Context

This line is from the song "Respect" by Aretha Franklin from the album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You (1967).

Aretha Franklin declared herself the Queen of Soul and Queen of the Spelling Bee with this hit song. 

She knows that she has everything her man needs, but he's still resisting her charms. All she wants is a little respect, but it seems like Aretha needs to, uh, spell it out for him.

Where you've heard it

You've heard this one from DJs at weddings and bar mitzvahs around the globe. "Respect" might just be Aretha's most popular song, and it's also the title of an Aretha bio book.

P.S. Leave it to the Tiny Toons to create the best Aretha music video ever—probably the only time you'll ever see a saxophone-playing high-top sneaker.

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.

She's about the give you all her money, and all she's asking in return, honey, is for a little respect. You'd be pretentious not to give it to her.