Most Recognizable Text Snippet
May 1, 2024 9:04 PM Subscribe
What is the most recognizable snippet of text in existence?
"Snippet", for my purposes, meaning something between a sentence and a paragraph in length (so, not a phrase or a person's name). "Recognizable" can be interpreted broadly but I'm looking for something that people know by heart. As an example, if presented with the phrase "One small step for man...", I would expect many people to be able to come up with "...one giant leap for mankind".
What is the MOST recognizable snippet? I'm interested in English-language recognition, and worldwide recognition, if different ("Credo in Unum Deum..."?).
"Snippet", for my purposes, meaning something between a sentence and a paragraph in length (so, not a phrase or a person's name). "Recognizable" can be interpreted broadly but I'm looking for something that people know by heart. As an example, if presented with the phrase "One small step for man...", I would expect many people to be able to come up with "...one giant leap for mankind".
What is the MOST recognizable snippet? I'm interested in English-language recognition, and worldwide recognition, if different ("Credo in Unum Deum..."?).
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
posted by erst at 9:10 PM on May 1 [4 favorites]
posted by erst at 9:10 PM on May 1 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Unless there's some reason songs are excluded, I'm placing my bet on the lyrics, in English, to Happy Birthday To You.
posted by deludingmyself at 9:28 PM on May 1 [11 favorites]
posted by deludingmyself at 9:28 PM on May 1 [11 favorites]
Our father who art in heaven has probably been translated into more languages than any other text in the world.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 9:29 PM on May 1 [4 favorites]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 9:29 PM on May 1 [4 favorites]
I would taking opening lines of books:
It is a truth universally acknowledged
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 9:38 PM on May 1
It is a truth universally acknowledged
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 9:38 PM on May 1
Best answer: For worldwide recognition, the Shahada in Islam ('there is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet') would have to be up there, in variants (some 'I bear witness that', and so on).
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 10:21 PM on May 1 [8 favorites]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 10:21 PM on May 1 [8 favorites]
Maybe not "most", but it's gotta be up there: Frère Jacques
The ABC song probably is, too, though I'm not sure it counts, lol.
posted by stormyteal at 10:29 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
The ABC song probably is, too, though I'm not sure it counts, lol.
posted by stormyteal at 10:29 PM on May 1 [1 favorite]
Do you solemnly (swear/affirm) that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
posted by forthright at 10:29 PM on May 1
posted by forthright at 10:29 PM on May 1
Best answer: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.
posted by zengargoyle at 10:33 PM on May 1 [27 favorites]
posted by zengargoyle at 10:33 PM on May 1 [27 favorites]
2B | ~2B i.e. ? for the short Shakespeare win
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:38 PM on May 1 [7 favorites]
posted by BobTheScientist at 10:38 PM on May 1 [7 favorites]
"Marco!"
posted by alchemist at 10:57 PM on May 1 [4 favorites]
posted by alchemist at 10:57 PM on May 1 [4 favorites]
When you say "world wide recognition" this very much depends on whether you count translations as the the same text. "In the beginning" would be "Al principio" in Spanish (according to Google Translate, so apologies if that's technically incorrect). Is that the same text snippet for the purposes of your question? If so, a Biblical term like that has a good chance of being correct because there are roughly 860 million people combined who speak either English or Spanish natively, and all countries with those languages as their main native languages are (nominally) Christian. I'd go with "Jesus wept" because that's used in non-religious situations so even if people aren't aware it's a Biblical sentence (it's a two word sentence so it meets your criteria!) they have probably heard it in a non-Biblical context.
I don't know if the Happy Birthday song translates outside of English, but regardless that might not count for your purposes because it's a song lyric which I doubt most people have even seen written down (except maybe in a text message or a birthday card) so that doesn't seem like a "text snippet". Although it definitely must be up there in the English speaking world as one of most well-known things "that people know by heart".
Away from English the most likely answer is something in Mandarin Chinese, which has nearly a billion native speakers. My guess would be something from Confucianism in that case.
posted by underclocked at 11:59 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
I don't know if the Happy Birthday song translates outside of English, but regardless that might not count for your purposes because it's a song lyric which I doubt most people have even seen written down (except maybe in a text message or a birthday card) so that doesn't seem like a "text snippet". Although it definitely must be up there in the English speaking world as one of most well-known things "that people know by heart".
Away from English the most likely answer is something in Mandarin Chinese, which has nearly a billion native speakers. My guess would be something from Confucianism in that case.
posted by underclocked at 11:59 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
"Marco!"
This made me smile. It never aired in the US, if we're thinking of the same thing! (I hope I'm wrong and Americans will rush in to correct me, but the US wasn't big on imported content from anywhere besides the UK...)
