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October 13, 2021
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It was supposed to be a fight against the pandemic to protect the people…”

"It was supposed to be a fight against the pandemic to protect the people. It became a fight against the people to protect the pandemic" has been said about the COVID-19 (coronavirus)…

August 10, 2015
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It will take an act of Congress” (idiom)

"It will take an act of Congress" is often not meant literally, but is used as an idiom -- for example, "it will take an act of Congress to get him a date." "It will take…

December 16, 2021
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s a Bill of Rights, not a Bill of Needs”

"It's the Bill of Rights, not the Bill of Needs" (or "It's a Bill of Rights, not a Bill of Needs") is a saying that has been printed on many images. The saying usually…

August 25, 2013
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s a child, not a choice”

"It's a child, not a choice" (or "I'm/She's a child, not a choice") is a popular pro-life slogan that has been printed on many gift items, such as bumper stickers…

November 14, 2011
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s a free country!”

"It's a free country!" means that the speaker believes that he or she can disagree with another and do something that another disapproves of. The saying has a long history in the…

January 9, 2021
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s a great time to walk in a cemetery. It’s guaranteed that everybody is at least 6 feet away”

The 2020 COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic resulted in six feet social distancing requirements. "Six feet" often refers to how deep a person is buried in a cemetery. "This place is…

January 10, 2013
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s a legal system, not a justice system”

Entry in progress -- B.P. 4 May 1992, Hartford (CT) Courant, "City rally targets fear as unfounded: Rally targets racial fear in Hartford" by Tom Puleo and Dana Tofig, pg. A1:"Our…

February 24, 2023
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s a proven fact that criminals commit less crime after they’ve been shot”

"Statistics show that criminals commit less crime after they've been shot" and "It's a proven fact that criminals commit less crime after they've been shot" are…

March 7, 2013
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s better to be pissed off than pissed on”

"It's better to be pissed off than pissed on" (that is, it's better to be angry than to simply take the abuse of others) is a saying that has been printed on many gift items,…

October 1, 2011
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s better to know the judge than to know the law”

"It's better to know the judge than to know the law" was credited by at least 1880 to New York attorney James Topham Brady (1815-1869). Brady was experienced in the corrupt Tammany…

February 12, 2023
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s called a smart city because if they called it a concentration camp…”

"It's called a smart city because if they called it a 'concentration camp,' you might not want to live there" is a saying that has been printed on several images. A…

October 30, 2021
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s called gradualism because it gradually removes your freedoms”

Gradualism (in politics) is defined in Wikipedia as "the hypothesis that social change can be achieved in small, discrete increments rather than in abrupt strokes such as revolutions or…

July 8, 2013
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it”

The "American Dream" is when people work hard and can afford to buy a house and raise a family in the United States; a respectable standard of living is assumed. Comedian George Carlin…

January 5, 2022
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s Delta variant if it’s from the Delta region of India. Otherwise it’s just sparkling Covid-19”

"Champagne" is sometimes used as a generic term for sparkling wine, but legally, it must come from the Champagne wine region of France. The joke meme was used during the COVID-19…

August 5, 2020
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s easy to be a communist in a free country. But try being free in a communist country”

"It’s easy being a communist in a free country. Try being free in a communist country" (or "It's easy to be a communist in a free country, but try being free in a communist…

July 5, 2025
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s gotten to the point where the aliens have stopped laughing at us and are all looking at each other like holy shit should we do something”

"It's gotten to the point where the aliens have stopped laughing at us and are all looking at each other like holy shit should we do something" is a jocular saying that has been…

June 1, 2016
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s impossible to predict the past” (joke)

American political commentator Charles Krauthammer said at a McGill University COnvocation on June 14, 1993: "In the old Soviet Union, where the commissars would routinely rewrite and…

January 8, 2022
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s kind of shitty that we basically pay politicians to tell us to go fuck ourselves”

"It's kind of shitty that we basically pay politicians to tell us to go fuck ourselves" is a saying that has been printed on an image. "Kinda shitty that we basically pay…

April 4, 2020
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“It’s like I’m 16 again. $5 is gas money & we all grounded” (quarantine joke)

The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic caused home quarantine. The price of gas dropped significantly. This was posted on Facebook by Areol Clayton on March 30, 2020: "It’s like I’m 16 again.…

March 10, 2024
Government/Law/Military/Religion /HealthMedia/Newspapers/Magazines/Internet

“It’s never your successful friends posting the communist quotes”

"It's never your successful friends posting the inspirational quotes" is a saying that has been printed on many images. "It's never your super successful friends posting…

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BARRY POPIK is a contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary of American Regional English, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Yale Book of Quotations and Dictionary of Modern Proverbs. Since 1990 he has also been a regular contributor to Gerald Cohen's Comments on Etymology.

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