Three Little Words

Who to blame it on? Veni-Vidi-Vici? The mission statement mandate? In any case, a new, moronic, unsightly creature has blotted my landscape: the three word slogan. You've seen it everywhere, from grocery bags to university web sites, at the head of stationery and the foot of new monuments, it's the three word catchphrase, three verbs that decorate a semantic space where a thought could not be found.

And thus I am driven to observe, record, and promulgate this information!

Sadly, this concept is so old that there's a Greek word for it, hendiatris, literally "one through three".

• Assess, Improve, Manage, VC3 Information Technology;
• Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Churchill's Outlook for the War;
• Cheaper, Faster, Better, NASA;
• Citius, Altius, Fortius, The Olympics;
• Committed, Competent, Courteous, the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles;
• Connect, Learn, Discover, University of South Carolina Libraries;
• Consistent, Reliable, Repeatable, (Repetitive, Redundant, and Peculiar?), South Carolina Information Technology Help Desk;
• Credere, Obbedere, Combattere "Believe, Obey, Fight", an Italian fascist slogan.
• Delay, Deny, Defend the supposed motto of the defenders of Donald Trump;
• Dream, Dare, Deliver, the campaign for Boston Children's Hospital;
• Dream! Dare! Discover!, a trademark of Grace Communications;
• Duty, Honor, Country, West Point;
• Eat, Drink, and be Merry, ...for tomorrow we die;
• Education, Research, Service, Purdue University;
• Engage, Learn Grow, a motto of the University of South Carolina Human Resources Orientation Program
• Friends, Romans, Countrymen, "Julius Caesar";
• Innovate, Validate, Launch, the Master of Science in Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurial Engineering, University of South Carolina.
• Kinder, Kuchen, Kirche, (Children, Cooking, and Church), the supposed roles of women;
• Lead, Inspire, Teach, Marian University;
• Lead, Inspire, Transform, Cornerstone Leadership Inspiration and Transformation Foundation;
• Lead, Serve, Inspire, Leadership Center, University of South Carolina;
• Learning, Virtue, Piety, Boston University;
• Letters, Science, Art, Rice University;
• Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, motto of the French Republic;
• Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness, US Declaration of Independence;
• Live, Love, Retreat, motto of The Retreat, a student housing complex in Columbia, South Carolina;
• Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know, how people described Lord Byron;
• Nasty, Brutish, and Short, Thomas Hobbe's description of life in primitive times;
• Preserve, Protect, Defend, what the American president is supposed to do to the US Constitution;
• Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor
• Prevent, Promote, Protect, the Medina Ohio County Health Department.
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
• Relax, Refuel, Recharge, motto for the American Airlines Admiral's Club
• Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion
• Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, Churchill describes the traditions of the Royal Navy;
• Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll, how the '60s are summarized;
• Shampoo, Rinse, Repeat, the supposed instructions on a tube of shampoo, used as an illustration of how now to write an algorithm;
• Smart, Safe, Sanitary, San Jamar Foodservice
• Stop, Drop, and Roll, what to do when your clothes catch on fire;
• Stop, Look, and Listen, a formula recited to children about how to cross the street;
• Strive, Obey, Endure, the motto for Alpha Company, as presented on a T-shirt.
• Think. Grow. Change, Crichton College;
• Truth, Justice, and the American Way, Superman's motto.
• Wine, Women, and Song