I changed a villager's catchphrase once, to something that was a joke that only made sense for that one specific villager. Then that catchphrase spread to a bunch of other villagers. So I had Isabelle reset everyone's catchphrases. I didn't mind all of their default catchphrases, so that was fine.
But today I got a villager who I like, but their default catchphrase really irritates me. So I plan to change it once I get the opportunity. But knowing that it will apparently spread like crazy to my other villagers, I want to think of something that I won't mind all of them saying so that I don't feel the urge to go to Isabelle every day or two to reset them.
Does anyone have any ideas for a personality-neutral catchphrase that also isn't annoying? How have other people dealt with catchphrases spreading, and annoying default catchphrases?
I feel like it really depends on what kind of gameplay you're going with in general. If you have a theme for your island, you could pick something related to that. All of my villagers say either "doll", "dolly" or "babydoll", but that probably wouldn't work out of context.
First of all, I have all my villagers saying 'Savage' now because I made Dobie say it, and it looks really stupid when Lolly says it, so I feel your pain here. As for a suitable catchphrase for all villagers, hmm... i'd still go for something funny because i'm not very mature lmao, something like "Bahzinga!" because I could see any villager saying that. Or if you wanted to go the more simple route, "Oof" also works. I can't think of anything not stupid or cringe, because my brain sadly doesn't work that way.
I love giving villagers stupid things that my brother says. Or that are sort of generic phrases. Miranda says "periodt" after everything so that's funny. Marina says "if that's ok" which makes her sound so shy and cute. Other good ones I've used in the past are "y'know," "as if," "obviously," and "#yolo." In NL I used to make some of my villagers' catchphrases their own name. It made it sound like they were crazy and talking to themselves. That of course doesn't work here cuz it'd be weird if it spread and then all of a sudden you have Tucker saying "the first time was in your dreams, Carrie."
I like the idea of something like "y'know." Maybe even just "yeah." I also had the idea of something like "pal" or "friend."
I'm still curious to hear other people's ideas for catchphrases, and how other people have handled villagers with default catchphrases they don't like. I don't think catchphrases were quite as contagious in New Leaf. ^o^;>
From my experience, the villagers that pick up catchphrases are ones that you have lower friendship with or haven't asked you to come up with a new one yet. Diana has been saying for real doe for weeks now and she is the oldest villager on my island.
It depends if you want a happy vibe with your villagers or just have a laugh every now and then. I gave mine pretty silly ones and Diana is the only one that's tailor.
So fetch - mean girls
Meh
Or die - this is hilarious for so many conversations
Say what
Noob
Chump
nicknames for you work well. I choose generic ones like “darlin’” or “cutie” or “sugarplum” because it just sounds like they’re being very friendly. Other options could be “buddy” “my dude” or something like that.
"Buddy" or "pal" is the most true neutral catchphrase in my opinion. Or something based off of your Island's name. As an example: "Ink Stain" or "Pigment" would work for residents on Inkwell.
It's a bit political but a bunch of mine have been saying "BLM" after giving it to one of my villagers. Another one is nyeh-heh, since it's Papyrus' catchphrase pretty much and I named my town after him.
If you have a theme for your island it could be cute to have something based around that! I'm considering having one be "moonie" to fit Moondust, but I wanna come up with more~
Most of my island residents use "beautiful" or "my love" as a catchphrase. lol I even catch myself off guard sometimes but I wont lie, I always end up with a little smile on my face afterwards. Seems to fit well with everyone imo
I always try to give my villagers neutral catchphrases, knowing they'll spread.
I like friendly ones like buddy, pal, friend. I also like cutesy nickname type ones like sweetheart, honey, darling. And cute food options are nice too like blueberries or macarons.
I want to be happy when I play, so I try to pick things that will make me smile!
