Great one-liners from PF members

[pinball1970]

I was in a rad protection training class at a power plant. They showed us a little video skit of 4 or 5 guys pretending to work on a valve. They were dressed out in anti-C's and respirators, etc. We (in the class) were asked "what are these guys doing wrong?" The very first answer (shouted out) was, "QC never hands the wrench to the mechanic."

Sure enough, the guy in the back with the clipboard could be seen passing over a wrench.

If feel like I have to defend my people.
If it wasn't for QA, something somewhere may not get specified precisely which means that something could go wrong.
Worse, somebody somewhere may notice.

 

[Ibix]

If feel like I have to defend my people.
If it wasn't for QA, something somewhere may not get specified precisely which means that something could go wrong.
Worse, somebody somewhere may notice.

Oh believe me, I respect QA. I'll let you guess the event sequence that lead my opinion to change from "necessary evil" to "respect and gratitude"...

 

[pinball1970]

From @hutchphd

I thought this was very clever.

'Yes but you are creating a Maxwell's demon scenario: half the time the capacitor fluctuation goes the other way. The demon is in the detail.'

 

[berkeman]

Capitalization is important in science and engineering...

M = mega, m = milli. 500 mb is half a bit.

 

[Demystifier]

Bohr is nearly unreadable, precisely because he tried to never say anything wrong.

 

[DrGreg]

In response to a comment that what happens inside the event horizon cannot be observed...

No. They can be observed. Just not published in any journal outside the horizon.

 

[anorlunda]

Significant figures are like training wheels. They help you get started understanding the basic idea of measurement uncertainty, but at some point you take off the training wheels and deal with uncertainty the "right" way.

I know, that's two lines. But I like them.

 

[pinball1970]

Category for pf one liners should be a trophy IMO. @Greg Bernhardt

 

[PeroK]

Category for pf one liners should be a trophy IMO. @Greg Bernhardt

An award for one-liner of the year?

 

[pinball1970]

An award for one-liner of the year?

Yes. I'm not sure how they would do it.
As this is specific probably nominate best three posts to all, then Greg does his stuff and presents us with a poll.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

Yes. I'm not sure how they would do it.
As this is specific probably nominate best three posts to all, then Greg does his stuff and presents us with a poll.

We can help out in that. We, the members, would post in this thread the one-liners we like from other threads. Then the staff can pick out ("nominate") the ones with most number of reactions. There can be different scores for reactions: can be 1 point, while can be 2 points. Then we will vote as usual and pick the best one-liner of the year.

This will, then, be the only category where the ordinary members of PF will do the primary nominations.

 

[phinds]

All this sounds like just more extra work for the moderators / Greg and with very little benefit.

 

[gmax137]

All this sounds like just more extra work for the moderators / Greg and with very little benefit.

In case it is not clear, I am calling this by @phinds a "great one-liner"

 

[jrmichler]

The best way to go faster is to watch people who are faster than you.

From a thread about sailboats, but applicable almost everywhere by substituting smarter, more knowledgeable, etc for faster.

 

[pinball1970]

In case it is not clear, I am calling this by @phinds a "great one-liner"

Yes Phinds reaction to my suggestion of introducing an award for best one liner.
Ironically he would have been in with a good shout for the category.

 

[berkeman]

Please do not ask me where this is from...

So don't make toast in the tub.

 

[Vanadium 50]

 

[DrClaude]

Not posted on PF, but written by @mjc123 :

There is nothing magical about an octet. (Apart from Schubert's.)

 

[jack action]

Infinite numeric intervals are permissible in mathematics. But infinite temporal intervals, eternity itself, is a matter of theology

Mathematics, thankfully, is not constrained by theology. Let $$t \in (-\infty, \infty)$$

 

[pinball1970]

That is not actually making toast though. That is just throwing a toaster into the tub.
At least this guy made an attempt.FOUR slices no less. EDIT: On further inspection the device in your post was not a toaster, it was a Ghetto blaster.

 

[phinds]

As many people have said about one thing or another here on PF, usually with more words,

Nature doesn’t provide definitions for words.

 

[fresh_42]

As many people have said about one thing or another here on PF, usually with more words,

Nature doesn’t provide definitions for words.

Sauerei.

 

[phinds]

The most difficult part of constructing a perpetual motion machine is hiding the batteries.

I love that one

 

[berkeman]

From the Natural Disaster thread:

Preparing for a hurricane is like being stalked by a turtle.

 

[DrClaude]

@fresh_42 seemed happy with the the effort in this thread and he's not all that easy to please.

 

[berkeman]

(technically 2 lines) While addressing Elizabeth Holmes' biomedical company...

Her idea worked. It was designed to separate people from their money - sort of wallet chromotography - the green parts go flying out, leaving the empty husk behind.

 

[PhDeezNutz]

OP: If you want to keep your options as open as possible, you should major in religious studies. When you need to make a decision, you can seek divine guidance. The evolution of this thread indicates that human guidance isn't sufficient for you.

