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It's just about over for Jerry Maguire's ''Show me the money.'' The new catchphrase du box office is Fran Drescher's sassy Beautician and the Beast retort, ''Talk to the hand.''
From the moment it popped up in the movie's ad campaign, ''Talk to the hand,'' which is delivered with one arm outstretched and palm raised by both Drescher and costar Timothy Dalton, took on a life of its own. David Letterman joked about the line even before the film's release. And on a Feb. 8 edition of Saturday Night Live, Party of Five's Neve Campbell introduced a stinging variation (''Talk to the fist, because the face is pissed'') during a skit featuring two hip-hop kids.
Who's responsible for this bit of handiwork? The snap is probably the invention of hip-hoppers, who have elevated put-downs to an art form. Others credit the insult-slinging talk-show circuit -- especially Ricki Lake -- which could also explain why Roseanne Conner palmed daytime host Jerry Springer in an October installment of Roseanne.
However, the screenwriter of Beautician, Todd Graff, says he heard it from the drag queens who populate his former West Village neighborhood in New York City. ''I always thought it was hysterical,'' says Graff. ''It was one of those things that you would hear around on the streets. I put it into the movie to give Fran street cred.'' Initially, Drescher couldn't get a handle on it. ''When we did the first read-through,'' reports Graff, ''Fran thought it meant pay me. Like, Talk to the hand and I'll listen to you.'' Now Drescher notes that people can't keep their hands down. ''People are saying it to me all the time,'' says the actress, who prefers it to ''Get out of my face.'' But let's not go there.
-- Tricia Laine, with additional reporting by Cindy Pearlman and Jessica Shaw
