Triads

mollusque Thanks, Deborah. I put them on Triads 2, since the sound is what's important with that cheer. Jul 23, 2010

Deborah Frenkel this is so useful, thanks!

i've got one to add:

AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE, OI OI OI

Jul 21, 2010

ruzuzu Hm. I suppose I'd like Music! Music! Music!, assuming the punctuation will jive well with Wordnik. But I'd be happy with whatever could convey the song by Teresa Brewer. Jan 13, 2010

mollusque Thanks all, for the various suggestions. I put one trick pony on Triads 3 and KitKatClub on Triads 2. Nanny, nanny, boo-boo sounds more like a quartet than a triad.

Ruzuzu, do you mean Music! Music! Music! by Weiss & Baum or Music Music Music by Brewerman? Jan 13, 2010

hernesheir one-trick pony Jan 12, 2010

hernesheir Note the Kit-Cat Club in London, and Kit Kat Club in Berlin Jan 12, 2010

ruzuzu And music, music, music. Jan 12, 2010

dontcry Love this list! How about nanny, nanny, boo-boo? Jan 12, 2010

bilby That's why it's on the list, inkish. Jan 12, 2010

inkish Three most important things are: location, location, and location Jan 12, 2010

mollusque Thanks, bilby! Hadn't heard of it, but it seems popular enough. Sep 4, 2009

bilby hatch, match and dispatch Sep 3, 2009

mollusque No, the dyadic nature of Calvin and Hobbes is too strong. They're on the Couples & Duos list. Aug 16, 2009

sosheshall Calvin & Hobbes + Suzie? Aug 16, 2009

mollusque And then two in ten minutes! (Affixes, prefixes, suffixes inspired by SoSheShall). Aug 16, 2009

mollusque Thanks, xundra! It's been a long time since a new triad surfaced. Aug 16, 2009

xundra Hm, "Me, Myself, and Irene"? Aug 16, 2009

bilby How about a triple bill? Mar 24, 2009

optionparalysis Practice, practice, practice! Oct 8, 2008

dontcry Good one Asativum! Actually, its the announcement that the game of tag is over and you can come to home base free from fear of being tagged. May 27, 2008

mollusque Thanks, dontcry! I added "you complete me" to Triads 3. Not sure about "Ollie ollie, in-come-free". The commonest form is "Olly, Olly oxen free", which isn't triadic. May 27, 2008

asativum don'tcry, is that some kind of Reagan-era tax protest chant? May 27, 2008

dontcry Ollie ollie, in-come-free.

You complete me. May 27, 2008

bilby Ah, I must have forgotten to click 'view all' before I searched. Raincheck on the catering arrangements :-) May 27, 2008

mollusque Thanks, rolig!

The meals are already listed bilby, but I'll take up your offer next time I'm in Oz. :-) May 27, 2008

rolig And then there's:

"I feel pretty, oh so pretty,
I feel pretty and witty and gay!" May 27, 2008

rolig The original name of Yugoslavia was triadic: The Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. And back in the nineties, the news was dominated by Bosnia's Serbs, Croats, and Muslims. May 27, 2008

bilby How about I treat you to breakfast, lunch and dinner? May 27, 2008

mollusque Thanks, bilby! I'm still on the alert for them, but only finding one or two a month now. May 26, 2008

bilby Still a fantastic list, molly. I'm glad I came back to admire it again. May 26, 2008

reesetee Ah. The families that Wordie together.... :-) Feb 18, 2008

mollusque Hi bpm, red, white and blue is already on the list. And assuming you mean Dad in the literal sense, I'm also a Wordie dad. My daughter has a Wordie account. Feb 17, 2008

bagpussmonkey oops, oops, oops! I thought this list was gangerh's! Feb 16, 2008

bagpussmonkey Hi Dad

'See I thought of a few
How about(Red White and Blue)?
I think you ought to know
About (Row, Row, Row)

Zx Feb 16, 2008

gangerh cleanse, tone, moisturise? Feb 11, 2008

sionnach mollusque: There is the Spanish version of 'Tom, Dick, and Harry' --- fulano, mengano y zutano. I believe that in some Latin American countries, substitutions are possible for 'zutano' (e.g. 'perengano'). But fulano, mengano y zutano is the most common expression used. Jan 30, 2008

mollusque Thanks, Treeseed! I was sure I'd listed the magi, but at least I got their gifts. Jan 30, 2008

mollusque Thanks, Gangerh, quite a harvest! I took up, down, turn around, England, Scotland and Wales, ning, nang, nong and jibber, jabber, joo (the latter two for Triads 2).

