Barry Popik
barrypopik.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2009
Barry Popik researches the origins of American phrases and sayings, tracing them to their earliest printed uses.
What HN saysHN links it for etymology of idioms like 'lose money on every sale but make it up on volume,' dated to 1833.
42HN people shared it
41linked it in comments
1stories submitted
3story points
8 months agolast shared
2009people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1We lose money on every sale but make it up on volume3 people · first shared 2016
- 2Indict a ham sandwich2 people · first shared 2017
- 3What kind of woman do you take me for madam weve already established that c2 people · first shared 2010
- 4Never talk about religion or politics etiquette rule2 people · first shared 2020
- 5Pull yourself up by your bootstraps2 people · first shared 2021
- 6We lose money on every sale but make it up on volume2 people · first shared 2025
- 7"In God we trust. All others must bring data" (2015)1 people · 3 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 8Other than that mrs lincoln how did you like the play1 people · first shared 2021
- 9Its not what you know but who you know1 people · first shared 2017
- 10Dont talk about rope in a hanged mans house1 people · first shared 2021
- 11The raised nail gets hammered down management proverb1 people · first shared 2020
- 12Vampire squid goldman sachs nickname1 people · first shared 2019
- 13Under capitalism man exploits man under communism it is the other way aroun1 people · first shared 2013
- 14A software tester walks1 people · first shared 2025
- 15A banker lends you an umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back wh1 people · first shared 2022
What HN people wrote when they linked it
dr_dshiv · 2025-06-23
1833: first known case of "lose money on every sale but make it up on volume." Amazing. Birth of postmodern capitalism right there.
https://barrypopik.com/blog/we_lose_money_on_every_sale_but_make_it_up…
axegon_ · 2025-03-22
I hate how what is effectively a stupid meme phrase became an actual term in a few days.
> "Vibe Coding" might get you 80% the way to a functioning concept. But to produce something reliable, secure, and worth spending money on, you’ll need experienced humans to do the hard work not possible with today’s models.
The problem is that 80% of the job is a proof of concept at best. 80% is effectively a QA walking into a bar[1].
[1] https://barrypopik.com/blog/a_software_tester_walks
throw0101a · 2021-08-12
> Following an old proverb, reportedly from or nobilitated by Cervantes, you are invited "not to mention the rope in the house of the hanged".
Cites:
* https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199539536.001.0…
* https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/dont_talk_abo…
gpanders · 2020-05-25
For anyone unfamiliar, this is a clever riff on a classic economics joke about the Efficient Market Hypothesis [1].
"Two economists are walking down the street and one of them notices what appears to be a $20 bill (or a $100 bill—the monetary amounts vary) on the sidewalk. “It’s not a real $20 bill,” the other economist declares. “If it were a real $20 bill, someone would have picked it up off the sidewalk already.”
[1]: https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/if_it_were_a_…
ithinkinstereo · 2017-05-02
Your observations basically boil down to "my co-worker, who is Chinese, does not like raw fish, therefore..."
There are plenty of sushi restaurants in Chinatown: https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=sushi&start=0&l=p:NY:New…
There are also traditional - and popular - Chinese dishes that involve raw fish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusheng
You have to understand that Chinese people are huge gluttons (I say this without any judgement). They love to eat.. there are even idioms about it!
1) http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/they_eat_anyth…
azurelogic · 2017-03-27
Every time one of those "Ask HN: How do I get a job" comes around, I comment on the importance of networking over throwing resumes into an abyss. Inevitably, someone talks about how they got a great job with a cold application. It's not that it is impossible, it is that it is less probable. It's great to see articles that can support and explain this fact. As engineers, we tend to want to see raw brain power and experience be the yard stick for hiring. But for better or worse, "people" get involved, and suddenly there are a whole bunch of other metrics. The reality is that the 100+ year old phrase is still largely true today: "It's not what you know, it's who you know" (http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/its_not_what_y…
brudgers · 2011-07-26
It's hard to swallow Google claiming the high ground after according to their own analysis, they were willing to pay significantly more than they believed the patents were worth.
As they say, "We've established what kind of woman you are, now we are just negotiating price."
[http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/what_kind_of_w…
j-bos · 2026-02-25
> The way that you word things, such as "Cape is not a honeypot." but don't delve any deeper, to start, gives someone less than zero confidence or trust in your words.
Neither or against either perception but this reminds me of https://barrypopik.com/blog/i_know_its_not_true_but_lets_make_the_sona…
AndrewOMartin · 2025-07-23
"We lose money on every sale, but make it up on volume"
> https://barrypopik.com/blog/we_lose_money_on_every_sale_but_make_it_up…
nobody9999 · 2023-07-23
>you ask someone “where are you from?”
Generally, I'll answer with "The place so nice, they named it twice."[0]
[0] I wasn't sure if I wanted to include an actual reference to define that, but here you go[1].
