Thursday, December 6, 2012

Five Crazy Things: Platitudes


Barbara: Okay, let’s face it, platitudes can be annoying. But they can also be cute and helpful and quick and easy… and true! Today, what are your five favourite platitudes or sayings (OR, conversely, what are the 5 platitudes you love to hate)? My current faves:
1. Be true to yourself.
2. Bird by bird (courtesy of Anne Lamott, which roughly translates to “one step at a time”).
3. Look around you.
4. Live in the now.
5. It’s better to be kind than right (courtesy of Deb).

Deb:
1. I also love "Bird by Bird" and use it all the time.
2. I don’t know who came up with that one actually. I think it is specifically: “Would you rather be right or kind?”
3. Stop and smell the roses
4. To thine own self be true.
5. Think before you speak. I work on this one, for sure! 

55 comments:

  1. 1. Straighten up and fly right
    2. If you get lemons make lemonade
    3. To thy own self be true
    4. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all
    5. Broads in motion! That means clear the table and start the dishes! LOL

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  2. 1. The early bird catches the worm (my mother used this and I hated it because it was all about getting up and thought I would never use it - did all my life - yikes!
    2. Don't put all your eggs in one basket (old but true)
    3. You are what you eat (silly but cute)
    4. There is no I in team (annoying but true both literally and figuratively)
    5. Don't look at me, I'm hideous. This one came from Seinfeld - a group of us starting using it and it stuck - it always makes us laugh so hey that's good. Think it was Kramer that actually said it.

    Dorothy

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    1. Ohhh I kept think where have I heard "LOOK AWAY, I'M HIDEOUS!"... and felt there was something missing in that sentence. Turns out I forgot to add "Bill" before "look away". Fleur Delacour says that in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part one. She says that to Bill Weasley when she drinks polyjuice potion and turns into Harry.

      Ohh and ofcourse Kramer....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka1PeNNi6dg
      OMG I LOVE HIM!!! Thats a nice one!

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    2. "There is no I in team." I always respond, "true, but there is a M-E." :)

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    3. Oh, gosh, these are making me laugh. Dorothy -- I'd forgotten your last one, so funny that that has become a theme for you guys. Made me laugh And Steph - great comeback! Might have to use that one :)

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    4. In the words of Mark Twain, put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket.

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  3. Ohh....soo many!

    1. Be realistic. (Why would I want to do that???? Thats just SILLY! :D)
    2. Think before you speak. (I always speak and then....THINK "Um...I shouldve have said that")
    3. Live in the now (TOTALLY BELIEVE THAT!)
    4. BIRD BY BIRD!! (Love that one...sooo true!)
    5. Ohhh and I absolutely ADORE AND BELIEVE this one. What you give out, you get back (Soo profound I think!)

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    1. Ooh, yes. #5 I would've put on my list had I remembered it!

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    2. :D You didnt have to put it... I knew it was there! lol to quote "what the bleep do we know".... WE SEE IT IF WE BELIEVE IT! ;)

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  4. I adopted all my mums little sayings, which has made for some awkward moments. My mum learnt a lot of them growing up in Jamaica, so with me growing up in Australia I would get a lot of blank/confused looks when I repeated them. I never remember what little sayings in my head come from what country and who will understand them!
    1. one one coco fill the basket
    2. walk good
    3. rock stone upon river bottom never get sun hot
    4. sometimes it's better to travel hopefully than to arrive
    5. don't put your mouth on it (this used to give me the strangest stares, but its not as dirty as it sounds! it means dont say something out aloud you dont want to happen)

    Loved the last few posts btw, I'm going to start writing down all my worries instead of just having them swirl around in my head constantly!

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    1. Thank you thank you thank you for adding these gems here, Samara! Never heard these and they are divine!

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  5. 1."To thine own self be true." That's Shakespeare!
    2.Stop to smell the roses. Courtesy of my grandmother.
    3."to say truth, love and reason keep little company together nowadays." More Shakespeare.
    4.With God, anything is possible.
    5.Live, Laugh, and Love.

    Okay, here's one that annoys me: "Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to get." GRR!! I always think, "just look at the chart on the box of chocolates."

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    1. You are making me howl today, Steph! (and that ol' Will S is a good source for the snap-phrases, isn't he?)

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    2. Glad to make you laugh! I gave myself the giggles too! And I agree, that Bill Shakespeare may be on to something...
      He did give us in a pickle, in stitches, a sorry sight, and as dead as a doornail. . .

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  6. 1. a variation on yours: "would you rather be right or would you rather be happy?"

