Threes speak

Here are a few common threes expressions.

Plumb, level, square

“Third time’s the charm”

Fat, dumb and happy

“Woulda, coulda, shoulda”

Father, son and holy ghost

Faith, hope and charity

“Friends, Romans, Countrymen”  

“Liberty, equality, fraternity”

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”

“preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” 

“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

“pretty good, not bad, I can’t complain”—John Prine from “Pretty Good”

“send lawyers, guns and money”—Warren Zevon from “Lawyers, Guns and Money”

“Exuberance, Raw Power and Punctuality”—This Is Spinal Tap

“The never ending battle for truth, Justice and the American way”

"faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound"—Superman

Swifter, higher, stronger

On your mark, get set, go

They create an appealing pattern and rhythm. 

What threes sayings do you know?

Threes Form Patterns
I have been fascinated by threes for a long time.  The world is arranged, in part, by threes.  Often only three.  Not three or four or more.  We organize our thoughts by three ideas because three of them are easy to remember.  Three ideas form a pattern.  Sometimes those patterns are intangible.  Such as three laws.  Three rules of thumb.  Three principles.  Three classes.  Three categories.  Three ideas that support a point of view.  It’s uncanny.  Laws of nature contain three elements only.  Religions are full of threes.  We create commercial messages that are loaded with three selling features or benefits.  Sayings such as “fat, dumb and happy,” “this, that and the other thing,” “woulda, coulda, shoulda,” are ingrained in our culture.  Humor depends on threes—the set up, anticipation and the punch line.  Sometimes those patterns are tangible.  The modern traffic signal with its green, yellow and red lenses, each with meaning to motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians, fire in a predictable and never-changing order to signal proceed, slow down and stop when lighted in sequence.  Using threes to describe or unify is not a new idea; it’s been around a long time.   More to come.   What threes have you seen?