# Mottos/Taglines That Weren't Really Thought Out Fully **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 3, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814 "2008-04-03T16:39:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![The\_Them](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/81 "2008-04-05T07:49:27Z")
Almost forgot: S.C.A.T. is used in a “humorous” way, the ad copy folks evidently unaware that the word doesn’t _only_ function as something you say when the cat jumps on the counter… ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/82 "2008-04-05T08:26:51Z")
Battle Mountain, Nevada has the town’s initials spelled out in white on a nearby hillside. “BM” in big letters. ---
**Author:** ![threnodyangelfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@threnodyangelfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threnodyangelfire)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/83 "2008-04-05T09:05:31Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] Maybe he meant it in the sense that . you need to have some imagination to _use_ the knowledge. [/QUOTE] Yeah that’s kind of what I took away from it immediately. Knowledge is learnt and factual. To apply that knowledge in new and different ways requires imagination. I think it’s quite a cool quote, actually 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/84 "2008-04-05T12:54:56Z")
[QUOTE=elelle] I should say, WhyNot, that i didn’t mean to say that your OP was lackluster, but that the truncated quote used by the school was, hence your appropriate OP. Which has resulted in a lot of great subsequent posts on stupidity. Good thread. [/quote] Agreed. > [@](#): > > I do think that Einstein’s full statement is worth high school student’s discussion, as it can open up a dialogue on critical thinking skills, especially at that age, when the impetus of developing egos often rebels at Old School thought. Einstein’s quote stresses the use of mental facilities to build on knowledge, which can get young minds excited about their own contribution to future thought, not static at all. Nothing used to kill the creative spark in me as a teen more than a teacher saying, > “It just IS, so learn it, don’t ask so many questions.” Better to harness that creative thought as having an active part in the future. Still agreed, if we’re talking about the whole quote, not that snippet. I’d want to see the discussion point out, though, that while the exciting part was imagination, imagination can be much more exciting and useful if you have the knowledge - Einstein was able to think his paradigm shifting thoughts only because he knew stuff first to build on. > [@](#): > > I know I’ve gone on about it here, beyond what the thread is now, but, I so love Einstein for his appreciation of the yet to be known understanding of the world, and want his fine mind to still be heard in all it’s complexity. And yet more agreement! Woot! My :rolleyes: attitude was not towards Mr. Einstein, but the school using that snippit of quote. Which, taken out of the full statement he made, makes little sense to me in an institution of learnin’. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/85 "2008-04-05T13:46:05Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] … using that snippit of quote. Which, taken out of the full statement he made, makes little sense to me in an institution of learnin’. [/QUOTE] You are right. Unfortunately, it usually is presented out of context and, I’d bet, often interpreted in a way old Al would not have liked: “So what if I made a D in _Introduction to Calculus_? I have a great imagination, and that’s what’s important.” ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/86 "2008-04-05T17:28:50Z")
I passed a Christian Assembly church yesterday and noted that this Sunday’s sermon was going to be about some passages from the Book of Mark. “Christiaholics Anonymous” was also on the reader board. Seeing that, I said to myself, “Huh?” Folks who attend Alcoholics Anonymous are working on avoiding alcohol. At Narcotics Anonymous, they’re working on avoiding drugs. So at Christiaholics Anonymous meeting, wouldn’t one be working on avoiding Christ? Wouldn’t a Christian church be the last place you’d want to be? (Of course, I suppose the dreaded, oh-so-addicting and soul-destroying christia has reared its ugly head once again, though I thought the last of that was well and truly stamped out decades ago. But if its back and that church offers a cheap place to meet with fellow sufferers, then it’s all good.) Anyway, that’s my best sighting lately. ---
**Author:** ![runninblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbce88/32.png) [@runninblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runninblue)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/87 "2008-04-05T18:21:30Z")
It’s not a slogan, just the name of a local business in Beavercreek OH. [Beaver-Vu](http://beaver-vu.daytonbowling.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/88 "2008-04-05T18:56:10Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Webelos was also an acronym meaning Wolf, Bear, Lion, Scout. [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t that be Wobelis? ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/89 "2008-04-05T19:16:29Z")
