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November 23, 2009
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote”

Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia; Ten CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral imperatives that, according to Judeo-Christian tradition, were authored by…

April 10, 2018
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Three boxes govern the world” (ballot box, jury box, cartouch box)

"Four boxes govern the world -- the cartridge box, the jury box, the ballot box, and the band box" is a saying that was very popular in the 19th century. (A band box holds articles of…

August 26, 2017
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Three Democrats walk into a bar…” (bar joke)

"A guy walks into a bar..." is a typical form of what has been called the "bar joke." A Democrat/Republican version is: "Three Democrats/Republicans walk into a bar. The…

October 24, 2015
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Three languages, you’re trilingual; two, you’re bilingual; one, you’re American”

A joke has long been popular in Europe that if you know three languages, you're trilingual. If you know two languages, you're bilingual. If you know just one language, you're an…

September 9, 2008
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Three men in a room”

"Three men in a room" in Albany politics refers to the Governor, the Senate Majority Leader and the Assembly Speaker. No one else in New York state government matters except these three…

August 26, 2017
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Three Republicans walk into a bar…” (bar joke)

"A guy walks into a bar..." is a typical form of what has been called the "bar joke." A Democrat/Republican version is: "Three Democrats/Republicans walk into a bar. The…

January 10, 2012
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Three tickets come out of Iowa” (Iowa caucus adage)

The Iowa caucuses provide the first presidential voting in the United States. The political proverb is that "three tickets come out of Iowa" -- the first, second, and third place caucus…

December 30, 2009
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Throw money at a problem” (Washington reflex)

"Too often our Washington reflex is to discover a problem and then to throw money at it, hoping that somehow it will go away" said Kenneth Keating (1900-1975), the Republican senator from…

November 23, 2019
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Throw the book at him/her” (give the maximum penalty)

To legally "throw the book at" someone is to charge a person (if a prosecutor) or penalize a person (if a judge) very severely. The "book" is a law book, and the throwing is…

August 23, 2013
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Throw the rascals in!”

"Turn the rascals out" was a popular campaign slogan of 1872. Adlai Stevenson II (1900-1965) famously reversed the slogan when criticizing the Eisenhower administration in 1952.…

March 3, 2010
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Throw the rascals out!”

Entry in progress -- B.P. A modern jocular variant is "Throw the Rascals In!" Wikipedia: List of U.S. presidential campaign slogansTurn the Rascals Out - 1872 anti-Grant slogan against…

April 8, 2018
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Throwing acid is wrong—in some people’s eyes”

"Throwing acid is wrong -- in some people's eyes" is a jocular saying ("in some people's eyes" is an expression usually not meant to be taken literally) that has been…

March 3, 2010
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Ticker tape ain’t spaghetti”

"Ticker tape ain't spaghetti," said Fiorello La Guardia (1882-1947), the director general of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, in March 1946. La Guardia…

May 18, 2010
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Tight as a tick” (said of a close election)

A close political election is often said to be "tight as a tick." Television broadcast journalist Dan Rather (who frequently uses Texas expressions generally unknown to most of his…

May 4, 2023
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“TIL the Pentagon was supposed to be the Octagon, but the contractor kept cutting corners”

The Pentagon is a five-sided building that is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. A…

March 22, 2020
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Time to change from my daytime pajamas to my nighttime pajamas” (quarantine joke)

"Getting ready to change from my daytime pajamas into my nighttime pajamas" -- describing someone who works at home, or is a home-bound loser -- is a saying that has been printed on many…

January 21, 2022
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Time to start replacing the term ‘vaccine hesitancy’ with ‘survival instinct’”

Entry in progress -- BP TwitterChewie Killmouski @Chewie65354432Time to start replacing the term "vaccine hesitancy" with "survival instinct"!1:33 AM · May 31, 2021·Twitter…

January 8, 2023
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Tinfoil hats are an invention of the Aluminati”

"Tin foil hat" (from aluminum foil) is used as a stereotype for something worn by a conspiracy theorist, and several jokes mention the "Aluminati" (aluminum + Illuminati).…

May 27, 2021
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Tired: summer bodies. Wired: summer antibodies”

The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic made people desire antibodies rather than summer bodies. "Last year we wanted summer bodies. Now all we want is antibodies" was posted on Twitter by…

November 24, 2013
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“To anger a conservative, lie to him: to anger a liberal, tell him the truth”

"To anger a conservative, lie to him: to anger a liberal, tell him the truth" is a quotation that is often credited to Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), but there is no evidence that he…

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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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