Great one-liners from PF members

[Hornbein]

To "nerd out" is new to me. But, as the US linguistics professor said "one can verb any noun".

In Indonesian suffixes and prefixes can be used to systematically turn any word into an active verb, a passive verb, a noun, an abstract noun, an agent that executes an action, something that has been acted upon, or even several of these at the same time. I lived in Penestanan, which I was told means "the place of practitioners of black magic."

 

[Haborix]

Nothing at all is gained by trying to avoid i.

Although said in the context of someone trying to do quantum mechanics without complex numbers, I also think it might make a great entry in a self-help book (something something lower case i something something taming ego something something)

 

[Vanadium 50]

You were asking about the unpublished work of “amateur physicists”, and their work develops the science of physics about as much as palmistry develops the science of anatomy.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Hey, don't "like" my post. I have my 8000. Go "like" the original by @Nugatory!

 

[strangerep]

Hey, don't "like" my oost.

"Oost"??

From the urban dictionary:

oost
to dry hump someone of the same sex once with great vigor while they are bending over while shouting "OOST!", perhaps while they are picking up something. ideally an oost should knock someone over. oosts can be performed from a standstill or with a run up.

I have my 8000. Go "like" the original by @Nugatory!

Then you'll have to post a link to the original. (I don't read each and every post on PF.)

In fact, maybe posting a link to the original should be a mandatory requirement for new posts in this thread?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Post.
Now fixed.

There is a link to the original post, in the quote. Click the little arrow.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

That quote is two lines. I'm afraid I will have to disqualify your entry.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Change your screen resolution.

 

[sysprog]

That quote is two lines. I'm afraid I will have to disqualify your entry.

Hey, when I started the thread, I said "Sometimes I see a line (or maybe a brief multiline) post . . ." $-$ and in all reasonable deference, I ask how should anyone presume to DQ an entry of GM @Vanadium 50? In my opinion, his quote of @Nugatory's masterful remark was also quite masterful.

 

[sysprog]

In fact, maybe posting a link to the original should be a mandatory requirement for new posts in this thread?

Isn't "In fact, maybe" rather fence-straddling? $-$ and might not such a mandatory requirement be rather stultifying? $-$ I think that whether to include a back-pointer link should continue to be left up to the person who posts the quote . . .

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Hey, when I started the thread, I said "Sometimes I see a line (or maybe a brief multiline) post...

Fake news. Do you have a video?

 

[strangerep]

Isn't "In fact, maybe" rather fence-straddling?

Ah, yes,... thank you. I'd been wondering what was causing that pain between my legs.

 

[strangerep]

Post.
Now fixed.

I prefer the original. Come to think of it, there are plenty of posts here and elsewhere that are sorely inviting of an "oost". [Does anyone know whether an "oost" emoticon exists? And is/was there a corresponding internet meme?]

There is a link to the original post, in the quote. Click the little arrow.

TIL how and when to use the "multiquote" button.

 

[sysprog]

Fake news. Do you have a video?

Here's the url for the first post in this thread: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/great-one-liners-from-pf-members.992032/

 

[fresh_42]

Quantum chemistry: When lonely physicists decided that their psychotic ideas should be my problem.

 

[sysprog]

Hey, don't "like" my post. I have my 8000. Go "like" the original by @Nugatory!

Didn't @Greg Bernhardt recently establish a new award for 12,000? Could you be resting on your laurels prematurely?

 

[sysprog]

This one perhaps should go without saying, but @anorlunda said it so well:

"Just saying that you believe something without giving the foundation won't get you very far on PF."

 

[sysprog]

For you, the problem is that you aren't looking at the math. You're looking at various people's attempts to describe what the math is saying in ordinary language. And there is no way to do that with 100% accuracy because our ordinary language simply doesn't have the words or the concepts required. $-$ @PeterDonis (I added underlining)

 

[Ivan Seeking]

For you, the problem is that you aren't looking at the math. You're looking at various people's attempts to describe what the math is saying in ordinary language. And there is no way to do that with 100% accuracy because our ordinary language simply doesn't have the words or the concepts required. $-$ @PeterDonis (I added underlining)

You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother - Einstein.

This is true. Ever since my dear grandmother passed I don't understand a thing.

 

[PeroK]

"When one shifts frames of reference like that within a single sentence, one ought to display an awareness of having done so." @jbriggs444

Go like the original!

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/motion-in-a-car.1006887/#post-6539597

 

[sysprog]

. . . you can't just say "tachyons" and have a fully consistent theory appear out of nowhere. $-$ @Vanadium 50

 

[Ivan Seeking]

. . . you can't just say "tachyons" and have a fully consistent theory appear out of nowhere. $-$ @Vanadium 50

I don't understand the fuss. I've measured them before with a tachyometer.

