Hello Nurse (vaudeville)

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"Hello, nurse!" was a popular catcall used during the heyday of vaudeville. One of many running gags used in many vaudeville shows was the appearance of a voluptuous, suggestively-dressed woman wearing a nurse's uniform. Upon her appearance, the main characters in the vaudeville sketch would call out, "Hello, NURSE!" This phrase is also the basis for the "wolf whistle" whistling sound used in the United States and other countries to suggest that a pretty girl has entered the room.

[edit] Contemporary Usage

In the animation Animaniacs, the catcall is a favorite catchphrase of The Warner Brothers and sometimes their sister Dot. A minor character, Hello Nurse, is not only a frequent target of the call, but is named for it, as well.

The catchphrase was later used in the British film Valiant, when Ricky Gervais' character enters a medical hut.

The phrase also turned up at the end of a sketch about Florence Nightingale in the Histeria! episode "Better Living Through Science".