Pop Culture References and Greekisms

Long before planes, trains, and automobiles, there were people. And people still used common phrases and sayings, but they were slightly different. Here are a few examples of lines or other things in the episodes that reference familiar phrases or items in the 20th century.

1.01 Treasure of Zeus

Kora: I'm gonna have to put up a sign: 'No shirt, no feet, no service.'

• Reference to the phrase "No shirt, no shoes, no service" indicating that any customer needs to be wearing at least a shirt and shoes to be served. The origin of this policy is probably from areas like Atlantic City where customers would come in clad only in bathing suits, tracking in sand with their bare feet and making other customers uncomfortable with their lack of dress. - Barefoot and Grounded

1.02 Between Friends

Jason: What'd Fiducius want?
Iolaus: What's a dinar-counter like him always want? The academy fees.

• dinar-counter, a.k.a. bean counter, n. Slang - A person, such as an accountant or financial officer, who is concerned with quantification, especially to the exclusion of other matters. - Answers.com
  • bean counter - A disparaging term for an accountant, or anyone who one who is excessively concerned with statistical records or accounts. - The Phrase Finder

1.03 What a Crockery

Hercules: What do you talk to dads about?
Jason: Ask him how his day was. See if you can borrow the reins to the chariot.

• It is a dream of most teenagers to borrow the keys to their father's car.

Iolaus: You'd think Cheiron would have accepted my excuse about the God of War vaporizing my homework.

• Reference to the old "The dog ate my homework" excuse.
  • An excuse kids use at school when they don't have their homework assignment to submit. This excuse is never believed and usually said as a joke. - Idiom Quest
  • A classic and not very credible excuse usually used in cartoons and sitcoms to excuse a student's lack of completed homework when they get to school. - Urban Dictionary

1.12 Battle Lines II

Iolaus: Look, I know a con when I see one, and this has 'setup' chiseled all over it.

• Reference to the phrase: "This has [insert word] written all over it." chisel, n., a metal tool with a sharpened edge at one end used to chip, carve, or cut into a solid material (as wood, stone, or metal) - Merriam-Webster. chiseled, adj., formed or crafted as if with a chisel - Merriam-Webster.
  • [blank] written all over it - an idiom meaning that the object of the phrase is the epitome of [blank]. If something, such as a plan or idea, has disaster written all over it, it is thought to be heading for complete failure or will cause a lot of trouble, i.e. "Mary's idea of a holiday with her in-laws has disaster written all over it!" - English idioms and idiomatic expressions