Question: Who is Proctor Charlie?

Answer: The mysterious author of “Charlieisms.”

Let’s start first by attempting to define a “Charlie.”

The common Charlie might be considered an endangered species, there being not much more than a dozen or so spotted in the wild. Basically, a Charlie is one who can somehow tune in to whatever frequency from which the universe is currently broadcasting the language of coolness.

Of course anyone can identify coolness. But a Charlie is passionate about the language of coolness. But a true Charlie always practices “catch and release,” where we recognize a bit of coolness floating about in the cultural or community ether, and then we snag it in the Cool Quotes* net where it can be released, once again, into the wild.

Now, our rough translation for Proctor Charlie is “one who shows up.” The experience is mysterious and unpredictable, but what begins to happen to a Charlie, as we become more practiced with “catch and release,” is that, instead of popping out from something we are reading or listening to, a bit of coolness language pops into our consciousness from “who knows where.” We always do a bit of googling** to try and make sure that bit of cool language, or something very similar, hasn’t previously popped in from the ether unawares via some other not-previously-identified Charlie. If not, we pop it on into Cool Quotes and attribute that bit of coolness to the mysterious Proctor Charlie. So Charlies begin by showing up with Cool Quotes from all kinds of other sources, and eventually, with a bit of luck and a touch of magic, Proctor Charlie shows up for us.

At last count less than three hundred Charlieisms, or “Proctor Charlie sightings,” have surfaced amongst the Cool Quotes. We estimate that thousands such chunks of coolness language still exist out there somewhere in the ether, so if you notice some such popping into your own consciousness, jot it down quick, check it out on Google, and if you still find it sufficiently unique, and sufficiently cool, send it on in here.

Proctor Charlie sightings are rare, but we find them to be not nearly as rare as Big Foot sightings.

* Sure, Cool Quotes (coolquotes.org) has only existed a few weeks or months, but Charlies have been snatching cool language from the ether much, much longer. Whenever you snag any, you can submit them here at proctorcharlie.com.
** Note that once dictionaries began to recognize “google” as a verb in the English language the word is no longer fair game for a trademark infringement suit. The same applies for the gerund or present participle forms.

Copyright 2026, The Proctor Charlie Collective