# Would you rather: Coin a Phrase OR Have a Famous Sandwich Named After You? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 7, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339 "2012-12-07T19:55:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/1 "2012-12-07T19:55:22Z")
Would you prefer to coin a phrase like “[a fate worse than death](http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/134650.html)” that is commonly used and part of the language for a very long time, but to whom few people know its origin – OR – have a famous and widely-served sandwich named after you like the [Reuben](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_sandwich)? Which, largely anonymous but long-lived, sort of fame would you prefer? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/2 "2012-12-07T20:09:32Z")
Sandwich. Maybe one made using shaved tongue or some other interesting ingredient. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/3 "2012-12-07T20:15:57Z")
Phrase. I love a good phrases and would be proud to come up with one. I love sandwiches too, but they’re not very intellectual. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/4 "2012-12-07T20:23:00Z")
Phrase. In fact, here goes: when somebody does something really noteworthy, amazing, or profoundly stupid, the expression is “wow, _that’ll_ get a sandwich named after you!” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/5 "2012-12-07T20:28:19Z")
Sandwich. I already coined “Mind like a steel sieve” and “It’s not rocket surgery.” ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/6 "2012-12-07T20:39:08Z")
I’ll take the sandwich. If I managed to come up with a turn of phrase so pithy that everyone used it, I’d go absolutely nuts getting [no recognition](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15609609&postcount=60) for my one tiny spark of genius. Especially if they didn’t use it _[quite](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13966098&postcount=23)_ right. And I’m just betting if I tried to tell anyone, they’d be like, “Sure, **Nzinga** , [you](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12667440&postcount=112) came up with “[sneak brag](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Sneak%20brag)” all by yourself.” She [totally](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12464893&postcount=104) [did](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12465554&postcount=114), though. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/7 "2012-12-07T20:43:35Z")
But everybody knows Nzinga made up “sneak brag.” That’s how she got the sandwich named after her. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/8 "2012-12-07T20:46:01Z")
True. I think of her every time I order back bacon and peanut butter on a kaiser roll. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/9 "2012-12-07T20:46:49Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > But everybody knows Nzinga made up “sneak brag.” That’s how she got the sandwich named after her. Is that Spam on challah with a few dabs of caviar hidden inside? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/10 "2012-12-07T20:50:40Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Sandwich. I already coined “Mind like a steel sieve” and “It’s not rocket surgery.” Pretty sure the latter, at least, is a case of multiple discovery. I’ve “coined” quite a few phrases that (much to my disappointment) returned several thousand hits on Google. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/11 "2012-12-07T20:58:13Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I already coined “Mind like a steel sieve” and “It’s not rocket surgery.” Neither of those are remotely original to you, and both are plays on previous phrases, which makes them less than original coinages in any case. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/12 "2012-12-07T20:59:30Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Pretty sure the latter, at least, is a case of multiple discovery. Probably the former as well. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/13 "2012-12-07T21:10:27Z")
Definitely a sandwich. Is there an ‘eat your words’ in there somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/14 "2012-12-07T21:19:12Z")
I _have_ coined phrases, which have at least some local currency. Nothing like “A fate worse than death,” but, for instance, “Relentless Furry Fandom.” (If you know furries, you know: we _are_ relentless!) A few others. Then again, I created a salad once… Is that comparable, here, to a sandwich? But I didn’t name it after myself; I call it “Orinoco Salad.” (It’s very hot.) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/15 "2012-12-07T21:34:19Z")
Guess I’d rather have a sandwich named after me. An awful, chewy, bitter sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/16 "2012-12-07T21:38:30Z")
Definitely a phrase. I don’t care about my name, per se, but about my contribution to humanity. No one knows the name of the first person to use the wheel or control fire, but yet we will all recognize they made significant contributions to humanity. What does someone’s given name tell us other than the culture they were in. All I know about Reuben is that he has a sandwich named for him. Did he do something good, was he just a friend or relative of the inventor, was he the inventor himself? Unless it’s actually named for the inventor, he didn’t even contribute the sandwich. Sure, a phrase doesn’t live up to culling fire, but a good phrase does add something useful or at least fun. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/17 "2012-12-07T21:59:06Z")
Give me the sandwich, easy. The quote will get misattributed too easily within five years. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/18 "2012-12-07T22:21:28Z")
How long till the sandwich gets misattributed? Aren’t there several places claiming to be the original home of the Margarita? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/19 "2012-12-07T22:26:10Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > How long till the sandwich gets misattributed? Aren’t there several places claiming to be the original home of the Margarita? I suppose that falls on the individual’s name. The Smiths of the world are fucked. If you have a last name as unique as Buttafuoco, I think it’ll stick. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339/20 "2012-12-07T22:28:01Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > The quote will get misattributed too easily within five years. Yeah, I’ve coined lots of famous phrases. Then those bastards Lincoln and Churchill stole them from me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-coin-a-phrase-or-have-a-famous-sandwich-named-after-you/643339.md?page=2)