Not sure if it aired in Africa either, and not sure if younger people would get it. But yeah, for a few generations across a large part of the world, that would work!
(The requirement is "not a phrase or a person's name", but I would argue that with the exclamation mark that is a full sentence/quote loaded with a very specific context.)
posted by trig at 12:15 AM on May 2
This made me smile. It never aired in the US, if we're thinking of the same thing! (I hope I'm wrong and Americans will rush in to correct me, but the US wasn't big on imported content from anywhere besides the UK...)
Not sure if it aired in Africa either, and not sure if younger people would get it. But yeah, for a few generations across a large part of the world, that would work!
(The requirement is "not a phrase or a person's name", but I would argue that with the exclamation mark that is a full sentence/quote loaded with a very specific context.)
posted by trig at 12:15 AM on May 2
I don't know if it counts as a snippet but a whole lot of people will finish "I'll be..." with "...back". Especially when spoken with an Arnie accent.
posted by Kosmob0t at 1:48 AM on May 2
posted by Kosmob0t at 1:48 AM on May 2
404 File Not Found
posted by pearlybob at 2:15 AM on May 2 [5 favorites]
posted by pearlybob at 2:15 AM on May 2 [5 favorites]
Best answer: “Peace be with you”
“And also with you”
(From Catholic Mass)
posted by TwoWordReview at 2:54 AM on May 2
“And also with you”
(From Catholic Mass)
posted by TwoWordReview at 2:54 AM on May 2
Oh my god! Theres an axe in my head! | MetaFilter
posted by zengargoyle at 3:02 AM on May 2 [2 favorites]
posted by zengargoyle at 3:02 AM on May 2 [2 favorites]
Never gonna give you up.
posted by h00py at 3:37 AM on May 2 [6 favorites]
posted by h00py at 3:37 AM on May 2 [6 favorites]
Best answer: If you mean a single passage in a single language, ie not translated, I agree with Fiasco da Gama that it might be the Shahada, as almost every Muslim everywhere would know it in Arabic. Allahu akbar is technically a sentence ('Allah is the most great'), and probably known to many non-Muslims as well, but may be too short to be automatically completed by anyone.
In Anglophone and countries formerly colonised by Britain 'to be or not to be, that is the question' might be high up on the list, as BobtheScientist suggests.
posted by tavegyl at 3:45 AM on May 2 [2 favorites]
In Anglophone and countries formerly colonised by Britain 'to be or not to be, that is the question' might be high up on the list, as BobtheScientist suggests.
posted by tavegyl at 3:45 AM on May 2 [2 favorites]
I wouldn't bet that much on Bible quotes in Catholic countries. In my experience even though Catholics now have access to lay language Bibles, very few of them actually read them - I'm an outlier because I was stuck in a third-language country with the Bible as one of the sole books I could read. Even readings in church and sermons tend to be about very select incidents, usually not the same as US evangelicals' favourite stories.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 3:49 AM on May 2
posted by I claim sanctuary at 3:49 AM on May 2
Somewhere over the
posted by flabdablet at 3:57 AM on May 2
posted by flabdablet at 3:57 AM on May 2
Weapons of mass
posted by flabdablet at 3:59 AM on May 2
posted by flabdablet at 3:59 AM on May 2
Make America
posted by flabdablet at 4:00 AM on May 2
posted by flabdablet at 4:00 AM on May 2
It's a bird
posted by flabdablet at 4:01 AM on May 2
posted by flabdablet at 4:01 AM on May 2
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
posted by zengargoyle at 4:30 AM on May 2
posted by zengargoyle at 4:30 AM on May 2
Once upon a time...
posted by jmsta at 4:37 AM on May 2 [1 favorite]
posted by jmsta at 4:37 AM on May 2 [1 favorite]
It's interesting that both To be or not to be and In the beginning have dedicated Wikipedia pages. I haven't checked the other nominees.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:34 AM on May 2
posted by Winnie the Proust at 6:34 AM on May 2
Best answer: For a recognizable Christian phrase, the opening of the Catholic mass is "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit", which is from the bible (Matt. 28:19) and gets used in the formula for baptism across Catholic and most Protestant churches ("I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.") I think many people familiar with Christianity could finish it (though you might get different versions with "Holy Ghost").
posted by earth by april at 7:08 AM on May 2 [1 favorite]
posted by earth by april at 7:08 AM on May 2 [1 favorite]
For worldwide recognition and since there are more Chinese or Indian people than Christians on this planet, maybe something like "A journey a thousand miles begins with a single step" or "be the change you wish to see in the world"?
