Pootie Tang

Let me be clear: I had no idea Mr. Nerdtastic was a nerd when I met him. In fact, he had me fooled for at least three of our first dates. He seemed so charming, so cute, so normal. He seemed like the perfect potential new boyfriend.

And then it happened. During what felt like a normal dinner at Buca di Beppo, the nerd began to emerge. I'm not sure what I said to trigger this transformation. Maybe I commented on how tasty the oil and vinegar was with our bread, but out of Mr. Nerdtastic's mouth suddenly pops this lovely choice of words: "Sa da tay."

Sa da huh? I think he was showing agreement over the delicious, tangy vinegar or something. But he must have noticed the strange look on my face. As our conversation droned on about his friends in San Francisco, or how good the food was, he kept intermittently dropping these weird sayings: "Ra da ta!" On a scale of 1-10 of how awkward I felt at that moment, I was definitely at 15.5.

I remember at this moment wondering if I should get out. Red flag or cute quirk? But thankfully, Luke Nerdwalker revealed his secret: he was quoting the hit film (read: flop) Pootie Tang.

Have you seen this film? It's about this super hero-esque man, adorned in what most people would call "bling," who talks nonsense, but fights drug dealers and other bad guys. For instance, Pootie Tang doesn't simply say "no" to some evil drug dealer trying to bust a cap in an innocent hooker near by. He says this: "I gotst to say na nay no." Wait, what?

Pootie Tang is also narrated and produced by comedic genius Chris Rock, so obviously it's Oscar-worthy. It's funny, but in an it's so awful you have to laugh way. But Nerd Man LOVES it. And he made me watch it. Heck, I think he has forced all of his friends watch it. But while the first uttering of "Sa da tay" made me cringe, the experience of sharing that dorky film together actually helped me appreciate my nerdy bf more. It made us grow closer. Who knew? Of course he still quotes the film to this day.

It was at that point that I figured out that my relationship with Mr. Nerdtastic would be more memorable than those other frat losers I dated in college. Sa-da-tay!

Image from imdb.com