Great one-liners from PF members

  • Thread starter Thread starter sysprog
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Members
Click For Summary
The discussion centers around sharing and appreciating humorous and witty one-liners from the Physics Forums. Participants highlight various clever remarks, often related to physics, science, and the absurdities of homeopathy. Notable contributions include quips about relativity, the limitations of crayons, and humorous takes on homeopathic remedies. The thread also touches on the nature of scientific discourse, emphasizing that interesting questions often arise amid conflicting ideas. Additionally, there are playful exchanges about the nuances of communication, humor in technical discussions, and the importance of clarity in scientific explanations. Overall, the thread celebrates the blend of humor and intellect found within scientific discussions.
  • #121
The surest indicator of the quality of a human is how they treat those with less power. ##-## @hutchphd
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #122
Vanadium 50 said:
For what it's worth, I had determinants years before knowing anything about cross-products.

I would guess that this is unusual. My expectation was that most of my students had seen cross products before in vector calculus or physics classes and I thought it worthwhile to give a linear algebra perspective. I taught them about determinants a couple of weeks prior, so they better had known about them...

sysprog said:
The surest indicator of the quality of a human is how they treat those with less power. ##-## @hutchphd

Related (and hopefully not too well known to be worth posting): "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons." -Dostoevsky
 
Last edited:
  • #123
Infrared said:
I would guess that this is unusual. My expectation was that most of my students had seen cross products before in vector calculus or physics classes and I thought it worthwhile to a linear algebra perspective. I taught them about determinants a couple of weeks prior, so they better had known about them...

Related (and hopefully not too well known to be worth posting): "The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons." -Dostoevsky
Maybe my first calc teacher was a baseball, but maybe I didn't know that then ##-## my calc teacher was great ##-## I started operations research before linear algebra, so what do I know ##\dots##
 
Last edited:
  • #124
Why use that as an excuse to bring in photons? ##-## @sophiecentaur
 
  • Like
Likes sophiecentaur
  • #125
You could approach your problem like any other project: write a functional specification document, classify the duties, estimate the necessary time to achieve each of the goals, prioritize, and make a project schedule. ##-## @fresh_42
 
  • #126
“One does not simply read a textbook, one works through a textbook” - @Vanadium 50
 
  • Like
  • Love
Likes CalcNerd, strangerep, Hamiltonian and 3 others
  • #127
Is this better?

1610035805622.png
 
  • Like
Likes Hamiltonian, gmax137, BillTre and 1 other person
  • #128
  • Like
Likes Demystifier, Vanadium 50, BillTre and 1 other person
  • #129
"Problems worthy of attack, prove their worth by hitting back." - Piet Hein
 
  • Like
Likes CalcNerd, Hamiltonian, PhDeezNutz and 2 others
  • #130
PhDeezNutz said:
“One does not simply read a textbook, one works through a textbook” - @Vanadium 50
I just look at the pictures!
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Likes Hamiltonian, PhDeezNutz, BillTre and 2 others
  • #131
PeroK said:
I just look at the pictures!
You also at least read the captions, too, right?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes PhDeezNutz and PeroK
  • #132
sysprog said:
You also at least read the captions, too, right?
Yes, but sometimes I just skip to the end to see what happens.
 
  • Like
Likes BillTre and sysprog
  • #133
PeroK said:
I just look at the pictures!
That is you who @BillTre wants to write a book for?
BillTre said:
What do people use for drawing molecules (in a digital manner)?

I would like to make space filling type models as well as letters representing the atoms connected by lines at different angles.
The second kind I could make with ad drawing program, but there's got to be a better way.
 
  • #134
PeroK said:
I just look at the pictures!
For some subjects that works better than for others.
 
  • #135
You're not going to make this easy, are you? ##-## @Vanadium 50
 
  • Like
Likes CalcNerd, Hamiltonian and BillTre
  • #136
It's like using a piano keyboard as 'proof' that only certain frequencies of sound exist. Then talk to a violinist. ##-## @sophiecentaur
 
  • Like
Likes CalcNerd and BillTre
  • #137
gmax137 said:
I worked with a guy for over thirty years before he told me he was an accordion player. "I just don't talk about it," he said.
Just out of curiosity, what is funny or witty or interesting about this one ?
 
  • #138
timmeister37 said:
Just out of curiosity, what is funny or witty or interesting about this one ?
The accordian is the Rodney Dangerfield of musical instruments.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Likes strangerep and BillTre
  • #139
timmeister37 said:
gmax137 said:
I worked with a guy for over thirty years before he told me he was an accordion player. "I just don't talk about it," he said.
Just out of curiosity, what is funny or witty or interesting about this one ?
Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty,
playing "Rogers & Clarke" in the movie "Ishtar"
in the song "Dangerous Business":

Telling the truth can be dangerous business​
Honest and popular don't go hand in hand​
If you admit that you can play the accordion​
no-one will hire you in a rock & roll band​

In the mid-'80s I was a not-so-great accordionist ##-## only a little bit better on guitar ##-## my girlfriend could sing very well and was very good on piano ##-## we got a good laugh ##\dots##
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes Astronuc and BillTre
  • #140
phinds said:
The accordian is the Rodney Dangerfield of musical instruments.
Its also Weird Al's favorite instrument!
 
  • #141
phinds said:
The accordian is the Rodney Dangerfield of musical instruments.
If you play the accordion, then musically you are on the road to nowhere:

 
  • Like
Likes BillTre and sysprog
  • #142
@PeroK, isn't the road to nowhere better than the highway to hell?



and yeah Steve Vai is a lot better at guitar than I am ##\dots##
 
  • Like
Likes Demystifier and PeroK
  • #143
timmeister37 said:
Just out of curiosity, what is funny or witty or interesting about this one ?
As I recall, @Vanadium 50 had posted something about gentlemen not playing trombones, I just followed up with accordions in a similar vein.

BTW, when I lived in New Orleans I saw a guy in the Quarter playing Jimi Hendix's "Voodoo Chile" on an accordion. That's something you don't forget.
 
  • Like
Likes Astronuc and sysprog
  • #144
gmax137 said:
BTW, when I lived in New Orleans I saw a guy in the Quarter playing Jimi Hendix's "Voodoo Chile" on an accordion. That's something you don't forget

As much as you might want to.
 
  • #145
I thought of doing the Alan Parsons Project "I, Robot" song as an accordion piece ##-## bass on the left hand, chords on the right ##-## I wasn't good enough ##\dots##
 
  • #146
If you want to learn QFT, you should be looking at textbooks, not Wikipedia. ##-## @PeterDonis
 
  • #147
Vanadium 50 said:
[Boromir: "...one works through a textbook..."]
... but not the way Boromir would do it, i.e., slashing it into a zillion pieces with his trusty broadsword...
 
  • #148
strangerep said:
... but not the way Boromir would do it, i.e. ...
... and then dying halfway:nb)
 
  • #149
Proof by personal incredulity does not count. ##-## @jbriggs444
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Likes Borg and OmCheeto
  • #150
sysprog said:
Proof by personal incredulity does not count. ##-## @jbriggs444
I think that could apply to a lot these days.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 32 ·
2
Replies
32
Views
3K
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 77 ·
3
Replies
77
Views
14K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 141 ·
5
Replies
141
Views
15K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
Replies
17
Views
4K
Replies
39
Views
9K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
3K