Soap opera ‘penis’ line voted New Zealand’s quote of the year

An eye-popping line of dialogue from soap opera Shortland Street has been voted as New Zealand’s quote of the year.

In a confrontation between the character Chris Warner and his teenage son, Harry, who had been caught sexting, Chris uttered the now-infamous line: “Please tell me that’s not your penis!”

A clip of the unusual exchange posted to the soap’s Facebook account has been watched almost 500,000 times - not bad for a country of less than five million people.

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The video’s viral appeal extended beyond its homeland, and US chat show host Jimmy Kimmel even spoofed the scene in a sketch with Alec Baldwin, the BBC reports.

Shortland Street is one of the highest-rated programmes in New Zealand. In the UK, it aired between 1993 and 2003 in some ITV regions, as well as short-lived return to screens on Sky channel Living in 2010.

Many New Zealand actors, including Star Trek franchise’s current “Bones” McCoy, Karl Urban, and iZombie star Rose McIver, have got their start on the show.

Massey University, which has been polling New Zealanders for their quote of the year since 2011, said the “penis” line garnered 18% of the vote.

Dr Heather Kavan, who runs the competition, says the appeal of the quote lies in its “laughably theatrical, rather than anxiety-inducing” attempt to create tension.

“And, of course, Chris Warner’s delivery is part of the magic, along with Harry Warner’s uncomfortable facial expression and the closing music.”

Second place in the contest went to an LGBT group who encouraged New Zealanders to stop using “gay” as a negative term with an advert in which a character responds to dropping a pie with the line: “It’s deeply disappointing, but it’s not gay.”