‘Please tell me that’s not your penis’ wins New Zealand’s quote of the year competition

This year, Shortland Street character Chris Warner’s lude utterance has come up tops.

He said, ‘Please tell me that’s not your penis’ when a nude picture his son had sent to his girlfriend popped up on the family iPad during a particularly entertaining episode of the original TVNZ 2 series.

The phrase received a whopping 18 percent of the 7,238 votes cast.

“The quote is highly entertaining. The suspense is laughably theatrical, rather than anxiety-inducing, and therefore many people enjoy hearing it again,” said competition organiser Heather Kavan.

“And, of course, Chris Warner’s [Michael Galvin] delivery is part of the magic, along with Harry Warner’s uncomfortable facial expression and the closing music.

“The quote dramatises the risk of storing photos of one’s private parts. That’s immensely topical.”