I passed on Jabber, jabber, jabber which isn't as common as blah blah bah and yada, yada, yada; likewise for bread, butter, jam and tea, milk, sugar versus bread and butter and coffee, tea or milk. Jan 30, 2008

treeseed The three Wisemen of The Nativity story
Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar Jan 30, 2008

treeseed Wham, Bam, Thank you, Ma'am Jan 30, 2008

treeseed Maiden, Mother, Crone
Aspects of the Triple Goddess in Wicca Jan 30, 2008

mollusque Thanks, Misterpolly! I have on your mark, get set, go, but not ready, steady, go, which I'd assumed was the same thing, but apparently isn't. Is ready, steady, go mainly British? It get almost a million Google hits, more than ready, set, go, which is more familiar in the US. Jan 30, 2008

gangerh bread,butter,jam Jan 30, 2008

gangerh tea, milk,sugar? Jan 30, 2008

gangerh 'ning nang nong'

Delightfully silly Spike Milligan poem.

On the Ning Nang Nong
Where the cows go bong
..........................
...................
..................
And the teapots jibber jabber joo.......

Oh! Could that be one 'jibber jabber, joo'?

And as my Dad used to say when someone just kept on talking

'jabber,jabber,jabber' Jan 29, 2008

gangerh 'england,scotland,wales'

Yes, I know there's Northern Ireland but it is separate from Great Britain which is comprised of these three. If you add NI you get The UK of GB and NI. If you add Eire, Isle of Man etc you get the British Isles. Jan 29, 2008

gangerh woo, woo, www
(bum titty, bum titty,bum bum bum)

could use a better, more rounded w.
Jan 29, 2008

gangerh up, down, turnaround
(pick a bale of cotton) Jan 29, 2008

misterpolly Have you got "Tom, Dick and Harry"?
In Italy they are "Tizio,Caio and Sempronio".
"Ready, steady, go!"
"The good, the bad and the ugly." Jan 29, 2008

misterpolly Splendid list! I fell for it hook, line and sinker. Dec 28, 2007

bilby As an ex Porta Sole boy I'll have to speak up for Inferno, Purgatory & Paradise. Dec 28, 2007

mollusque Then Triads 2 is the list for you. Dec 28, 2007

bilby Unfortunately I'm very partial to doggerel such as hickory dickory dock. Dec 27, 2007

mollusque Sorry, sionnach! Somehow I overlooked your contribution until now. Dec 21, 2007

sionnach hands, knees, and bumps-a-daisy? Dec 8, 2007

mollusque Thanks, John. A nice juxtaposition with bilby's "reduce, reuse, recycle", which I just caught up with. Dec 1, 2007

john How about David Letterman's old saw, "Volume, Volume, Volume!" Dec 1, 2007

bilby Dang, for some reason my in-page search thing won't/can't see liberté etc.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. I think the first term refers to the theory of the use of clichés in journalism, the last two to the reality.
Nov 27, 2007

mollusque Thanks, John! Vera, Chuck and Dave are in. See wynken, blynken and nod for winkin et al. "Always be closing" doesn't fit the list, but I keep finding such ("fire when ready", "make my day"). Maybe I'll have to "bite the bullet" and start Triads 3. Nov 26, 2007

john vera, chuck, and dave? Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod? Always Be Closing?

