# Other ways to say...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-ways-to-say/454250>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 25, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-ways-to-say/454250 "2008-06-25T23:52:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mr\_Buttons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Mr\_Buttons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Buttons)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-ways-to-say/454250/1 "2008-06-25T23:52:54Z")

</div>

\*\*“We can put a man on the moon but we can’t…” \*\* (fill in the blanks)

It seems outdated since we haven’t put anyone on the moon in quite a while. What are some newer, fresher ways to address this? I’ve come up with a couple:

We can spell IBM w/ individual atoms, but we can’t…  
We can support a permanent base in space, but we can’t…  
We can collide atoms to almost mimic the conditions inside the sun, but we can’t  
(Ok, that’s probably way to nerdy to catch on) 😛

I’d like to hear some dopers take on modernizing this tired old phrase.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-ways-to-say/454250/2 "2008-06-26T00:33:07Z")

</div>

We can elect a black president, but we can’t…

(Well, maybe sometime soon)