---
title: Mehbark's voice box
description: The origins and variations of some phrases that I often say to myself and others
tags: post,short,living
date: 2026-01-26 02:00:00 -5
---

I wanted to describe the origins and variations of some phrases that I often say to myself and others (mostly myself), so I did.
Try and stop me (actually please don't you'd probably succeed).

## Thaaaaaat’s politics!
Bear guy in Snowdin says it [in Undertale](https://hushbugger.github.io/dialogue/#Politics%20Bear).
Twice, apparently!
He then returns in Deltarune to [say it again](https://hushbugger.github.io/deltarune/text/#en:1:obj_npc_room_slash_Other_10_gml_1097_0).

These are short, funny jokes, but I just repeat the punchline until it's meaningless.
It's fun to say and it fits when literally anything happens.
You can even change the “politics” part!

## A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
I have no clue where I got this from.
[It's in the 1893 classic _A Hand-book of Proverbs_](https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Hand_book_of_Proverbs/eEBHAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA72&dq=hand), but believe it or not, I haven't read this before!

This phrase is a case of it's kinda funny because it's true.
It has a lot of room for inane variation, for example:
- “A bird in the hand is worth two bushes.”
- “What is a bird in the bush worth to you? A bird in the hand?”
- “Birds!! Hands! Bird in the hand two birds.”

And it combines well with other phrases.

## Everybody learns to read, but nobody knows how to read a book
A complete original.
It's so stupid (it's not even true!) that you can say it whenever and it won't make any less sense.
I believe this is a variation of “learn to read a book,” which is a destabilizingly incongruous (non-)insult.

- “Everybody learns to read, but nobody knows what bird in the hand even is.”
- “You know how to learn to read, but do you know what a book is?”
- “Everybody learns to read a book!” (in a particularly silly voice)

## man, computers are incredible
Said sincerely over five years ago in a Discord guild I haven't been in for over three years.
I kept saying it every day.
For half a decade.
I made a Discord guild to keep saying it, and it's the only one I still regularly use.

And I still mean it.

If you were wondering, I write it in the Discord app on my phone before I go to sleep and send the message when I wake up;
it only takes a few taps to write thanks to Gboard.

## Learning is important
Original. True, but sounds silly.
You can say it when you learn or figure something out, especially when it's something small.

Variations:
- “Learning is so important.”
- “It's so important to learn what a book is.”
