The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Winnie-the-Pooh in The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne (1926).

If you were to lock yourself out of your car, fall face first into a puddle of mud, or get your head stuck in a honey pot, you might have a few certain phrases you'd shout out on reflex. Of course, you'd check to make sure there are no impressionable young children nearby, right? Right.

But Winnie-the-Pooh is a children's book character. One of the most popular children's characters of all time, actually. (Sorry, Eeyore.) So for Pooh, there are always impressionable young children nearby, like his BFF, Christopher Robin.

Because of this, Pooh is pretty chill, and he knows not to let a salty tongue get the better of him. Instead, he merely sighs out an innocent, "Oh, bother," when he finds himself in a sticky situation. The honey is optional.

Where you've heard it

You hear this in any very frustrating situation that is out of your control, and any choice four-letter words on the tip of your tongue need to be held in. You can also hear it over and over (and over) again on this "Oh, bother" supercut from the various Winnie-the-Pooh Disney cartoons.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

This is a perfectly suitable, non-profane expression of exasperation for any frustrating situation. Who in their right mind could call Pooh bear pretentious, anyway?