# This is that and that is this.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 22, 2009, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952 "2009-04-22T07:11:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/1 "2009-04-22T07:11:34Z")
So, I’m sure you’ve heard a bunch of sayings like such… Not sure what you’d call them… These are just a couple off the top of my head: “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” “It’s better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it” Any more? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/2 "2009-04-22T07:28:41Z")
“It’s not the men in my life, it’s the life in my men.” That sort of thing? The general term for this is **chiasmus**. Wikipedia defines that as “…the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted parallelism.” For more examples, start [here](http://www.drmardy.com/chiasmus/types.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/3 "2009-04-22T07:37:05Z")
There’s the country song classic: “I’d rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy…” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/4 "2009-04-22T12:58:26Z")
I’ll tell you what you missed when the ocean met the sky. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/5 "2009-04-22T13:15:57Z")
Always being right is important. Being important is not always being right. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/6 "2009-04-22T14:01:56Z")
To learn my teachings, I must first teach you how to learn. He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions. When you can balance a tack hammer on your head, you will head off your foes with a balanced attack. But until you learn to master your rage… Maybe someone should make a superhero character who prattles on like this.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/7 "2009-04-22T14:06:46Z")
**cmyk** , I’ve never heard that “frontal lobotomy” country song - I think Dorothy Parker coined that phrase. Bonus points, **ftg** , for the _Mystery Men_ reference. Love that movie. JFK said in his Inaugural Address, and was later quoted by Obama, for the proposition that “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.” I like that. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/8 "2009-04-23T05:31:43Z")
An old saying among pilots, “I’d rather be down here wishing I was up there, than up there wishing I was down here.” ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/9 "2009-04-23T19:11:07Z")
[QUOTE=Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers] Drugs will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no drugs. [/QUOTE] … ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/10 "2009-04-23T19:23:40Z")
People who fail to plan plan to fail. ---
**Author:** ![vertizontal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ad7895/32.png) [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/11 "2009-04-23T19:40:31Z")
It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/12 "2009-04-23T19:46:19Z")
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” - Keats, _Ode on a Grecian Urn_ “Nice to see you, to see you nice,” - Forsyth, _The Generation Game_ ---
**Author:** ![happiness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@happiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happiness)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/13 "2009-04-23T20:59:59Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I’ll tell you what you missed when the ocean met the sky. I’m glad I’m not the only one who immediately thought of this! ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/14 "2009-04-23T21:11:52Z")
The things you own, end up owning you. -Tyler Durden. I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave. (yes, not really what the OP was asking, I just like the quote) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/15 "2009-04-23T22:35:22Z")
There are old pilots, and bold pilots, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time. ---
**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/16 "2009-04-24T01:57:30Z")
Good from far but far from good. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/17 "2009-04-24T02:02:41Z")
A very stupid platitude: It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/18 "2009-04-24T02:03:22Z")
This one sticks out because it’s annoying; Working hard or hardly working? ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/19 "2009-04-24T02:44:41Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > This one sticks out because it’s annoying; > > Working hard or hardly working? A better twist on it, from [Office Space](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_Space): \*Bob Porter: Looks like you’ve been missing a lot of work lately. Peter Gibbons: Well, I wouldn’t exactly say I’ve been missing it, Bob. \* ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952/20 "2009-04-24T04:40:02Z")
> [@vertizontal](#): > > It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice. I got this saying on a magnet out of a gumball machine when I was about 7. Still have it. As a matter of fact, it took a bit of therapy to help me get over that little saying. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-that-and-that-is-this/493952.md?page=2)