I need to compile a list of quotations, first lines of pop songs, sayings, etc, and I thought that the erudite people of Folcdom might be able to help me.

These must be really well-known - the kind that your average person in the (UK) street might know.

They also have to be between 5 and 7 words long, just to make it more of a challenge.

Yvonne

can you give us some kind of topic or word or guidance or something? don't know about anyone else, but your request is a little too vague for me to process. of course, all that's coming up off the top of my head is "where's the beef?" but that might improve with a bit more direction.

Paul

'If you lead a horse to water...'

'One good turn deserves another.'

'Pot calling the kettle black.'

Hmmm... not sure if this is what you wanted

Missy

I, too, was not sure what you wanted.

Quotations of 5 - 7 words are hard to come up with. A few ("let them eat cake") are too short, most are too long. I did think of these:

Shakespeare:
Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
Beware the ides of March.

Sir Winston Churchill:
The price of greatness is responsibility.

Charles de Gaulle:
The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

Julius Caesar:
I came. I saw. I conquered.

As for sayings, we have:

To err is human, to forgive divine.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Blood is thicker than water.
A penny saved is a penny earned.

Others will have to help with the songs. I don't listen to the radio much, and even if I did, I have no idea what is popular in the UK.

Hope this helped,

- Vicki

These are all perfect

Paul, there is no specific topic - I just needed phrases which are familiar and easy to remember. If you really *do* need a topic, try music. That would be fairly appropriate for the purpose in mind.

Keep 'em coming.

Yvonne

Hey, the Caesar quote is cheating -- it's only three words in the Latin he actually spoke.

Descartes:
I think, therefore I am.

Einstein:
God doesn't play dice with the universe.


How about tongue-twisters?
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. (ok, 8 words)
She sells seashells by the seashore.

LOL - I know. I actually thought of the Latin quote first, and discarded it as too short. Then, it occurred to me that in English, it's longer.

- Vicki

Hi, Yvonne,

I don't know if you're still looking for quotes, but I found these two websites:

www.quoteland.com

and

www.lyrics.com

At the first, you can look up quotes by topic. For example, I clicked on "love" and came up with "Love means never having to say you're sorry" by Erich Segal.

At the second, you can look up lyrics by songwriter. For example, clicking on Burt Bacharach, I got "Make it Easy on Yourself". You could try looking up songwriters who are popular in the UK at the moment.

- Vicki

rivka, rivka... how can you complain about ceasar and then turn around and suggest "cogito ergo sum" which, you'll notice, is also 3 words.... <sigh>

anyway, as long as we're tossing out URLs, here's a handy one:

http://www.bartleby.com

but let me see if can think of some quotations. kinda hard to just pull em out of thin air. usually you need them to pop up in the right context. well, let's see...

may the force be with you
do you feel lucky, punk?

(<grumble, grumble>... couple of good 4-word ones... <sigh>)

oh, wait... looking back, i seem to have misread your post. thought you were looking for pop culture-type sayings and stuff. let's see what else comes to mind...

a stitch in time saves nine

okay, lost my train of thought... going random.

jack and jill went up the hill...
life is like a box of chocolates...
live from new york, it's saturday night
a train leaves chicago at 40 mph...
the name is bond, james bond
if i had a million dollars...
if i had a nickel for every time...
shave and a haircut, two bits!
mind your p's and q's
i've got half a mind to...
one day, alice, to the moon!
if a tree falls in the forrest...
what do you get if you cross...
nana nana, nana nana, hey hey, goodbye
read my lips, no new taxes
truth, justice, and the american way
a journey of a thousand miles...
a wise man once said...
birds of a feather flock together
if at first you don't succeed...
hiho, hiho, it's off to work we go...
truth is stranger than fiction
how many roads must a man walk down?
you know how to whistle, don't you...?

any of those help?

Paul

Oops. Good point.

Ok, just for that, it's time for "Descartes visits the Golden Arches."

Descartes walks into a McDs, waits in line, and then orders a burger.

Asks the pimply-faced kid behind the counter, "You want fries with that?"

Descartes responds, "I think not." With a sudden look of horror, he *POOF* disappears.

Beauty is only skin deep.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Don't rain on my parade.

okay thats all i can think of now. LOL I'll come up with more later, I'm sure.

Rivka, I love your sig quote. I love Sunday in the Park With George!! I think Bernadette Peters was absolutely fantastic as Dot/Marie.

Caroline

LOL on your Descartes story, Rivka!

Does phrases like "it's raining cats and dogs" also fit?

"Eternity's a long time, especially in the end"

"Mocking philosophy *is* really philosophing!" (Pascal)

"ein, zwei policei, drei, vier brigadier ..." (Oops, (just kidding <g>)

"There's no smoke without fire"

"The sun always shines on tv"

"One, two: buckle my shoe..."

"Every road leads to Rome" (er...not sure of the translation)

"All roads lead to Rome..."

"A journey of a thousand miles..."

"Ignorance is bliss"

"To love another person is to see the face of God"

"Hapiness is to know and love your own limits." (Romain Rolland)

"Only love is stronger than death."

"Death is a part of life."