    2. "To thine own self be true" - OH YES!! ("It must follow that you cannot then be false to any man.")

    3. and in the same Shakespearian vein: "To be or not to be" (this can definitely get annoying but I still love using it)

    4. "get out of your head" usually followed by: "listen to your heart"

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    1. I do like that tweak on your #1, because in Deb's version it's a bit more outward, but in yours, it's more inward. Both are important to remember, right?

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    2. "To be or not to be" is a fav of Shakespeare, although I tend not to use it since I know that, in context, it refers to suicide. . . Shakespeare had a way with words that still amazes us today.

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    3. Right!

      And I think they complement each other beautifully :-)

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    4. I know Steph, it was a bit of a shock finding out that little detail!

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  7. 1. Treat others the way you would like to be treated.
    2. Keep moving forward (from Meet the Robinsons!)
    3. With God, all things are possible. ~Matthew 19:26

    The next two are from Lord of the Rings...both so applicable in real life:

    4. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
    5. A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to (maybe THAT'S why I'm 15-20 minutes early to everything...lol!)

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    1. Okay, number 5 is genius! Well, they all are, but #5 is really speaking to me :)

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  8. 1) There's only one you.
    2) It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye (granted, I only use this humorously)
    3) Don't sweat the small stuff (and it's all small stuff)
    4) There's a nice way to say that.
    5) Pants are evil! Down with Pants! (you know I gotta be me, right?)

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    1. A variation on your second one: it's all shits and giggles until someone giggles and shits.

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    2. Hart, #5!! And Hannah, great add-on to #2!

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  9. Ohhh..Holly inspired me.. I would love to add these from Harry Potter.

    1. Happiness can be found even in the DARKEST of times, one only one remembers to turn on the light!

    2. It is obviously happening in your head, that doesnt mean its not real.

    And these are just the ones I love!

    4. LOVE, Thats who you really are. (just made this one up)

    5. The power is in the NOW. (I THINK Eckhart Tolle said this.)

    These are from Dr.Who (OBVIOUSLY!)

    3. Grow up?? Ugh. You never wanna do that!

    4. (MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE...Its silly and cute!)

    There is an old earth saying. A phrase of great power and wisdom, and consolation to the soul in times of need... Allons-y!!!!!!!!!

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  10. 1. I am, I am, I am. (Courtesy of Sylvia Plath)
    2. Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt. (courtesy of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.)
    3. So it goes. (courtesy of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.)
    4. Every day is good; some days are just better than others. (Courtesy of my grandpa.)
    5. It is what it is.

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    1. Ooh, I love me some lovely literary goodies. Grandpa's is not bad, either :)

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  11. I should note that, under most circumstances, I HATE platitudes. They seem a bit condescending to me.

    1. "This, too, shall pass."
    2. "There are people a lot worse off than you."
    3. "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." NOW.
    4. "The past is the past/Get over it/ etc." Yeah, great idea. If only that worked.
    5. "It was meant to be." B.S.

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    1. OHHHHHHHHH I love "this to shall pass". How did I forget that?

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    2. Yup, knew you'd be able to chime in with good ones to hate. I thought for sure you might offer: "It's gonna be okay" :)

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    3. #3! I can't believe I forgot that one! Love it, live by it!

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    4. Barb, these are the ones that pounded into my brain first. Sometimes these "5 things" just explode into my head more quickly than at other times. :)

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  12. Treat others as you want to be treated.
    Time flies when you are having fun.
    Don't cry over spilled milk.
    Live and let live.

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  13. Some of my mother's zing's when she was "done" with the six of us.

    1. "Stop that right now or I will knock you into next week!"
    2. "That wallpaper has your name on it"
    3. "No one promised you a bowl of cherries"
    4. "Rich is who you are, what you do, not what you make- and right now get out and finish your chores for free"
    5. "Some may say they have your back -it is a test of a true friend who actually scratches it." What???
    6. "Excuse me! Do I look like Hoover and I don't mean the President."
    7. "When was the last time I applied to be your maid! The last one quit with good reason"
    The list does go on.
    My Mom, only child, born a strict Irish/ French Catholic, raised by Nuns in private schools..bucked the system by marrying a Protestant, had six kids and was loving, gentle yet a powerful force. So beautiful, old movie star grace and beauty yet was such a scream when she got worked up over the antics of all of us. God Bless her. Some of the selected lines may seem negative but while she was venting she would break out in a cheeky smile, or start laughing, or give a kiss to the forehead/cheek. Her line was, "Was that as good for you as it was for me? " If the response was no.."give it 20 years you will love it." She was right! Wow.must be the season...Miss her and her beloved "sayings."

