Classic Comments on the Quote

[TimmyTee]

kb83 on 2016-09-15 10:10:39
Once you start splitting infinitives, it is a slippery slope.

I adore mixed metaphors! They are infinitely funny.

Once I heard someone saying, when she was talking about having to be careful around a particularly sensitive person,

"You have to walk on kid gloves around her."

[puzzleme]

Joy to the world!

"Peace is not the absence of affliction, but the presence of God."
— Unattributed

kb83 on April 3rd, 2014
"joy" worked also, in lieu of "God". more inclusive?

abra on July 31st, 2014
I thought of both at the same time and tried JOY first.

skoogie2 on August 7th, 2014
Yep, I tried joy twice even! It made perfect sense

montyb on December 22nd, 2014
I went with "dog".

abra on April 1st, 2015
In any quote, trying to decide whether to put in GOD or JOY, I WILL choose incorrectly.

abra on August 9th, 2015
As I just did, apparently, for the third time.

LLapp on September 22nd, 2015
OMJ, me too!

marnita on September 25th, 2015
Well, I see I'm in good company!

akcruiser03 on November 18th, 2015
I put you. there's a lot of God in these.

kb83 on November 30th, 2016
LLapp, was that "Oh My Joy"?

abra on June 14th, 2017
Funny LLapp. I'm back. i tried JOY first.

LLapp on October 22nd, 2017
kb83- Yes it was Oh My Joy, not Jehova or Jujubes. And yes, I did it again!

LLapp on October 26th, 2017
4 days later and I did it again. "Joy" simply makes more sense here.

746tiger on February 4th, 2018
Wow, there are so many words that would work. Joy, you, and dog fit the unused letters. 163 seconds.

LLapp on May 9th, 2018
Argh. I don't want to talk about this anymore.

[Collier]

"I often thought that if there had been a good rap group around in those days, I might have chosen a career in music instead of politics."
— Richard Milhous Nixon

[LLapp]

Such a great community of players

I LOVE this thread!! Players helping each other understand the quote by way of the history of a single word, in the context of its translation date and its use in modern musical theater, and then connecting the whole thing back to an ancient reference by Plutarch. What a great crowd.
--------------------------------

"I choose the likely man in preference to the rich man. I want a man without money rather than money without a man." — Themistocles

kb83 on October 8th, 2014
"likely"? Is this really the best translation? I had lively, and.although I did not like it either, only the error message forced me to change it to likely, and that was right, much to my surprise.

skoogie2 on November 25th, 2014
me too, kb, me too

caa on February 4th, 2015
Webster says: likely : seeming to be right or suited for a purpose Sounds right to me.

judy100 on February 12th, 2015
It's likely to be right.

dovid1946 on April 4th, 2015
'likely' was a term popularized in Victorian literature. I doubt if it was used in Ancient Greece, however. I am willing to bet that this translation is around 200 years old.

ruxpin66 on July 19th, 2015
I was shocked to realize the word was "likely." I don't like that there at all

wolf on August 19th, 2015
Yeah, likely was a problem for me too.

Roxanne on December 8th, 2015
This is a paraphrase from Plutarch writing about Themistocles. "Likely" is what the translator used for a Greek word that means "suitable." The translation I found with the word 'likely' was published in 1914.

LLapp on December 14th, 2015
Roxanne, thanks for the research!

cryptospiridiagram on March 1st, 2016
It' a lost usage of "likely". Example: that line from *Carousel*: "Dozens of boys pursue her, / Many a likely lad..." Likely: up for the job, equal to the task. Suitable (as a suitor!).

SippyGurl on November 7th, 2016
yah, lively

darkyr on April 14th, 2017
So then, 'likely' is not the likely word, in this case, given we are in the far future of the translation.

kb83 on August 2nd, 2017
Wow. I love this site. Thanks, everyone!

blueladyblue on February 27th, 2018
So I guess it's a "purposeful" or "suitable" man rather than a rich man. Can't a rich man be likely too?

Lurker on March 3rd, 2018
Thank you, cryptospiridiagram! I couldn't remember which musical that line was from. It was going to bother me all day.

DonnaIrene on May 19th, 2018
Cryptospiridiagram is right. As Roxanne says, this quote is from a 1914 translation of "Plutarch's Lives." The context: "Of two suitors for his daughter's hand, he [Themistocles] chose the likely man in preference to the rich man, saying that he wanted a man without money rather than money without a man."

[Barnabas]

"Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Being alive is the special occasion."
— Unattributed


sarahk809 on August 8th, 2012
Which is why I wear my wedding dress every day.

