Overheard at the Oscars: Trevor Noah's Xhosa joke & other memorable quotes

The 91st Academy Awards gala on Sunday was full of moving speeches and pithy jokes. Here are some of the most memorable quotes from Hollywood's biggest night

1. LOST IN TRANSLATION

"Growing up as a young boy in Wakanda, I would see king T'Challa flying over our village, and he would remind me of a great Xhosa phrase, 'abelungu abazi ubu ndiyaxoka', which means 'In times like these, we are stronger when we fight together than when we try to fight apart'."

— Comedian Trevor Noah

Lol, no Trevor, it doesn't. The actual translation is "White people don't know I'm lying."

2. IN BED WITH OSCAR

"I am putting my Oscar statuette in bed with me, between me and my husband." 

— Best Actress winner Olivia Colman for 'The Favourite'

3. OPENING DOORS

"To have an Oscar for Moonlight ... gets you into other rooms. I have been wanting to stretch my legs for a very long time and this is the first time I get to stretch my legs." 

—Mahershala Ali, Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for 'Green Book' on how his first Academy Award for 'Moonlight' created new career opportunities

4. BIG DREAMS

"I think about what it would have been like to tell little bubba Rami that one day this might happen to him. And I think his curly-haired little mind would have been blown." 

— Rami Malek, Best Actor winner for his portrayal of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in 'Bohemian Rhapsody'

5. THE POWER OF LOVE

"I'm an example of what it looks like when support and love is poured into someone." 

— Regina King, Best Supporting Actress winner for 'If Beale Street Could Talk'

6. FIGHT FOR YOUR DREAM

"It's not about winning. But what it's about is not giving up. If you have a dream, fight for it ... It's not about how many times you get rejected ... It's about how many times you stand up and are brave and you keep on going." 

— Lady Gaga, accepting the award for Best Original Song

7. WAKANDA FOREVER

"Marvel may have created the first black superhero, but through costume design, we turned him into an African king."

— 'Black Panther' costume designer Ruth Carter, accepting her award for Best Costume Design

8. DRIVING IS BAD

"I'm snakebit. I mean, every time somebody is driving somebody, I lose."

— Spike Lee, drawing a parallel between how his film 'Do The Right Thing' was snubbed in favour of 'Driving Miss Daisy' in 1990, and then how 'Green Book' bested 'BlacKkKlansman' for Best Picture this year

9. NO HOST, NO WALL

"Just a quick update, in case you're confused: there is no host tonight, there won't be a popular movie category, and Mexico is not paying for the wall."

— Actress-comedian Maya Rudolph poking fun at some of the controversies confronted by the Academy ahead of the Oscars, and a jab at Donald Trump for good measure

10. PERIOD

"I can't believe a film about menstruation just won an Oscar!"

— Rayka Zehtabchi, director of 'Period. End of Sentence.' the winning best documentary short film about fighting the stigma associated with menstruation in rural India

• Additional reporting by staff reporter.