Party?

Posted by Smokey Stover on March 02, 2005

In Reply to: Party? posted by Smokey Stover on March 02, 2005

: : Where does these phrases come from?

: : now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party...

: : the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog..

: : slicker than snot on a door knob...eewww...

:
: The two first phrases are often used as practice sentences by typists, occasionally as font jobs (formerly) by printers. The second sentence has all the letters of the alphabet, which is handy for some purposes. Who first used them? No idea. Of course, snot is slippery (slick), and on a doorknob this is particularly evident as one tries to turn the knob. And thick snot dries out rather slowly, to add to the torture. SS

"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party." This sentence was supposedly devised to test the speed of the first typewriter, according to Weller's history of the typewriter. This would place it in or near 1867. It is also supposed to refer to a political campaign in Wisconsin. Call this a factoid. I can't vouch for it. SS