[Barnabas]

"The magnificence of mountains, the serenity of nature - nothing is safe from the idiot marks of man's passing."
— Loudon Wainwright

patsy86 on May 22nd, 2012
I was here. 05/21/12

[aerie]

"If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, you must first invent the universe."
— Carl Sagan



oddcouple on September 26th, 2014
I don't know if I could bake a pie from a premade frozen one. Let alone a universe.

skoogie2 on November 28th, 2014
I knew there was some kind of secret to pie baking that has always made it impossible to make a good one! I skipped the first step....!

skeeter on March 16th, 2015
I had the distinct pleasure of hearing him speak in person. He was one of the most captivating speakers I have ever heard.

montyb on April 10th, 2015
Skeeter, I also had the pleasure of attending one of his lectures as well as being fortunate enough to have a 20 minute conversation with him. He was a charming man as well.

kb83 on October 8th, 2015
I'd like to start at least after carbon was formed.

skeeter on October 10th, 2015
montyb, I am jealous.

abra on January 18th, 2016
Well, I attended one of his lectures, had a twenty minute conversation, then went out for a night of drinking and star gazing. LOL I couldn't resist.one-upping.

spacecoyote1966 on September 24th, 2016
That pie would require billions and billions of ingredients.

marnita on January 24th, 2017
Does anyone have a recipe for the first step?

Roxanne on April 10th, 2017
And that's why God was so ticked off at Adam and Eve. He went to six days of trouble to preheat the stove, get the cinnamon, flour, butter, a little sugar, a little lemon juice, the ice water, the countertop, and the rolling pin ready. Meanwhile, he caused the tree to grow seven perfectly-sized apples, just enough for a nice 9- to 10-inch pie, and then those people go and eat one. So now the cut-up apples are not all mounded up nicely, they just lie there, the whole thing is just going to be flat. And here he was, having all the angels over for dinner, and he wanted it to look good, like he knew what he was doing. Jeez. The angel with the fiery sword told them on the way out of the Garden, "I'm really sorry, I told him to grow another apple on the tree, cause I knew you'd want one, and that way there'd be enough for your snack and the pie too. But he's, I mean He's, like it's the first time I actually made the recipe, and it calls for seven apples, and I don't wanna mess with the recipe the first time, y'know? If it turns out I need another apple I'll make a note for next time, okay?"

[aerie]

"Marriage is like a besieged castle; those who are on the outside wish to get in; and those who are on the inside wish to get out. "
— Proverb

kb77 on September 13th, 2011
some marriages are more like drowning in the moat.

jnoodles on April 16th, 2013
Been there. Drowning in moat that is.

bansaisequoia on December 16th, 2013
In some marriages you have hot oil poured on you, and in other marriages you have hot oil poured on you.

LLapp on November 30th, 2016
The oil should be warm but not too hot.

mikehallbackhoe on December 8th, 2016
if anyone tries to besiege my castle, they will find out why you don't mess with a man who owns a backhoe

Roxanne on April 17th, 2018
Men with backhoes -- THAT explains the moats around castles.

[TimmyTee]

"Marriage is like a besieged castle; those who are on the outside wish to get in; and those who are on the inside wish to get out. "
— Proverb

kb77 on September 13th, 2011
some marriages are more like drowning in the moat.

jnoodles on April 16th, 2013
Been there. Drowning in moat that is.

bansaisequoia on December 16th, 2013
In some marriages you have hot oil poured on you, and in other marriages you have hot oil poured on you.

LLapp on November 30th, 2016
The oil should be warm but not too hot.

mikehallbackhoe on December 8th, 2016
if anyone tries to besiege my castle, they will find out why you don't mess with a man who owns a backhoe

Roxanne on April 17th, 2018
Men with backhoes -- THAT explains the moats around castles.

Marriage is grand. Divorce is about fifty grand.

[Barnabas]

"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up. "
— Vince Lombardi


PianoManGidley on December 25th, 2010
I get knocked down! And I get up again! You're never gonna keep me down! I get knocked down! And I get up again! You're never gonna keep me down!

chriscrojam on February 27th, 2011
He drinks a whisky drink He drinks a vodka drink He drinks a lager drink He drinks a cider drink He sings the songs that remind him of the good times...

bansaisequoia on May 17th, 2011
"Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side."

fredsevent on February 10th, 2012
Can you guys keep it down? I'm trying to work cryptograms.

[wvwoman]

love that song!

i had to take a little visit to youtube to listen to it.

[Fudi]

"It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up. "
— Vince Lombardi


PianoManGidley on December 25th, 2010
I get knocked down! And I get up again! You're never gonna keep me down! I get knocked down! And I get up again! You're never gonna keep me down!

chriscrojam on February 27th, 2011
He drinks a whisky drink He drinks a vodka drink He drinks a lager drink He drinks a cider drink He sings the songs that remind him of the good times...

bansaisequoia on May 17th, 2011
"Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side."

fredsevent on February 10th, 2012
Can you guys keep it down? I'm trying to work cryptograms.

Maybe it's whether you get knocked UP!

[montyb]

LLapp -- Our Resident Editor!

"Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard."
— Colin Powell

LLapp on August 3rd, 2018
I'm more comfortable challenging the prose.

[LLapp]

Sometimes a famous author can really throw you

"Strength of mind rests in sobriety; for this keeps your reason unclouded by passion." — Pythagoras

judy100 on April 15th, 2015
True!

oddcouple on March 8th, 2017
True? Or just a theory?

Marboy on March 18th, 2017
Is this why I can't do Cryptos?

DavidinKenai on September 2nd, 2018
I couldn't get "hypotenuse" to fit anywhere.

[LLapp]

"Self-worth comes from one thing — thinking that you are worthy." — Wayne Dyer

Lurker on January 3rd, 2011
Ok, who voted for "confusing"?