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    1. Oh my god, Patty!!! How do I love these?! And your explanation just warmed the old cockles. Thank you.

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  14. 1. This too shall pass
    2. For the love of Jesus, STOP PROCRASTINATING!!!!
    3. God is love. And happiness. And joy. And a lot of other things.
    4. Act instead of just speak.
    5. And of course last but not least: somewhere, some guy is having a heart attack. We're not as bad off as we say we are

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    1. By the way I made most of these up from my own experiences

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    2. You are a wise scribe, Kelly, a wise wise scribe.

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  15. The first two are lines my mom used in the past

    1. Stop making that face or it will stay that way
    2. When I ask you a question keep your mouth shut
    3. Do you think I talk to hear myself speak
    4. Because I said so that's why
    5. My only personal one that I love ( If you see someone without a smile give them yours

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    1. Your personal one: my fave. And I just love how many Mom-quotes made it on here so far.

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  16. Ok I have been daydreaming about this all day. (well in between finals) I have never heard the word Platitdues before. I imagine a platapus with an attitude :) But from what everyone else has written I think I have come up with a few of these that I use.
    1. I would have gotten more information had I been talking to a brick wall.
    2. You weren't born in a barn so don't act like it.
    3. If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.
    4. It may be your bedroom but it's MY house so go clean your room.
    Those are all things my Mom says to us around the house. I still didn't look up the actuall meaning of Platitudes so I hope these fit the right criteria :)

    and for number five. This is what my Gram says when most others would say one minute. As in Wait and I will be with you in a minute. Gram usually just says 'In two shakes of a lamb's tail' .....I have no idea where this came from but it makes us grandkids wave our 'tail ends' at my Gram twice LOL :)

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    1. "I imagine a platapus with an attitude"- Love it!
      And I've heard the "two shakes of a lamb's tail" pretty often too.
      Hope finals are going well for you. Mine are next week! :(

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    2. Had a rough one today but when isn't math hard? :) Good Luck with yours!

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    3. I've heard the "two shakes of a lamb's tail," but can't remember where. Maybe in a book...

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    4. 1) Holly, holly (translates as Slowly, slowly).

      2) "Be the change that you want to see in the world"(Gandhi).

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    5. Be the change, yes, oh yes, Leah! And Kelly, you did very well. Especially love the grandkids' reaction to the lamb's tail, awwww.

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  17. 1. They say it's always darkest just before the dawn, but as long as you see shadows, you know there's light somewhere.
    2. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.
    3. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words leave deep psychological wounds that never heal!
    4. The world isn't always black or white, but it isn't always colourful either.
    5. If all your friends jumped off a bridge, go ahead and follow them because there's a pile of bodies for you to land on.

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  18. I've got these two for myself:

    1. You can be anything you want
    2. You can do it

    I've used this one with the friend that is depressed and with my sister in law when their new home burned:
    3. It's darkest before the dawn
    4. Bends, but doesn't break
    5. There is always a way up
    6. We are given only as much as we can handle (some how this seemed to help them both, to have someone say that they actually are stronger than they feel at the moment)

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    1. I find that when loved one goes through a hard time, that's when we often reach for platitudes -- we want to so badly to help, and to your point, they often do!

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  19. Souzan Rezai from Vancouver, BCDecember 13, 2012 at 2:16 PM

    from my fourteen-year-old days, and chicken soup for the teenage soul:
    'If it wasn't supposed to hurt, they wouldn't call it a crush'

    from my dad:
    'This beard didn't get white from working in a flour mill'
    (this is a translated Persian saying which means that people don't just get older by getting old, they get older by going through experiences and gaining knowledge. He says this often when he is right about things. He is almost always right about things...)

    from my mom and grandmom:
    'Eyes get scared, hands just work'
    (again, translated from Farsi, so the real one actually rhymes and sounds awesome, but it refers to when a task seems soooo big it's overwhelming. Like cleaning a big mess; your eyes will freak out at the sight, but if you just tackle it slowly, but surely, your hands will get the job done

    from Ms. Stacey (and Lucy Maude Montgomery)
    'Tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it'

    from that knick knack that's in all knick knack stores:
    'Life is too short to drink bad wine'
    I love this because it reflects more poetically something I am really owning in my life finally, that all of it counts. I used to always feel like once i finished this cetain step, THEN life would really start! Finish school, or get a job, or quite that job, or finish more school! Meet a man, lose that weight...
    but it all counts. I'm unemployed right now, but it counts, too, so I'm drinking only the very best that ten dollars can buy...

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