Ok, maybe that last one's a stretch. Nov 26, 2007

bilby I thought that there were only 3 Teletubbies but turns out there are 4! Serves me right for accumulating girlfriends with weird names and extendable tummies. Nov 25, 2007

mollusque That's part of the same Jackson 5 song. But, I'll take it--the phrase is older than the song. Nov 25, 2007

uselessness I was thinking of "easy as one, two, three," maybe... Nov 25, 2007

mollusque I've wrestled with "one, two, three", uselessness. The problem is that there's no inherent reason to stop at three. I got around that by listing do, re, mi, abc, 123, from the Jackson 5 song, and "first, second, third", which don't end in "-th" like most other ordinal numbers.

I know, I'm way overthinking it. Anyone have a good excuse to list "one, two, three"? Nov 25, 2007

uselessness Okay, I'm going to be really lame, but shouldn't one, two, three be on this list? Nov 25, 2007

mollusque Thanks c_b! Triads now spring out of the woodwork at me. "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow" came from the comic-strip Pickles on Thursday. It was the perfect transition from "gobble, gobble, gobble" to the holiday season. Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer had the headline, "They came, they saw, they shopped", about Black Friday. That didn't make the list, but still fun. Nov 25, 2007

chained_bear Thanks for noticing, mollusque, that yanking my chain is indeed an abomination. :)

I still love this list. And I love how fast and marvellously it's been growing! Nov 25, 2007

mollusque Hi Bilby, "virtue, liberty and independence" is the state motto of Pennsylvania; "liberté, egalité and fraternité" is on the second (older) page of the list. Nov 25, 2007

bilby I notice you have virtue, liberty and independence but liberte, egalite, fraternite is not quite the same (anyone whose school French is as bad as mine, please throw your three-cornered hat into the air now) and is certainly of some historical import.
Nov 25, 2007

bilby Oops, not the tinned spaghetti kind. We don't have bears in Australia so the first time I saw one was in an enclosure of honey bears in a zoo in Sumatra. The sign "kasihanlah beruang ini" (be kind to the bears) was badly translated as "take pity on the bears". Then again I could well take pity on bears chained around the neck to iron stakes with brats chucking peanuts at them. Does that count as baiting? It wasn't me.
Nov 25, 2007

mollusque Thanks for the bears, Bilby. Stooges, I'm not sure. What about Shemp? I didn't take Crosby, Stills and Nash because of Young. But then, when you think of the Stooges, you picture the classic three. I guess I'll lighten up and put both trios in.

By the way, do you know that bear-baiting is illegal and yanking her chain is an abomination? Or were you just rattling her cage? Nov 25, 2007

mollusque Which one? Barbarella? :-) Nov 25, 2007

chained_bear Fairy tale? I don't need no stinkin' fairy tale. I am one. Nov 25, 2007

bilby Think you're right about wee Dorothy!

Curly, Larry and Mo - a.k.a. the Three Stooges

Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear. Sorry chained_bear, you'll have to lobby Goldilocks herself or find your own fairy tale. Nov 24, 2007

mollusque 'twas Dorothy, methinks. Nov 24, 2007

bilby Christopher Robin chanted on his walks:
"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"

Seen this snowcloned recently as Pollination, Pollution, and Pandas, Oh My!
Nov 24, 2007

mollusque Bilby, thanks for Dirty Harry and MASH. There doesn't seem to be a standard order to the names of the Three Furies, so I went with the names of the Three Fates instead. You'll see that a few others came up today too. Nov 23, 2007

bilby Last episode of MASH was titled "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen."
Nov 23, 2007

bilby I keep thinking of the 3 furies. Names depend on whether you want to go Greek or Roman. Nov 23, 2007

bilby I like that line from Dirty Harry I think where the punk says, "Who's gonna stop me?"
And steely Clint says, "Smith, Wesson, and me."
Nov 22, 2007

mollusque Triadomania continues! Bilby, regarding people with three part names: go for it. I don't think I'm going to collect them. I'll donate Jumping Jack Flash.

