It’s time for a round of quotes, and what a better place to start than Arlen, Texas! No, we’re not talking about Hank Hill’s most iconic quotes, but rather the matriarch of the family, Peggy Hill. Peggy doesn’t mean to be a massive source of conflict inKing of the Hill, but her ego often gets the best of her. It’s one thing to think too highly of yourself, but when you’re clearly mediocre at a number of things, sometimes running your mouth gets you into trouble. We don’t want to be too hard on Peggy, however, because she is the glue thatholds the Hill family togetherin a lot of ways. Despite her quirks and idiosyncrasies, she is the mama bear that we all know and love, even if she gets on our nerves sometimes. We decided to pay tribute to the best boggle player in Texas by ranking some of her most iconic quotes for you.
Related:King of the Hill: Dale Gribble’s Most Iconic Quotes
11“The proof is in the pudding, and I am that pudding.”
When Hank ishaving a heart-to-heart with Bobbyabout auto shop class, he tells his son that auto shop is where “boys become the men that girls will want when they become women.” Peggy reinforces Hank’s lecture by simply stating “The proof is in the pudding, and I am that pudding.” This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Peggy Hill’s unique quotability, and it also clues us in on her inflated sense of self.
10Any Time She Butchers Spanish (She’s a Substitute Spanish Teacher)
Peggy Hill is a substitute Spanish teacher who doesn’t really know how to speak Spanish all that well. While she thinks highly of her abilities to act as a de facto translator at times, she gets herself in trouble when she misspeaks. A prime example of this was when she accidentally lets a Mexican girl on the bus while on a field trip, and gets accused of kidnapping. The misunderstanding comes to a head when Peggy tries to represent herself in court, in Spanish, saying something along the lines of “I have too many anuses ahead of me to end up in a cigar factory.” Luckily for Peggy, it’s her total incompetence at conversational Spanish that proves her innocence, and the conflict resolved pretty quickly after the exchange.
9Every Time She Masterfully Speaks Laotian
Despite lacking skills in the Spanish department, Peggy knows a number of phrases in Laotian because of her perceived ongoing feud with her neighbor, Min Souphanousinphone. When put in a tight spot, like in season 12’sAccidental Terrorist,Peggy tried keeping the neighbors and friends from revealing to Hank that he was ripped off by the car dealership he was so loyal to. In a matter of seconds, she hints at the fact that she knows about Nancy and John Redcorn’s affair, and immediately turns to Minh, stating in perfect Laotian that she knows her secret as well. Maybe Peggy isn’t the best substitute Spanish teacher, but she’s frighteningly competent when protecting those who are close to her.
8"I will tongue-kiss Bill before I let that tramp in my house!"
When Luanne’s mother, Leanne, is let out of prison after serving time for a violent altercation with a fork, Luanne is beyond excited that she could see her again. When she tells Peggy that Leanne is going to visit, Peggy quickly shuts it down when she says, “I will tongue-kiss Bill before I let that tramp in my house!” The reason this quote is so memorable is that Bill has had a crush on Peggy forever, and he’s absolutely repulsive. Peggy’s willingness to stoop so low showshow much she caresabout protecting Luanne from her problematic mother.
7"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANK!"
In season four’s “High Anxiety”, Hank is trying to lie low because he’s been pegged as a murder suspect in a high profile case. When trying to sneak past the crime scene where authorities are interviewing Peggy and others, Peggy calls for Hank, not fully knowing what’s going on. She belts out a mighty “HANNNNNNNNNNK!” at the worst possible time, because he was trying to be inconspicuous; but she was happy to see him walking by. The look of horror and disappointment on Hank’s face really seals the deal on this one.
6Any Time She Proudly Talks About Her Cooking
One of the recurring personality traits that Peggy Hill has is that she thinks very highly of herself despite her shortcomings. We’re not saying that she’s incompetent, because she is highly skilled in many areas, but her ego is out of control more than it isn’t. This is especially true when it comes to Peggy’s cooking. She’s by no means a bad cook, but her recipes aren’t anything spectacular either. Most famously, she boasts about her Apple Brown Betty variation, which she likes to call “Peggy Brown Betty.” But the truth of the matter is, she got the recipe from a standard cookbook, and simply uses a little extra butter. The same can be said about her “Spa-Peggy and Meatballs,” which is literally just spaghetti and meatballs.
5"Well, then, honey, you’re eating it wrong. Put it down."
In “Kathy Najimi: Peggy Hill”, Peggy gets roped into a pyramid scheme selling protein bars. When Bobby questions the flavor of the raspberry truffle, Peggy jumps in to defend her product by saying “Well, then, honey, you’re eating it wrong. Put it down.” We already know that Peggy thinks highly of her own cooking, but this kind of defensiveness carries over into any endeavor Peggy involves herself with. She doesn’t take criticism very well, but honestly, it’s kind of why we love her. We can all stand to be a little more confident, like Peggy.
Related:King of the Hill Revival: What We Hope to See
4"And when that construction crane fell over, they didn’t have time to ask questions."
In “The Buck Stops Here”, Peggy finds herself at odds with her neighbor, Minh. This is at a point in the series where their rivalry reachespsychotic levelsin the form of donating blood for sport. Both Peggy and Minh are racing to outdo each other so they can get a prize from the blood bank, which is simply a plastic travel mug with their logo on it. For a while it looked like Minh was going to win, and Peggy was at a standstill because the blood bank wanted her to wait longer stretches of time before donating so much blood. So Peggy drives to Houston, and as luck may have it, there was a terrible accident, and she was able to seal the deal. When a perplexed Minh asks Peggy how she did it, Peggy snaps back with “when that construction crane fell over, they didn’t have time to ask questions.” We’re glad that Peggy was able to rub her victory in Minh’s face, but maybe next time she could just buy a mug at the gift shop.
3"The day after Thanksgiving is, in my opinion, the biggest shopping day of the year."
Remember when we said that Peggy thinks very highly of herself? When Peggy landed a gig writing the opinion column for the local newspaper, she would often frame common knowledge as her own expert opinion. She graced us with gems like, “in my opinion, the stock market will either go up, or down," and of course “the day after Thanksgiving is, in my opinion, the biggest shopping day of the year. This particular episode comes to a head when she runs out of platitudes, and suggests that people mix bleach and ammonia to make a strong and reliable cleaning solution (otherwise known as mustard gas).
2"A doctor once told me I’d never walk again. Now not only am I walking, but I hear his marriage is starting to go south."
When Peggy survives a botched skydiving trip, she breaks nearly every bone in her body. She wins us over by overcoming the odds, pushing through physical therapy, all while taking care of Cotton’s newborn despite her limited mobility. But proving the doctors wrong wasn’t enough for her; she had to also find satisfaction in the fact that her doctor’s life is also falling apart. We’re willing to give Peggy a pass on this one, because at this point she had been through a lot, and we were all rooting for her!