@CrysPhys big oof.

I can relate to the OP of that thread though. Analysis Paralysis and whatnot.

 

[gmax137]

"Should" butters no parsnips.

Love that. Is it a common aphorism? I have not heard it before.

 

[jbriggs444]

Love that. Is it a common aphorism? I have not heard it before.

Not common. But I heard "butters no parsnips" a few times during my youth.

 

[phinds]

Not common. But I heard "butters no parsnips" a few times during my youth.

I think I recall my grandmother saying that in the 50's but have not heard it since.

 

[pinball1970]

Love that. Is it a common aphorism? I have not heard it before.

Curry favour is the closest thing I think of.

 

[fresh_42]

Love that. Is it a common aphorism? I have not heard it before.

At least I found it in a dictionary on a German translation website.

 

[PeroK]

Not common. But I heard "butters no parsnips" a few times during my youth.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fine_words_butter_no_parsnips

 

[pinball1970]

No I got the wrong thing. In the UK you can metaphorically "butter someone up."

 

[jbriggs444]

No I got the wrong thing. In the UK you can metaphorically "butter someone up."

Ahh, that makes more sense now. We "butter people up" on this side of the pond as well.

 

[fresh_42]

We say "butter to the fishes" if we demand supporting facts.

 

[pinball1970]

Ahh, that makes more sense now. We "butter people up" on this side of the pond as well.

So what came first? The person or the parsnip?

 

[epenguin]

Love that. Is it a common aphorism? I have not heard it before.

A bit oldie, used to be a common saying. I don't know how commonly people eat parsnips any more - as I remember nobody really liked them.

 

[pinball1970]

We say "butter to the fishes" if we demand supporting facts.

Is that a "we" German or Mathematics?
I have a frail grasp on both, stick butter in and my hold is gone.

 

[fresh_42]

A bit oldie, used to be a common saying. I don't know how commonly people eat parsnips any more - as I remember nobody really liked them.

... which is why butter is desperately needed, I guess. Somehow the traditional version of "In case of doubt add bacon (optional: cheese)!"

 

[jbriggs444]

... which is why butter is desperately needed, I guess. Somehow the traditional version of "In case of doubt add bacon (optional: cheese)!"

Now to chase down a buttered pig to put in my parsnips.

 

[pinball1970]

Now to chase down a buttered pig to put in my parsnips.

That is mean. I am not a hypocrite, I love all forms of pig.
That would put an animal under unnecessary stress.

 

[strangerep]

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fine_words_butter_no_parsnips

I hate parsnips, even with butter. Give me a nice boiled potato with butter, sour cream, grated cheese, and some mexican <whatever> any day.

Hmm, now I've made myself feel hungry. Is it muffin time yet?

 

[PeroK]

A bit oldie, used to be a common saying. I don't know how commonly people eat parsnips any more - as I remember nobody really liked them.

I'm quite partial to a roast (unbuttered) parsnip now and then.

 

[hutchphd]

I'm quite partial to a roast (unbuttered) parsnip now and then.

With a little olive oil and roasted in the oven until sweet. Yum. Had my first parsnip a age fifty...not popular during my youth
Apparently the "yum" part is quite subjective and seems hard-wired in our genes: https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/why-do-some-people-hate-brussels-sprouts/

 

[PeroK]

With a little olive oil and roasted in the oven until sweet. Yum. Had my first parsnip a age fifty...not popular during my youth
Apparently the "yum" part is quite subjective and seems hard-wired in our genes: https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/why-do-some-people-hate-brussels-sprouts/

I'm not so fond of brussels sprouts. My favourite vegetable is the leek. The most spectacular is the Romanesco broccoli:

 

[hutchphd]

Yes. When I first saw it at the market I thought I may have ingested something hallucinogenic. Apparently it was not a big seller as it is no longer available. Pity.

 

[PhDeezNutz]

Partially because the future physics is truly unknown. Also because teaching how it fits would require you to understand the subjects you don't yet know and that is not efficient. But, where possible, we agree
Teaching the elementary methods to bright students is particularly difficult because often they use shortcuts to do the simple provblems: "Why do I need to draw a free body analysis when I can just write down answer from my head ?" The method of analysis is what is being taught, not how to play with Atwood Machines. Soon enough the problems will be non-intuitive. You need some faith that these folks understand what they are doing.

Not a one-liner by any means but full of insight. I do remember as a younger student being frustrated at not having immediate overarching perspective/intuition. Things were so easy at the 2000 level that when it came to higher level classes I hit a wall because things were no longer intuitive.

This is exactly what every young student needs to hear. You can’t have overarching perspective before you’ve had many many years of experience and that you have to trust that even though it’s impossible for teachers to confer immediate overarching insight that they do structure their curriculum in such a way that you eventually can glean said insight.

@hutchphd

 

[phinds]

 

[PhDeezNutz]

View attachment 316041

Yes most of the posts highlighted in the thread are witty one liners. But why not highlight good posts in general? Assuming they aren’t too technical/content heavy.