On Thursdays I am a man of my word

[venta]

Spot question for the day:

Without googling, does the following phrase mean anything to anybody ?

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

Comments

[narenek.livejournal.com]

It rings a bell, but it just be recognising the "Now is the time for all good men..." bit from something more well known than the precise quote you're using.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Well, I was reminded of this because the Blyth Power album I had on in the car this morning includes a song which begins with a very protentous voice stating "Now is the time for all good men, in defence of the party, to rally around."

Not sure I've got you down as a BP fan, though :)

[narenek.livejournal.com]

I stronly suspect that I have a deep half remembered memory of the film that Nalsa and Purple Cthulhu are talking about. Starred Charles Bronson and Donald Pleasance IIRC.

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

Blyth songs I don't know? Waaaaaaaah!

[nalsa.livejournal.com]

Yes. And now I'm going to be wracking my brains as to why.

It's a trigger phrase, isn't it? From a film, someone says it and people start doing stupid things, like crashing their cars into walls and killing presidential candidates? Or am I confusing it with The invisible worm that flies in the night?

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

IIRC the film was Telefon, and yes, it was used in that as a trigger for sleeper agents.

But I'm sure it comes from something else, like the communist party manifesto or something like that.

Can I google for it now?

[venta.livejournal.com]

You may indeed google now. I just wanted to make clear that I was wanting people's opinions (first) rather than just that I was too lazy to google for the answer myself.

This trigger-for-sleeping-agents bit is a new one on me. That's not where I know it from.

[nalsa.livejournal.com]

Excellent. I'm glad that my half-remembered knowledge is accurate :-)

IMDB says

[wimble.livejournal.com]

The code used to activate sleepers is taken from a poem by Robert Frost, "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening", originally published in 1923 in his collection titled "New Hampshire". The exact lines are: The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

Although, since I don't know the film myself, I can't say that Now is the time... doesn't occur in there somewhere.

[smorgasbord.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Are you going to tell us why/where from ?

[smorgasbord.livejournal.com]

Moon on a stick!

I think that ‘the party’ is the communist party. But I cannot remember the original setting as I have heard it repeated so many times out of its orginal context.

[taimatsu]

Yes, but I can't remember where it's from. At a guess, it's probably Shakespeare, given how many phrases in the language are his fault.

[wimble.livejournal.com]

It's also a typewriter testing phrase. I think I came across it in The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler where the runaway teenage heroine sneaks into a typewriter shop to type a letter, and finds this text across the top of the paper. So she carries on from there.

[wimble.livejournal.com]

Indeed, I am supported in this by http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_295a.html

(Of course, whether they're right is a good question!)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Aha! This is what I asscoiate it with. Well, not with that novel in particular, but that it's some form of typewriter testing thingy.

I not 100% sure what it tests, though. I remember my godmother vaguely referring to it as "something to do with the home keys".

[wimble.livejournal.com]

Do I win a prize?

[addedentry.livejournal.com]

It's a phrase I learnt to try on typewriters, too, along with The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

[chrisvenus]

Yeah. I was about to say that with less detail. I got it from my dad who always used it when the need came to type "something". You know when you just want to play and need something, anything to write.

So "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party." is what was always written.

I figured you probably didn't know it from my dad though. :)

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I know I've encountered it before. Like everyone else, I have no idea where.

[secretrebel.livejournal.com]

It's a mnemonic, isn't it? Or a stock phrase of some kind. Err, it turns up in the older sort of typing tests.

[sciolist.livejournal.com]

A trigger phrase for something hypnotic... Can't remember the film though.

[ealuscerwen.livejournal.com]

There's definitely a Peanuts cartoon where Snoopy says "Now is the time for all good dogs [etc]" - this makes me suspect that the phrase is American.

[redcountess]

I know it as the home keys thing :-)

Oh, and I either leave at least one finger or hover over the home keys. I have tried *not* touch typing to save my fingers when they are sore, but it's too ingrained, and I can't not do it!

[diffrentcolours]

It rings a bell in my mind to do with touch-typing, it was one of those phrases used to test your typing speed I think.