There was a non-chain hardware store I used to go by often that had the following slogan painted on the side: _Home of great values and more!_ Everytime I saw it, it made me think: some things are great values, others pure rip-offs. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/90 "2008-04-05T19:27:36Z")
CTV news used to use the slogan, “If it matters in your world, it’s news to us.” They belatedly considered what that phrase means in popular use, and retooled it as “If it matters in your world, it’s news for BC.” Which was just run-of-the-mill lame. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/91 "2008-04-05T19:59:18Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] Wouldn’t that be Wobelis? [/QUOTE] I noticed that too. I think they left out the eels. Maybe **W** olf, **BE** ar, **L** i **O** n, **S** cout – WBELOS, with an extra ‘e’ thrown in to assist pronunciation? Maybe it wasn’t thought out fully in more ways than one. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/92 "2008-04-05T20:07:02Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Was it United that had the motto “We’ll get you there?” Sort of minimalist. [/QUOTE] Delta gets you there. United’s was/is ‘Fly the friendly skies of United’. This one doesn’t apply anymore: PanAm. We’re flying better than ever. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/93 "2008-04-05T20:18:06Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] I always thought it was “Nobody does it like SaraLee”. When somebody corrected me I thought "You’re kidding, that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard, a double negative? Why not just say Everybody likes SaraLee? [/QUOTE] You can be indifferent to SaraLee and still not be a person who doesn’t like it, but you can’t be indifferent and be a person who does like it. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/94 "2008-04-05T20:31:06Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] You can be indifferent to SaraLee and still not be a person who doesn’t like it, but you can’t be indifferent and be a person who does like it. [/QUOTE] So the slogan “Nobody doesn’t like SaraLee” is actually less supportive of the product than “Everybody likes SaraLee” would be, since it leaves open the possibility that most people don’t give a damn about SaraLee. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/95 "2008-04-05T20:32:36Z")
[QUOTE=Xema] You are right. Unfortunately, it usually is presented out of context and, I’d bet, often interpreted in a way old Al would not have liked: “So what if I made a D in _Introduction to Calculus_? I have a great imagination, and that’s what’s important.” [/QUOTE] Exacitaly! (Sorry, that’s my 3 year olds favorite new word. It’s catching.) ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/96 "2008-04-05T20:36:26Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] So the slogan “Nobody doesn’t like SaraLee” is actually less supportive of the product than “Everybody likes SaraLee” would be, since it leaves open the possibility that most people don’t give a damn about SaraLee. [/QUOTE] My point was simply that the two statements are not equivalent. Yes, “Everbody likes SaraLee” is a more positive statement. However, the whole slogan was “Everybody doesn’t like something, but nobody doesn’t like SaraLee.” Substituting “everybody likes SaraLee” would not scan nearly as well, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814/97 "2008-04-05T22:17:46Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd] CTV news used to use the slogan, “If it matters in your world, it’s news to us.” They belatedly considered what that phrase means in popular use, and retooled it as “If it matters in your world, it’s news for BC.” Which was just run-of-the-mill lame. [/QUOTE] I think one of our local news stations here in Cincinnati stole that and riffed on it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound much better: “If you care about it, it’s news to us.” Truer words were never spoken, though. Most of their reporting is so utterly inane, I couldn’t care less. I guess they’re aware that a significant portion of locals share the same sentiment. My contribution is for Always feminine products: “Have a happy period” Screw you, P&G! There’s nothing about my period that makes me happy other than fact that I’m not pregnant. Well, it’s actually more like mildly relieved…but still annoyed, damn it. Ironically, P&G, you left off the period in your statement. You know, punctuation; it’s incredibly useful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mottos-taglines-that-werent-really-thought-out-fully/443814.md?page=4)