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 8:35 AM on May 2
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 8:35 AM on May 2
"Hello, how are you?" in English specifically, across the world.
posted by guessthis at 8:46 AM on May 2
posted by guessthis at 8:46 AM on May 2
Hello.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:52 AM on May 2
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:52 AM on May 2
Preview fail. What guessthis said.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:54 AM on May 2
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:54 AM on May 2
Response by poster: I'm looking for text literals, so a phrase widely translated into local languages would not count ("In the beginning..." is different than "En el principio..."). Lyrics are fine, although "Happy Birthday to you" is pretty short.
The purpose of the question is, I'm planning to write a piece of choral music which takes a snippet of text and somewhat obscures/garbles the words. I'd like people hearing the song to be able to recognize the snippet even though phonetically is is different than they would normally hear it.
Lots of good suggestions so far. I'd been thinking KJV "Our Father who art in heaven..." for English, and "Ave Maria, gratia plena..." for worldwide. But my perspective is very US-centric.
posted by smokysunday at 11:16 AM on May 2
The purpose of the question is, I'm planning to write a piece of choral music which takes a snippet of text and somewhat obscures/garbles the words. I'd like people hearing the song to be able to recognize the snippet even though phonetically is is different than they would normally hear it.
Lots of good suggestions so far. I'd been thinking KJV "Our Father who art in heaven..." for English, and "Ave Maria, gratia plena..." for worldwide. But my perspective is very US-centric.
posted by smokysunday at 11:16 AM on May 2
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away
I think therefore I am
Do you take this woman to be your lawfully...
We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain
knock knock...who's there?
Why did the chicken cross the road?
posted by polecat at 1:17 PM on May 2
I think therefore I am
Do you take this woman to be your lawfully...
We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain
knock knock...who's there?
Why did the chicken cross the road?
posted by polecat at 1:17 PM on May 2
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name
Twas the night before Christmas
God bless us every one!
Twinkle twinkle little star
posted by polecat at 1:32 PM on May 2
Twas the night before Christmas
God bless us every one!
Twinkle twinkle little star
posted by polecat at 1:32 PM on May 2
Best answer: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
posted by smokysunday at 1:59 PM on May 2
posted by smokysunday at 1:59 PM on May 2
You could make a nice fugue out of
Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here today in the sight of God, and among this company of witnesses to join togetherposted by Winnie the Proust at 2:56 PM on May 2this man and this womanthese twowomenpeople in Holy Matrimony.
Most people worldwide wouldn't recognize the Latin, I think.
For Spanish, you could do "Padre nuestro que estás en el cielo…"
posted by signal at 3:24 PM on May 2
For Spanish, you could do "Padre nuestro que estás en el cielo…"
posted by signal at 3:24 PM on May 2
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and auld lang syne?
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 7:12 PM on May 2
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and auld lang syne?
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 7:12 PM on May 2
Desiderata is now in the public domain and a lot of people will recognize the part beginning from "You are a child of the universe" even if they can't quote it in full.
posted by flabdablet at 9:44 PM on May 2
posted by flabdablet at 9:44 PM on May 2
Based on my (not extensive) travels in the non-English-speaking world, “we are the champions my friends” is up there.
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 10:49 PM on May 2
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 10:49 PM on May 2
I get knocked down / but I get up again
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 10:55 PM on May 2
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 10:55 PM on May 2
tavegyl: Allahu akbar is technically a sentence ('Allah is the most great')
Oh! This made me think of "God is good all the time / All the time God is good"
posted by capricorn at 4:12 PM on May 3
Oh! This made me think of "God is good all the time / All the time God is good"
posted by capricorn at 4:12 PM on May 3
Being very Texas-centered : The stars at night....
posted by CathyG at 11:51 PM on May 3 [1 favorite]
posted by CathyG at 11:51 PM on May 3 [1 favorite]
I don't know which it would be these days -- and maybe, now that I think of it, the whole idea might be 20+ years out of date -- but I'm surprised no one's suggested any global ad jingles.
posted by nobody at 7:53 AM on May 4
posted by nobody at 7:53 AM on May 4
The purpose of the question is, I'm planning to write a piece of choral music which takes a snippet of text and somewhat obscures/garbles the words. I'd like people hearing the song to be able to recognize the snippet even though phonetically is is different than they would normally hear it.
I would NOT use the Shahada for this - it'd be seen as disrespectful.
Nthing "Happy Birthday", that song transcends cultures and languages.
posted by creatrixtiara at 9:24 PM on May 4 [3 favorites]
I would NOT use the Shahada for this - it'd be seen as disrespectful.
Nthing "Happy Birthday", that song transcends cultures and languages.
posted by creatrixtiara at 9:24 PM on May 4 [3 favorites]
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posted by pompomtom at 9:10 PM on May 1 [5 favorites]