in all kinds of random places on the Internet—like these Tumblr blogs, this meme, this better meme, or this extremely random website that just repeats the quote over and over again. Listen to that last one for an hour or so if you're looking to drive yourself totally insane.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

An obscure quote from a quirky little cult classic? Yeah, that's a wee bit pretentious.