In line with Downpuppy, I remember hearing it often based on mottos supposedly from two different philosophers, favoring doing or being. Usually Sartre was the “be”.
“To be is to do”—Socrates.
“To do is to be”—Jean-Paul Sartre.
“Do be do be do”—Frank Sinatra.
I think this tripartite list first appeared in bathroom stalls in the 1960s or 1970s, but sometimes different authors were specified. Could you explore the history of this humorous scrawled message?
I (33) am with DemetriosX – I wouldn’t have placed it as Sinatra, but do be do be do is easy to get as a “thing”. (Kind of like how people hear “Kleenex” and just think “tissues”, not realising that it’s a specific brand as opposed to just a thing.)
In this Mad Men episode, the song she is performing has the words “Zou Bisou Bisou” . Before uncovering that specific source, the online fan community at the time was trying to piece it together and asking things like “Why is Megan’s weird song saying Zooby Zooby Zoo?”.
My senior year English teacher had a one panel cartoon on her desk which depicted two men in hooded robes and a knight with the caption “Strangers and the knight, exchanging lances.” I don’t think it was Far Side, and a quick googling for that caption doesn’t return any results.
I remember thinking it was very clever, and since I can still remember it almost 30 years later, it was at least memorable.
jglor – amazing what one remembers – husband was switching TV channels as we waited for the 3 am Frasier or Midsommer mysteries to come on (he forgot about it being Midsommer night) and came across the episode of Sonny and Cher with Burt Reynolds as the guest. My brain jumped back to then – while I probably would not remember any other episode I remembered this one and told him some of the jokes (?) that would be told.
On the other hand, I can’t remember what I did with a renewal form and check – the first I received this year – from a family that are members of our reenactment unit and have had to embarrass myself by asking for a replacement check. I can remember receiving the form and setting it aside as the husband had signed them up (and paid for) our national group, which they have never joined before (mom and boys are interested, dad just comes along and sometimes brings the boys when mom can’t come so she knows better about the paperwork); I am 95% sure I know what day I received it in the mail. I know a TV episode from the 1970s, but I cannot find the paperwork I received just over a month ago!
Comics I Don't Understand 
I won’t venture an opinion on that, but I would add an “oy” tag.
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I’m a geezer, so I’ll be interested to see if the younger set think it’s geezerish. I do think “Do be a Do Bee” would be.
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Also, this was in my daily feed and I had already saved it because I liked it enough to keep.
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Geezers because the yoot don’t know Heidegger?
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In line with Downpuppy, I remember hearing it often based on mottos supposedly from two different philosophers, favoring doing or being. Usually Sartre was the “be”.
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https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/09/16/do-be-do/
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You don’t have to get Sinatra in your head for the joke to work.
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Mitch4: I like this one – There are two types of people in this world: Those who think there are two types of people, and those who know better.
Like you, I’m not entirely sure who said it, but then again, I don’t care really.
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I’ve always heard the two types of people were those who could extrapolate from incomplete data
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CIDU Bill: . . . and those who are scared of bats?
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There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary, and those who don’t.
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I think Sinatra is probably exempt from geezer alerts as a result of cultural osmosis.
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I was first introduced to “do be do be do” thusly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVWtq-_VYk8
But I later learned about Sinatra and “Strangers in the Night”.
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I (33) am with DemetriosX – I wouldn’t have placed it as Sinatra, but do be do be do is easy to get as a “thing”. (Kind of like how people hear “Kleenex” and just think “tissues”, not realising that it’s a specific brand as opposed to just a thing.)
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Zooby Zooby Zoo
In this Mad Men episode, the song she is performing has the words “Zou Bisou Bisou” . Before uncovering that specific source, the online fan community at the time was trying to piece it together and asking things like “Why is Megan’s weird song saying Zooby Zooby Zoo?”.
LikeLike
My senior year English teacher had a one panel cartoon on her desk which depicted two men in hooded robes and a knight with the caption “Strangers and the knight, exchanging lances.” I don’t think it was Far Side, and a quick googling for that caption doesn’t return any results.
I remember thinking it was very clever, and since I can still remember it almost 30 years later, it was at least memorable.
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There are 10 kinds of people. Those that understand hexadecimal and F the rest.
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There are three kinds of people. Those who can count and those who can’t.
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There are 10 types of people: Those who understand binary numbers and those who don’t.
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jglor – amazing what one remembers – husband was switching TV channels as we waited for the 3 am Frasier or Midsommer mysteries to come on (he forgot about it being Midsommer night) and came across the episode of Sonny and Cher with Burt Reynolds as the guest. My brain jumped back to then – while I probably would not remember any other episode I remembered this one and told him some of the jokes (?) that would be told.
On the other hand, I can’t remember what I did with a renewal form and check – the first I received this year – from a family that are members of our reenactment unit and have had to embarrass myself by asking for a replacement check. I can remember receiving the form and setting it aside as the husband had signed them up (and paid for) our national group, which they have never joined before (mom and boys are interested, dad just comes along and sometimes brings the boys when mom can’t come so she knows better about the paperwork); I am 95% sure I know what day I received it in the mail. I know a TV episode from the 1970s, but I cannot find the paperwork I received just over a month ago!
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The first thing that came to mind for me was Joe Piscopo impersonating Sinatra, which might be even more geezerish, definitely more obscure.
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