 

[sysprog]

I don't understand the fuss. I've measured them before with a tachyometer.

Last time I was at the hardware store, all the velocimeters they had were bradyometers $-$

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Last time I was at the hardware store, all the velocimeters they had were bradyometers $-$

Check Amazon

 

[fresh_42]

As they say "it is difficult to tell where one error ends and the next begins."

 

[Vanadium 50]

I'm sure it's not original. Probably comes from a referee report I got.

 

[fresh_42]

Heck, there's even a version you tell your 6 year old when he asks you at bedtime to explain what a black hole is. And it doesn't start with, "Well, son, for a static, spherically symmetrical spacetime..."

 

[anorlunda]

Everything is better with explosive bolts.

 

[Tom.G]

By Leo Liu in a post on "How does a plasma thruster work":
https://www.physicsforums.com/posts/6553222

"Thank you. I understand everything now but what sets the plasma in motion."

 

[sysprog]

You will learn much less by watching videos of people solving problems than you will solving problems. $-$ @Vanadium 50

 

[PhDeezNutz]

OP:

What I've gathered from reading your post is this: You are enamored of the grand concepts of physics, but you don't have the patience, discipline, and drive to work through the fundamentals. Physics is like many other fields: There's the fun stuff, and there's the not-so-fun stuff (what is fun and what is not-so-fun depends on the individual). But to succeed at the fun stuff, you also need to succeed at the not-so-fun stuff. That applies to geology and astronomy as well as to physics and math. So you should re-examine your attitude.

@CrysPhys

This definitely needs to be said to a lot of new posters. Not to berate them but rather give them an encouraging wake up call.

 

[phinds]

The clocks and particles themselves are blissfully unaware of our choice of reference frame.

 

[sysprog]

There comes a point where physics cannot be explained any further and you need to do the calculations for yourself. $-$ @PeroK

 

[pinball1970]

Timbo (was concerned that high energy particles found by the ANITA detector were a global threat)

'Am I the only one understanding this article?'

Vanadium 50

'I think you're the only one misunderstanding them.'

 

[berkeman]

When a newbie asked in the Feedback forum if they could post questions about homeopathy...

Homeopathic treatment should be payed for with homeopathic cash ... that is, an envelope that used to have money in it but now doesn't.

 

[pinball1970]

When a newbie asked in the Feedback forum if they could post questions about homeopathy...

Brilliant. I think that is in my top 5.

 

[Tom.G]

In a thread aksing if a transformer load current always returns to the transformer.

If you can come up with a good way to persuade people who are simultaneously certain and wrong, I'd love to hear the details.

Wouldn't we all!

 

[berkeman]

Not a 1-liner, but still a classic. From the Academic Advising forum...

(*) everyone wants to study only the essentials and everyone only wants to buy winning lottery tickets (especially management types ). The only way to find out what is core is to study the lot. And the only way to make certain you buy the winning ticket is to buy all tickets...

 

[BvU]

Too much honour ...
Must have been a weak moment ...

$\$

 

[sysprog]

Motors require current to keep them running. Is that not obvious? $-$ @Dale

 

[sysprog]

The book is free on Amazon and is seriously overpriced. $-$ @phinds​

 

[BvU]

This is a fun thread...
How come no one debited the hot air balloon thingy:

A hot air balloon can jettison ballast to gain height, but it's still only a hot air balloon

Ah, I know ! It 's not really a one liner, but a composite !
No more mischief -- merry xmas!

$\$

 

[sysprog]

A post like this one, by a Mentor, happens regularly here on PF (I especially like the succinctness):

​

After a Mentor discussion, the thread will stay closed. Thank you everyone. $-$ @berkeman​

 

[sysprog]

If the question happened to be "Find the solutions of the equation $x^2 - 4x + 3 = 0$, and you wrote $S = \{x | x^2 - 4x + 3 = 0 \}$, I doubt that many teachers would give you credit for this answer. $-$ @Mark44

 

[Mark44]

If the question happened to be "Find the solutions of the equation $x^2 - 4x + 3 = 0$, and you wrote $S = \{x | x^2 - 4x + 3 = 0 \}$, I doubt that many teachers would give you credit for this answer. $-$ @Mark44

Ha ha!

 

[sysprog]

We don't allow ill-formed thread starts here. Thank you. $-$ @berkeman

 

[pinball1970]

@PeroK . Omicron reaches Antarctica!

@BillTre Chilling news!

 

[sysprog]

When the 5V capacitor explodes, scares you, and you try to get away, you don't want to trip and hit your head on the network analyzer cart. $-$ @DaveE

 

[berkeman]

You left off the last part...

Network analyzers are expensive.

 

[jbriggs444]

And ever since the 13th amendment, you can't even buy us. Only rent.