Without spoiling too much, Netflix‘s new documentary series, ‘Wild Wild Country‘, follows the rise and fall of the Rajneesh cult as it moved from its Indian origins to the US state of Oregon.
While the cult was largely concerned with the teachings of its leader, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the media was usually addressed by his secretary, Ma Anand Sheela, who quickly became known for being extremely fucking sassy.
But there’s one particular interview that caught everyone’s attention, and it happened right here in Australia. Whilst appearing on 60 Minutes with Ian Leslie, Sheela responded to one of his questions with the classic phrase, “tough titties”.
“Whatever your plans are, we don’t want the Rajneeshees, we don’t want the orange people in our town,” Leslie says. Sheela, the absolute maniac, straight up replies with, “what can I say? Tough titties”.
Cop that, champ. The footage got so much media attention when the interview originally aired in 1985, Aussies everywhere lost their minds over the phrase. It even made an episode of 20 to 1. Suss it out below.
According to The West Australian, she even became “the most talked about woman in WA” at one point. She was essentially the pre-internet version of the Chk Chk Boom girl.
Of course, Sheela didn’t coin the phrase, but she sure as hell made it blow up, particularly here in Australia. It’s origin dates back to as early as the 1920s, but Sheela’s relationship to it is littered everywhere from Urban Dictionary, to Wikiquote, to local media.
“Although it was somewhat scandalous that CBS 60 Minutes aired an interview 3 November 1985 in which Sheela said this, it was not coined by her as some believe,” a Wikiquote article reads. “The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006) dates the phrase to 1934, but it may be found as early as 1921.”
So there you have it, folks. Every time you hear someone say tough titties, just know that a religious cult secretary who spent some time in jail was probably the reason it became so popular.
