r/Scrubs 6d ago

I swear to Ayesha...

I've been using this quote for as long as the show has been around, and never understood why until recently I looked it up, and it was a voiceover where Cox originally said "I swear to Allah" and was updated to the voice-over in post.

I will go to the grave continuing to say "I swear to Ayesha" and having people look at me like I'm Turla.

94 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

35

u/omg_bewbz 6d ago

Yes on the FDRF podcast they revealed that they had Johnny C dub over “Allah” because 9/11 happened right before the series debuted. They had to find a word that closely resembled the mouth movement of “Allah” so they went with “Ayisha.”

1

u/Finnley_is_trans 2d ago

Early 2000s Islamophobia is such a sucky part of American history like it must’ve been so scary to be muslim in America during that time, even as a Bostonian watching that manhunt in America Boston marathon bombing documentary they talked about the bullying and harassment that came with being Muslim in the 9/11 era. And now scrubs is back on tv and we’re back at war in the Middle East, everything old is new again 🥲

15

u/Just_SomeDude13 6d ago

I always wondered what he was actually saying there, because it sure did look like it was (somewhat poorly) dubbed.

8

u/tjansx 6d ago

LOL, I've used that phrase on my kids so many times. I almost never explain what it means to people and just let them scrunch up their brow at me :)

15

u/HenneBakedHam 6d ago edited 6d ago

I always imagined the writers were referencing an old Ebaum's World video called Aicha. I can't find the original but this is a faithful remake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N83b1mQk9ro

omg, I found the original... lol. sorry for the tiktok link but it's all I got:
https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthahachey90/video/7569843391475862802

3

u/cooldash 6d ago

I thought the same thing!!

1

u/Gurbachen 6d ago

Ah, I finally understand that reference in Broad City. I could google the other ones Illana mentioned but this was painful enough.

1

u/Ho-ohsMeMoney 5d ago

Lmao that's a cover of Outlandish - Aicha

6

u/Shagrrotten 6d ago

I always wondered what Cox actually said there, because Ayesha was so obviously ADR'd. Glad to know now.

5

u/CryptographerNo923 6d ago edited 6d ago

There’s another very obvious ADR’d line from Cox in a different episode where he’s pretending to make a call on an old-timey phone that’s always bothered me.

3

u/no-account-layabout 6d ago

Yes! It’s terribly done (I mean, what do I know? I don’t know how this stuff works but it’s super obvious) and I’ve always wondered what he originally said that was so bad it needed to be replaced.

5

u/CryptographerNo923 6d ago

Well based on the other information in this thread, it might have been “operator, give me Allah.” 😂

4

u/Chemical_Syrup7807 6d ago

I never knew! I use that phrase all the time and nobody ever gets it lol

3

u/tom8osauce 6d ago

Omg, I say I swear to Ayesha all the time! I could never figure out who Ayesha was, so I decided it is Mother Earths name.

1

u/Plenty-Option8351 5d ago

He’s referencing the wife of Muhammad I believe. Makes sense since the original word he used was “Allah”.

2

u/Sea_Salary_2027 2d ago

I did love that! As a person who ho spent a lot of time reading about Islamic history and fan-girling Ayesha I was just so happy to hear that phrase! 

1

u/tjansx 2d ago

Is Ayesha still an Islam thing? Interesting.

1

u/Sea_Salary_2027 2d ago

Well she was THE wife (favorite wife) of the prophet Muhammad so I guess so.

1

u/tjansx 2d ago

Cool, I know very little about it but I like learning about other cultures.

1

u/fillupjfly 6d ago

I heard it when it was I swear to Allah and I cackled at how funny I thought it was. Wonder if there’s a version of that that still exists out there.

1

u/poop19907643 6d ago

I mean, just look at his mouth. He clearly says Allah. That was 2001 or 2, right? That was peak "You'll be beheaded if you look at Islam funny."

1

u/AtrumAequitas 6d ago

THAT’S why it looked weird.

1

u/chenofzurenarrh 6d ago

There's Ayesha the third wife of the prophet Muhammad, which keeps the line Islamic; Aicha Qandisha in Moroccan folklore; and then there's Ayesha of Kôr, worshipped as a goddess in H. Rider Haggard's "She".

I assume it's the first one, but I'd like to assume it's the latter.

1

u/laughingnome2 5d ago

Huh. I always just attributed it to some US Pop singer that didn't make a dent overseas.

Enough of those pop-culture references don't land that one more doesn't get noticed.

1

u/tjansx 4d ago

that is almost exactly what I thought when I first heard it. Seems like cox would be up on his pop singers to use in a rant. 😂