# These go to 11

"These go to 11" is a catchphrase from the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, delivered by fictional guitarist Nigel Tufnel while showing off a Marshall amp whose dials run one past the standard ten. The gag turned a simple numbering misunderstanding into shorthand for anything cranked past its stated maximum, eventually landing in dictionaries, amp marketing, and a Microsoft Windows Media Player joke.

## Origin
This Is Spinal Tap is a 1984 mockumentary directed by Rob Reiner about a fictional British heavy metal band on a floundering American tour[1]. The amp scene features Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel showing off the Marshall stack to Reiner's documentary-filmmaker character. The exchange runs under a minute but became the most-quoted bit in the film and the one most people recall by name[2].

The cast largely improvised dialogue around a scene outline, and the "one louder" exchange grew out of that process rather than a scripted line[1]. The phrase was already circulating as a music-industry in-joke within a few years of the film's release and later picked up broader usage outside rock contexts[2].

- **Platform:** Film (This Is Spinal Tap)
- **Creator:** Christopher Guest (as Nigel Tufnel)
- **Date:** 1984

## Overview
The joke plays out in a short interview scene where lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel walks filmmaker Marty DiBergi through his gear and points out that the knobs on his custom Marshall amplifier go up to 11 instead of the usual 10[1]. When DiBergi asks why he does not just make 10 louder, Tufnel pauses, stares at the amp, and repeats the line that gives the bit its punchline. The humor sits entirely on the character missing that the number painted on a knob is arbitrary.

Beyond the film, "These go to 11" and the shorter form "up to eleven" became a general-use idiom for pushing something past its stated maximum[2]. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary entry defines the phrase as "up to maximum volume"[3]. Guitar Center used variants of "these go up to 11" in listings for amps whose knobs actually run to 11, and Microsoft used the joke when it announced that Windows Media Player goes to 11[3].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is These go to 11?
It is a catchphrase from the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap, used as shorthand for pushing something past its stated maximum[2].

### Where did These go to 11 come from?
The line is from an interview scene in This Is Spinal Tap where guitarist Nigel Tufnel explains that his Marshall amp knobs go up to 11 instead of 10[1].

### What does These go to 11 mean?
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines "up to eleven" as "up to maximum volume," and in common use it means louder, more intense, or past the normal limit[2].

### How do you use These go to 11?
It is typically used as a quip when describing anything cranked past its usual setting, from amps and stereos to effort and intensity in general[2].

### Is These go to 11 still popular?
The phrase is a classic reference, with ongoing use in product marketing, tech coverage, and games such as Guitar Hero 3 and Team Fortress 2's "Spinal Tap" Ubersaw taunt[3].

## References
1. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_Spinal_Tap](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_Spinal_Tap>)
2. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven>)
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/these-go-to-11-spinal-tap](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/these-go-to-11-spinal-tap>)

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