[1] https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/new_york_new_…
Edit: Fixed typo.
sacnoradhq · 2023-04-01
Oh lord, there's no such thing as a "self-made man" or "pulling oneself up by their bootstraps". It takes one or more rich investors or already having money, customers, employees, partners, vendors, and distributors taking chances on them. To deny this is to give oxygen to the mythologies of hyperindividualism is "good" and success is "achievable" in a vacuum of solitude. It's a lie that denies the credit to those who assisted in the amassing of wealth.
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/pull_yourself…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Alger
https://ideas.time.com/2012/09/07/the-myth-of-bootstrapping/
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/3/29/alissa_quart_bootstrapped_book_…
Aachen · 2023-02-14
As the old logicians joke (https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/three_logicia… goes: I don't know.
coldpie · 2023-01-04
"A rule of etiquette -- in business, at the dinner table, at the barbershop and elsewhere -- is 'never talk about religion or politics.' These subjects are highly contentious and usually result in heated argument instead of general agreement. 'Never discuss religion or politics with those who hold opinions opposite to yours' has been cited in print since at least 1840. 'Do not discuss politics or religion in general company' is from 1879."
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/never_talk_ab…
I think we will somehow survive as a society without hearing this dude's thoughts on incest. And yes, I think people would be better served spending their time on hobbies than arguing politics on the Internet.
belter · 2022-01-01
“A banker lends you an umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back when it rains”
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/a_banker_lend…
latexr · 2021-11-28
While commonly attributed to Woody Allen (and he does say it in Annie Hall), the joke can be attributed to Harry Hershfield[1]. In Allen’s defence, he opens the joke by saying it’s an old one.
[1]: https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/the_food_is_t…
DonHopkins · 2021-11-15
The excitement around the crypto space is a lot like all the excitement around the Psychic Hotline space of the 1990's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO50TC6WG8A
But psychics didn't burn anywhere near as much coal and cause as much cancer and lung disease as crypto does.
>Once you get past the scam/hype bullshit anyway.
"Well, aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, what did you think of the play?"
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/other_than_th…
beckman466 · 2021-06-23
Did you know it's impossible to pull yourself up by your bootstraps?
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/pull_yourself…
a4isms · 2021-05-27
That had a literal meaning at one point, but then it got diluted.
Newspapers were published several times a day when I was a child, so the late edition would have things that happened in the afternoon.
If something very big happened, they would put out an “extra” edition and trucks would race to get the extras out to the newsstands, newspaper boxes, and corner stores.
A news agent shouting “Extra! Extra!” was originally informing people that something had happened and the news was in the freshly printed “extra” edition, so even if they’d already bought a paper that day, they’d be motivated to buy another.
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/extra_extra_r…
LargoLasskhyfv · 2020-10-20
rjtavares · 2020-09-18
If you're actually interested in the topic, google for a bit and you'll learn that is an old advice.
Here's a post about it: https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/never_talk_ab…
yesenadam · 2020-09-05
Apparently the line about history never repeating itself, but rhyming, comes from about 1970:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/01/12/history-rhymes/
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/history_doesn…
tanseydavid · 2020-05-20
According to this post: https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/we_lose_money…
the original use of the joke/phrase goes back to at least 1933 and likely further.
celliopia · 2019-11-12
Yo Amicus: it's "Vampire Squid" not just "The Squid"
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/vampire_squid…
kerkeslager · 2019-08-27
Not a limerick, though it has a similar feel. The way I originally heard it was:
Once there was a chemist
There isn't any more
What he thought was H2O
Was H2SO4.
I've heard a few variants, such as "Bobby was a chemist" or "There isn't one no more". At least one blog[1] claims the original poem from 1894 is:
Our Willie passed away today,
His face we’ll see no more;
What Willie thought was H2O
Proved H2SO4.
[1] https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/johnny_though…
robotresearcher · 2017-08-29
Earliest citation I could find is a management book from 1962:
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/you_can_expect…
mpweiher · 2017-01-09
> I think it depends on whether they did anything illegal.
Less than you might think. Have you seen Three Felonies a Day[1] ? Or heard of "indict a ham sandwich"[2]?
The law being what it is today, and prosecutorial discretion being what it is, it is almost entirely up to whether someone wants to prosecute.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Target-Innocent/dp/159403522…
[2] http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/indict_a_ham_s…
shawnbaden · 2016-11-04
It appears as early as 1923 but is not cited.
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/he_who_works_w…
inanutshellus · 2016-04-20
Because of the polarization of American politics, the focus has moved away from progressing the country forward and more about scraping back any and all losses from one's political opponents.
It's very much like sports, and using self-serving interpretations of laws is not unlike a professional athlete taking a questionable-but-not-officially-outlawed performance-enhancing drug[1]. They're playing the game with the assumption that if they don't someone else will get ahead.
The only fair thing to do is to outlaw the (political equivalent of) their PED so they're allowed and able to play by the rules.
[1] http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/if_youre_not_c…
pjc50 · 2016-01-21
From the title I thought, "uhoh, Facebook have bought a stadium":
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/enron_field_cu…
As others have said, this looks like FB trying to capture the anarchic live commenting/participation behaviour from Twitter. I've never seen anyone attempt to do anything "live" on Facebook, that was always Twitter's ballpark.