# Popular sayings: UNdoperize them! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 2, 2006, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909 "2006-10-02T01:17:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/1 "2006-10-02T01:17:16Z")
Sure, we’re all perfectly capable of taking popular sayings and turning them into their more erudite, if [unnecessarily verbose companions](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=390371). But how 'bout tackling it from the other end? The rules are simple and much like the sister thread: Dig through all the obfuscation and return the phrase to its original, succinct maxim. Follow it up with your own verbosified phrase for the next poster to untangle. I’ll start with an easy one. **That which is universally abhorable stems from the generalized form of a nation’s barter system.** ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/2 "2006-10-02T01:30:49Z")
Um… “Your mother is a whore.” Did I get it right? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/3 "2006-10-02T01:34:55Z")
“Money is the root of all evil.” **Of the many options available in the capture of _Musca domestica_, a dilution of acetic acid will deliver results that are sub-optimal, especially when compared to the biological product of the _Apis mellifera._** ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/4 "2006-10-02T01:52:23Z")
You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar **Given a collection of objects, those which sparkle with reflected light are not comprised entirely of a substance with atomic weight 196.966543** ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/5 "2006-10-02T02:27:09Z")
All that glitters is not gold. **"The annualized birthrate of persons who are easily induced to part with their money is 3,153,600."** ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/6 "2006-10-02T02:31:38Z")
There’s a sucker born every minute. **Continued surveillance of a thermally excited vessel will prevent any aqueous solution contained therein from attaining phase change.** ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/7 "2006-10-02T02:36:48Z")
A watched pot never boils. **That which travels outward in a circular direction will return inward in a circular direction.** ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/8 "2006-10-02T03:07:37Z")
Upon your return, be sure you possess a baked fruit pastry. Masturbator! ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/9 "2006-10-02T03:45:20Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] **That which travels outward in a circular direction will return inward in a circular direction.** [/QUOTE] What goes around, comes around. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/10 "2006-10-02T03:54:56Z")
**Copulate with the humorless.** ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/11 "2006-10-02T05:13:27Z")
[QUOTE=Civil Guy] **Copulate with the humorless.** [/QUOTE] Fuck’em if they can’t take a joke **There’s a lady in Michigan who has sex for money** I have no idea if that’s a local thing or not, so it might be a bit obscure ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/12 "2006-10-02T12:59:17Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] Fuck’em if they can’t take a joke **There’s a lady in Michigan who has sex for money** I have no idea if that’s a local thing or not, so it might be a bit obscure [/QUOTE] Joey, this _Is_ obscure. So I’m gonna keep the ball rolling until ypu come back and elaborate: Philantrophist, Indigent, Almsmith, Filtcher. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/13 "2006-10-02T13:04:43Z")
[QUOTE=Askia] Philantrophist, Indigent, Almsmith, Filtcher. [/QUOTE] Rich man, poor man, beggar, thief. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/14 "2006-10-02T18:18:51Z")
Absent ShibbOleth’s contribution I’ll add another: **The failure to achieve a specific goal is equivalent to a unit of distance equal to 5,280 feet.** ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/15 "2006-10-02T19:00:20Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] Absent ShibbOleth’s contribution I’ll add another: **The failure to achieve a specific goal is equivalent to a unit of distance equal to 5,280 feet.** [/QUOTE] A miss is as good as a mile. **If your initial attempt doesn’t bring about your desired outcome, make a second attempt and further subsequent attempts.** ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/16 "2006-10-02T19:24:27Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] If your initial attempt doesn’t bring about your desired outcome, make a second attempt and further subsequent attempts. [/QUOTE] If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. **It is generally accepted that situations provoking strong declamations of one’s own anger are to be preferred over the discomfort and humiliation of oneself being micturated upon.** ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/17 "2006-10-02T19:31:50Z")
Better to be pissed off than pissed on. I’ll leave some of the other ones open rather than start a fifth open one. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/18 "2006-10-02T19:41:00Z")
An ocular discharge is of no consequence when the bovine production is distibuted randomly from it’s desired placement ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/19 "2006-10-02T19:59:09Z")
It’s no use crying over spilt milk. Before visiting the Tuscan Archipelago, your humble narrator was simply omnipotent. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909/20 "2006-10-02T20:17:07Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Before visiting the Tuscan Archipelago, your humble narrator was simply omnipotent. [/QUOTE] Able was I ere I saw Elba. **Brainiac4** : You miscalculated — a year consists of a mere [525,600 minutes.](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/rent/seasonsoflove.htm) Still open: Upon your return, be sure you possess a baked fruit pastry. There’s a lady in Michigan who has sex for money [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-sayings-undoperize-them/374909.md?page=2)