51 lines
2.4 KiB
Text
51 lines
2.4 KiB
Text
---
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title: Mehbark's voice box
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description: The origins and variations of some phrases that I often say to myself and others
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tags: post,short,living
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date: 2026-01-26 02:00:00 -5
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---
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I wanted to describe the origins and variations of some phrases that I often say to myself and others (mostly myself), so I did.
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Try and stop me (actually please don't you'd probably succeed).
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## Thaaaaaat’s politics!
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Bear guy in Snowdin says it [in Undertale](https://hushbugger.github.io/dialogue/#Politics%20Bear).
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Twice, apparently!
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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).
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These are short, funny jokes, but I just repeat the punchline until it's meaningless.
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It's fun to say and it fits when literally anything happens.
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You can even change the “politics” part!
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## A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
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I have no clue where I got this from.
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[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!
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This phrase is a case of it's kinda funny because it's true.
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It has a lot of room for inane variation, for example:
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- “A bird in the hand is worth two bushes.”
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- “What is a bird in the bush worth to you? A bird in the hand?”
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- “Birds!! Hands! Bird in the hand two birds.”
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And it combines well with other phrases.
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## Everybody learns to read, but nobody knows how to read a book
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A complete original.
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It's so stupid (it's not even true!) that you can say it whenever and it won't make any less sense.
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I believe this is a variation of “learn to read a book,” which is a destabilizingly incongruous (non-)insult.
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- “Everybody learns to read, but nobody knows what bird in the hand even is.”
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- “You know how to learn to read, but do you know what a book is?”
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- “Everybody learns to read a book!” (in a particularly silly voice)
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## man, computers are incredible
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Said sincerely over five years ago in a Discord guild I haven't been in for over three years.
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I kept saying it every day.
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For half a decade.
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I made a Discord guild to keep saying it, and it's the only one I still regularly use.
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And I still mean it.
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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;
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it only takes a few taps to write thanks to Gboard.
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