Crosby, Stills, and Nash. I think they disqualified themselves when they added Young. If I ever make a list of quads, I'll put them there. Nov 22, 2007

uselessness Phillips, Craig, and Dean? Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie? Nov 21, 2007

papageno Crosby, Stills, and Nash? Nov 21, 2007

bilby 'Nuther thought. Isn't the olympic motto something like Citius, Altius, Fortius? Nov 21, 2007

bilby How about people with famous 3 word names? I'm thinking of Whispering Barry White, Blind Lemon Jefferson, etc. Or even the 3-brain-celled George Dubya Bush. Nov 21, 2007

sonofgroucho Fabulous list. Nov 21, 2007

mollusque Pushing on toward 150! Who'd've thunk? Might we reach 200? Several of tonight's contributions were already on the list, lurking on the second page, so check there if doesn’t look like I took your suggestion.

I never heard of "slip, slop, slap", but it gets 50,000 g-hits, so it's in. "Bish Bosh Bash" has a different definition on Urban Dictionary, but that's not a strike against it. "Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania" swept the Baltic permutations, as did Celine Dion with "coulda, woulda, shoulda".

"Click. Go. Earn." does not get many hits. Maybe there's another version? "Hey nonny no" doesn't quite fit. It would have be "Ney nonny no". "Rub-a-dub-dub": Really close. What do people think? And for that matter, what about "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo". Does "thou" disqualify it? Nov 21, 2007

seanahan How about latvia, lithuania, estonia and hammer, anvil, stirrup? Nov 21, 2007

trivet
The past and the present and the future.
Faith and Hope and Charity,
The heart and the brain and the body
Give you three as a magic number.
(Blind Melon, Schoolhouse Rock)

Also -
Coulda, shoulda, woulda / Hammer, anvil, stirrup?
ps - this list is todally alsome!
pps - three men in a tub: butcher, baker, candlestick-maker
Nov 21, 2007

yarb Bish bosh bash is a common alternative (at least in the UK) to bippety boppity boo. Meaning, there you go, job done, and then you do this... Nov 21, 2007

bilby Sex, drugs, rock'n'roll.

Thanks to K.Richards. Nov 21, 2007

bilby I notice many websites have this triad thing imprinted on their designer brains these days. "Click. Go. Earn." And so on.

3 is magic. Hash, mushrooms and single malt at each corner of the triangle.
Nov 21, 2007

bilby How many men in the tub uselessness? Nov 21, 2007

uselessness Okay, I keep coming back with more... but does rub-a-dub-dub count? Nov 21, 2007

bilby There's this skin cancer awareness program in Australia that has lots of ads that go: Slip, Slop, Slap.
Slip on a shirt.
Slop on a sunscreen.
Slap on a hat.
Very lame, I know. Funny thing is the government paid zillions for this marketing brilliance.
Nov 21, 2007

asativum Hey nonny no? More of a phrase than a list. Nov 21, 2007

uselessness There's also Zip, Zap, Zop, a silly game to play when you're bored with a group of people. Nov 21, 2007

bilby Stock, lock and barrel. Nov 21, 2007

bilby Sex, lies, and YouTube.

Oops. Nov 21, 2007

bilby veni, vidi, vici. Nov 21, 2007

uselessness Does cha cha cha count? Nov 21, 2007

mollusque Thanks again for all the contributions! I'd never heard of "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash". I must run with the wrong crowd. Regarding the three monkeys, there is some disagreement as to their proper order, but I went with "see no" rather than "hear no" first. Keep 'em coming (triads, not monkeys)! Nov 20, 2007

uselessness How about bippety, boppity, boo? Nov 20, 2007

john No shirt, no shoes, no service. Nov 19, 2007

mollusque Thanks, reesetee! I thought I was scraping the bottom of the barrel when I got to 60. But contributions from Wordies, my wife and my daughter spurred me to Google deeper. And I've thought of five more since I logged off last night. Nov 19, 2007

reesetee I'm amazed at how long this list has grown. You don't think about how many of these phrases we use until they're all in a neat little list. Thanks, mollusque. :-) Nov 19, 2007

chained_bear Dude! I'm mad at myself that I didn't even think to suggest that one! Nov 19, 2007

john How about "Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash"? Nov 19, 2007

oroboros Tic,tac,toe. Nov 18, 2007

chained_bear Skipvia, you're right. :)

Jennarenn, when it's fake, it looks like they learned it five minutes ago and are trying to remember how to do it. (But then it probably doesn't look fake to most other people.) It's harder to perfect the faraway, distracted look of a Catholic who's trying to get into the groove of praying by doing the gesture, than it is to just do the gesture in the right order. (Of course if you don't do it in the right order, that's a dead giveaway too.)

