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June 17, 2023
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that”

"War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself" (or "War is when the/your government tells you who the enemy is. Revolution…

December 4, 2018
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“War is when the government tells you who the enemy is. Revolution is when you figure it out”

"War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself" (or "War is when the/your government tells you who the enemy is. Revolution…

June 17, 2023
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“War is when your government tells you who the enemy is. Revolution is when you figure it out”

"War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself" (or "War is when the/your government tells you who the enemy is. Revolution…

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

“War kills reform”

"War kills reform" is a catchphrase of American historian Robert Dallek. Dallek wrote in Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961-1973 (1998): It is a given of U.S. history that…

January 22, 2021
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“War propaganda left unchecked for a single generation becomes history”

"War propoganda left unchecked for a single generation becomes history" was posted on Twitter by @trutherbot on March 10, 2015. The original tweet is no longer available. "War…

September 23, 2025
Government/Law/Military/Religion /HealthTransportation

“Warning: In case of Rapture, this car will be unmanned” (bumper sticker)

"Caution/Warning: In case of Rapture, this car/vehicle will be unmanned" is a jocular bumper sticker saying that has been printed on many images. “Come the Rapture, can I have your…

September 23, 2025
Government/Law/Military/Religion /HealthTransportation

“Warning: In case of Rapture, this vehicle will be unmanned” (bumper sticker)

"Caution: In case of Rapture, this vehicle will be unmanned" is a jocular bumper sticker saying that has been printed on many images. Wikipedia: Rapture The Rapture is an eschatological…

May 25, 2021
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Warning: You’re being conditioned to view your freedom as ‘selfish’”

"Danger: You are being conditioned to view your freedom as selfish" (or "Warning: You're being conditioned to view your freedom as 'selfish'") is a saying that…

July 16, 2022
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“WARNING: Your government is imploding before your eyes…”

A political image reads: "WARNINGYOUR GOVERNMENT IS IMPLODING BEFORE YOUR EYES. STAY CALM AND MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE NEAREST 'CONSPIRACY THEORIST' FOR FURTHER DIRECTION"…

February 18, 2021
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Wars should be financed through GoFundMe and fought by those cheering for it”

"Wars should be financed through GoFundMe and fought by those cheering for it. Change my mind" (shown on an image) was posted on Twitter by Asbjørn Ulsberg on January 10, 2020. The…

October 26, 2020
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Wash your hands and say your prayers because Jesus and germs are everywhere”

"Wash your hands and say your prayers because Jesus and germs are everywhere" is a saying that has been printed on many images. Authorship is uncertain. "One of her mother's…

June 1, 2020
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Wash your hands. COVID-19 doesn’t kill itself, just like Jeffrey Epstein”

The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic resulted in many announcements that people should wash their hands. "Wash your hands to kill Corona Virus. It doesn't kill itself, just like…

May 7, 2020
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Washes his hands. Always wears a mask. Rearrange the letters in Racoon and it spells CORONA!”

"Racoon" ("raccoon" with only one "C") is an anagram of "Corona" (as in "Coronavirus"). In the Japanese horror media franchise Resident Evil, there…

November 25, 2010
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm”

William Manchester's book, Portrait of a President: John F. Kennedy in profile (1962), includes a famous line: "'Washington,' John Kennedy once said lightly, 'is a city of…

May 5, 2017
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Washington, DC is 12 square miles bordered by reality”

"Washington, DC is 12 square miles bordered by reality" is a statement about the United States capital city -- "Washington" is a metonym for the federal government -- that is…

April 25, 2018
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Washington, DC stands for Washington, Da Capital”

Some people jocularly say that the "DC" (District of Columbia) in "Washington, DC" stands for "Da Capital" or Da Capitol." "'I know what D.C. stands…

December 29, 2010
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Washington’s face was on all our money; now, Washington’s hands are on it, too”

George Washington (1732-1799) has appeared on the U.S. one-dollar bill since 1869. The joke "Time was when Washington's face was on all of our money; now it's Washington's (the…

May 30, 2025
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Watch out. Police have ssue a warning to be on the lookout for I.D. theft”

"Watch out. Police have ssue a warning to be on the lookout for I.D theft" is a joke that was posted on Sickipedia on May 30, 2025. The joke is that "ssue" is supposed to be…

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

“Watching people cling to the 2-party system is like witnessing the victim of a toxic relationship”

Many American do not believe in the two-party political system (Democrats and Republicans). "Watching people cling to the two party system is like witnessing the victim of a toxic…

April 3, 2018
Government/Law/Military/Religion /Health

“Waterboarding at Guantanamo Bay sounds rad if you don’t know what either of these things are”

"Waterboarding at Guantanamo Bay" sounds like surfboarding on some exotic beach, but it is not. It means water torture at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp (a United States military…

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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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