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January 11, 2025
Education/SchoolsMusic/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Music is just really loud math”

Music and math have many connections. It's sometimes said that "music is just math out loud" or that "music is just loud math." “Music is just math out loud" was…

August 13, 2016
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Music is like candy—you throw away the rappers”

"Music is like candy -- you throw away the rappers" is a jocular line that has been printed on many images. (Candy has "wrappers.") "Music is like candy; Throw out the…

November 14, 2021
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Music is noise in cursive”

Various types of music have been compared to cursive writing -- flowing and elegant, but sometimes difficult to understand. "Opera's like singing in cursive" was posted on Twitter by…

October 11, 2013
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Music is the space between the notes”

Entry in progress -- B.P."It's the silence between the notes that makes the music.""It's the notes you don't play that matter." Wikipedia: Claude…

October 29, 2013
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Music is what feelings sound like”

"Music is what feelings sound like" is a popular saying that has been printed on many gift items, such as posters and T-shirts. "Music is what feelings sound like" has been…

May 27, 2017
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Music picks you up from where people leave you”

"Music picks you up from where people leave you" is a one-line saying that has been printed on many images. The saying was posted on Twitter by Lazy Perfectionist‏ on December 17, 2016.…

August 15, 2019
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Music puns are my forte”

"Music puns are my forte" is a saying that has been printed on many images. "f" or "forte" means "loud." "Music puns are my Forte" was printed in…

January 11, 2025
Education/SchoolsMusic/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Music theory is just loud math”

Music and math have many connections. It's sometimes said that "music is just math out loud" or that "music is just loud math." “Music is just math out loud" was…

November 13, 2021
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Music theory is just math in cursive”

Various types of music have been compared to cursive writing -- flowing and elegant, but sometimes difficult to understand. "Opera's like singing in cursive" was posted on Twitter by…

October 14, 2016
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist”

New York (NY) Times food journalist Craig Claiborne (1920-2000) wrote on November 16, 1967: "The Adrian Zorgniottis agree with G. K. Chesterton, who told a friend, 'Music with dinner is…

August 15, 2019
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Musical puns are my forte”

"Music puns are my forte" is a saying that has been printed on many images. "f" or "forte" means "loud." "Music puns are my Forte" was printed in…

December 11, 2021
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Musicians are just therapists that you can party with”

"Musicians are (just) therapists that you can party with" is a saying that has been printed on many images. Authorship is unknown. "'Musicians are therapists that you can party…

December 11, 2021
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Musicians are therapists that you can party with”

"Musicians are (just) therapists that you can party with" is a saying that has been printed on many images. Authorship is unknown. "'Musicians are therapists that you can party…

December 27, 2023
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Must be nice being able to watch a movie without the overwhelming urge to Google…”

Many people cannot watch a movie without researching the actors (and sometimes the writer and director). "must be nice being able to watch a movie without the overwhelming urge to google every…

July 16, 2020
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“My acrobatic friend likes to paint caged petit pois. He’s a trapped peas artist”

"Trapeze" sounds like "trapped peas." "I used to be in the Circus. I was a Trapped Peas Artist" was posted on Twitter by IG:lil.eddie.turdle on June 7, 2011. "My…

December 18, 2019
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“My dad always said, ‘The first rule of theatre is to always leave them wanting more’” (joke)

The first rule of the theatre (show business) is 'always leave them wanting more" is a saying of unknown authorship. The premise is to leave the audience on a positive note, wanting more…

September 23, 2018
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“My dad got shot from a cannon. The circus never found another man of his caliber”

A circus joke has it that a human cannonball tries to quit. (Another version has the human cannonball fly off into space.) The ringmaster sighs and says, "It's hard to find another man of…

April 13, 2018
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“My dad told me he was into East Asian music and I was like,  ‘k, pop…’”

"K-pop" (Korean popular music) is sometimes confused with "K, pop" (a response to a father). "A father asks his child, 'Could you please stop listening to Korean…

October 19, 2018
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“My dad told me that I would make a great mime. I was speechless”

The "mime...I was speechless" joke has had several forms. "I remember the first time my parents told me I could never cut it as a mime. I was speechless" was posted on Twitter…

June 4, 2024
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“My dance style ranges from white dad at a barbecue to stripper whose rent is due tomorrow”

"My dance style ranges from white dad at a barbecue/barbeque to stripper whose rent is due tomorrow" -- that is, from very bad to very good -- is a jocular saying that has been printed on…

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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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