Do You Have A "test Phrase"?

[BatMirk]

"My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground," or the entire poem.

Alternatively

"You may come here Sunday on a whim.

Say your life broke down. The last good kiss

you had was years ago."

 

Upon getting a new notebook, the first page tends to read the following:
"No mobile phones, no walkmans,

none of that, or any of the other."

[Ted F]

From WIKIPEDIA:

 

"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party" is a phrase first proposed as a typing drill by instructor Charles E. Weller; its use is recounted in his book The Early History of the Typewriter, p. 21 (1918).^[1] Frank E. McGurrin, an expert on the early Remington typewriter, used it in demonstrating his touch typing abilities in January 1889.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Don't have one. But now I can see I'll be trying on a few.

[markiv]

Hello world

[chris.uk]

Twenty years from now you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do, so throw of the bowlines sail away from safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore, dream, discover... or something like that.

[sexauerw]

<Snip>

 

A quick question to all the Americans who said they write out all of those patriotic quotations, is that actually patriotism, or is it just that you had it dinned into your heads in school (or wherever)? I'm not trying to offend or upset anyone by asking that, I merely ask out of curiosity - I'm British, culturally speaking, we tend not to be big on patriotism.

I can't speak for the others, but I use Lincoln's Gettysburg Address mostly because I admire his use of the language. He manages to say so very much so eloquently with so very few words. I wish more politicians could emulate this.

[mhm802]

+1 on Gettysburg Address. Must have first started doodling with fountain pens during 5th grade history class, hmmm...

[CoolFool]

"O for a muse of fire that would ascend

The brightest heaven of invention..."

 

Shakespeare

Henry V

[johnchoe]

I usually start with "The quick brown fox...", then test out the beginning of the Declaration of Independence "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve..." mostly because I had to memorize some of it in middle school.

 

Lately, I've been using my favorite quote from my all-time favorite "desert island" movie--

 

"Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to DIE!"

[nigeldsouza]

I like to write out a few lines from William Makepeace Thackrey's poem, "A Tragic Story".

 

It goes something like this :

 

There lived a sage in days of yore,
And he a handsome pigtail wore;
But wondered much and sorrowed more,
Because it hung behind him.

He mused upon this curious case,
And swore he'd change the pigtail's place,
And have it hanging at his face,
Not dangling there behind him.

 

The salesman at the Lamy store kept looking at me funny when I was testing the Safari there

[richter]

I feel so dumb....all I use is the fox/lazy dog panagram and

"The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain" and "Sing a song

of sixpence,pocket full of rye.............

 

 

John

 

Oh my god... I do "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" also! I needed to write something when testing a pen in a shop and it was the first thing that happened to pop into mind.

[PhatMan]

Hello to All,

 

From this vintage Heineken advert

 

 

"The water in Majorca don't taste like like what it ought to"

 

Have fun !

 

Best regards

 

Russ

[HermetiC]

Always this:

 

"En un lugar de la Mancha, de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme, no ha mucho tiempo que vivía un hidalgo de los de lanza en astillero, adarga antigua, rocín flaco y galgo corredor."

 

Me too. Quite common for a spaniard. Surprised someone from Saigon does!

[sargetalon]

I've found a new phrase to test which I quite enjoy, the nursery rhyme of Solomon Grundy

 

Solomon Grundy,

Born on a Monday,

Christened on Tuesday,

Married on Wednesday,

Took ill on Thursday,

Grew worse on Friday,

Died on Saturday,

Buried on Sunday.

That was the end,

Of Solomon Grundy.

[wij]

I write a pangram, in lowercase, and a set of oldstyle digits.

Typically one of these:

 

portez ce vieux whisky au juge blond qui fume

0123456789

 

amazingly few discotheques provide jukeboxes

0123456789

Edited October 12, 2013 by wij

[adallak]

Proletarians of all countries, unite!

[lsmith42]

Why this stuck in my brain I have no clue...

 

"This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. The broadcasters of your area in voluntary cooperation with the Federal, State and local authorities have developed this system to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency, the Attention Signal you just heard would have been followed by official information, news or instructions."

[Avetikus]

I love these pangrams, most of them were new to me.

 

I'm afraid I tend to be boring and just start with the old "quick brown fox" line. By the way, I thought foxes were a reddish - or is it just me who always thinks that?

 

I have chronic fatigue syndrome and it has played merry hell with my ability to concentrate on reading more than about a page of text at a time, so instead I listen to a lot of audiobooks, hence I often just write down random stuff from whatever I'm listening to.

 

A quick question to all the Americans who said they write out all of those patriotic quotations, is that actually patriotism, or is it just that you had it dinned into your heads in school (or wherever)? I'm not trying to offend or upset anyone by asking that, I merely ask out of curiosity - I'm British, culturally speaking, we tend not to be big on patriotism.

 

I guess you could call it patriotism, but it's not the flag-waving kind.

 

These documents formed our country not all that long ago so it's the "I wish the lawmakers would read and believe in this stuff" kind of patriotim. The kind you hope for amidst all teh scandals and political shenanigans and the kind you pray for when those same lawmakers look you in the eye and very sincerely say "I'm working for you."

 

Throw the bums out! Don't be a useful idiot!

 

There. That's about the full extent of politics I will discuss. Any further questions will be answered by choosing one of the three following phrases: [ Oh the Hypocrisy! ], [ Vote local! ], or [ I hear there's a cold front moving in. ]

[Blue_Moon]

I love these pangrams, most of them were new to me.

 

I'm afraid I tend to be boring and just start with the old "quick brown fox" line. By the way, I thought foxes were a reddish - or is it just me who always thinks that?

 

I have chronic fatigue syndrome and it has played merry hell with my ability to concentrate on reading more than about a page of text at a time, so instead I listen to a lot of audiobooks, hence I often just write down random stuff from whatever I'm listening to.

 

A quick question to all the Americans who said they write out all of those patriotic quotations, is that actually patriotism, or is it just that you had it dinned into your heads in school (or wherever)? I'm not trying to offend or upset anyone by asking that, I merely ask out of curiosity - I'm British, culturally speaking, we tend not to be big on patriotism.

 

Actually, we Americans don't really have patriotism "dinned" into our heads. I wish we did, but school children only get a taste of our constitution and historic documents that defined the birth of our country. There may be some that were required to memorize certain parts of historical documents or lines from speeches that stuck with them through the years. You'll find a wide range of patriotism in America. There are those (Americans) who would spit on our flag, and then there are those who would die for, not only our flag (and what it represents), but also for the right of those others to spit on the flag. Many have learned that freedom isn't really free. It cost many lives and it's not to be taken lightly or for granted. Then you'll find many who don't show an animosity for the country, but simply do take it for granted that they live in a free society and they don't think about it much. There are wide ranging levels of patriotism here, but unfortunately, it seems to take a national tragedy to bring Americans together and we glimpse, for a short moment, our blessings of freedom. Anyway, you asked and that's my experience in America.

[Mickey]

 

Actually, we Americans don't really have patriotism "dinned" into our heads. I wish we did, but school children only get a taste of our constitution and historic documents that defined the birth of our country.

I think you've got that nailed. Ignorance of our Constitution is the rule these days, rather than the exception. Tragically, this is at least as true among attorneys as it is in the general public.

 

How many Brits can cite off the top of their heads the beginning lines of the Magna Carte or even explain what that document by itself sets out as law? (I'm not looking for an explanation. I can find one on my own. I was simply curious if such would be common knowledge or not.)

Edited October 13, 2013 by Mickey