Oroboros, I have a list that includes that term, but I can't take credit for creating it as it came from a dictionary. Nov 18, 2007

jennarenn Wait a minute c_b, how can you tell? Nov 18, 2007

oroboros EVERYBODY needs to know this! Congrats c_b on ellipsoid glandular bodies! Has anybody done a list on same? Hmmmmm... Nov 18, 2007

skipvia Aside from being in a theater class, I can't think of too many other reasons that a non-Christian/Catholic would need to know this. :) Nov 18, 2007

chained_bear No, sionnach, it's not literal. This usage, at least in the instances I've heard it, is for people who aren't Christian/Catholic to help them remember which of the four "directions" they tap and in which order. You don't actually tap your ellipsoid glandular bodies, but rather move your hand in that direction and tap somewhere around your tum-tum.

Come to think of it, it was in theater class, I believe, where certain individuals had to learn how to make the sign as convincingly as one who was raised in the Church, and could never get it right. Whatever the usage of the phrase, some actors never do quite get the hang of doing the gesture in a convincing way. I can tell, when watching films for example, if someone was taught how to do it or grew up doing it.

Wow, I'm sorry to hijack the thread. Nov 18, 2007

john Maybe if you're extra religious you make an extra-big cross, and give the family jewels a tap.

Oh, and how about "stop, drop, and roll?" Nov 18, 2007

sionnach I would just like to make the following, slightly puzzled, observation:

In making the sign of the cross, when is it necessary to touch a body part below the waist?

Last time I checked, my testicles were below my waist.

Have I been doing something wrong? Please advise. Nov 18, 2007

oroboros Hither,thither and yon? Nov 17, 2007

oroboros Nor do they carry a watch in a fob pocket! My context is military, specifically USAF. Nov 17, 2007

chained_bear oroboros, I always heard it in a slightly different order, and not about leaving someplace but about making a proper "sign of the cross": "spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch." Of course, no one really carries their wallet in their front left breast pocket anymore (do they?) so that doesn't really help anyone remember. Nov 17, 2007

oroboros I've always used shit, shower, shave and shinola. (Companion to preparation for leaving litany: spectacles, testicles, watch 'n wallet). Nov 17, 2007

mollusque Wow! What a hendiatristic outpouring! Keep those triads coming! In a couple of cases with alternative versions, I've used the one with the most Google hits. Nov 17, 2007

chained_bear Tom, Dick and Harry.

Also--this is one of my siblings' favorite sayings but I kinda hate it. I'm suggesting it in a spirit of comprehensiveness. That's all. Really. And I always thought they're kind of in the wrong order.

Shower, shit and shave. Nov 17, 2007

reesetee No, probably not, skipvia. My brain is on the fourth or fifth verse of Mack the Knife and there's no end in sight. Nov 17, 2007

skipvia "Ready, aim, fire," and "On your mark, get set, go" just occurred to me. Nov 17, 2007

skipvia But a very good earworm, reesetee. Maybe it will supplant Mac the Knife for a while. Nov 17, 2007

reesetee Signed, sealed, and delivered just popped into my head. (Oh, good grief--an earworm and eyeworm in one.) Nov 17, 2007

oroboros I've always heard the version "snakes and snails...". Nov 16, 2007

reesetee Excellent list! Definitely a favorite. :-) Nov 16, 2007

uselessness I favorited this list, it's great! No suggestions are really coming to mind right now except the line from The Truman Show -- "Good afternoon, good evening, and good night." Nov 16, 2007

sionnach How about "gold, frankincense, and myrrh"; for those with a Christian bent, there's "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!", or "the father, the son, and the holy ghost". or, "a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou". Nov 16, 2007

trivet Fun! How 'bout Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Nov 16, 2007

skipvia I love this list! How about "location, location, and location?" Nov 16, 2007