History Main / OneForSorrowTwoForJoy

Magpies are particularly noted for thieving tendencies and, as the [[MotherGoose rhyme]] indicates, for predicting the future. (This leads to a flock of magpies being a "tidings of magpies".)

* In ''The Castafiore Emerald'', {{Tintin}} has a EurekaMoment when he hears that Castafiore, still missing her emerald, will be performing in ''La Gazza Ladra'' (the Rossini opera mentioned below). Sure enough, he finds the emerald in a magpie's nest.

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* ''HeckleAndJeckle''
* Snipes from ''RockADoodle''.

---> '''[[DeathDealer Luxord:]]''' [using [[TheGambler two dice]], but mentions magpies] "Two is for fresh luck, while three starts the play. Four means start running, five means you stay. Six earns you silver, seven earns gold. Eight for new allies, nine for the old. Ten wins good fortune, eleven risks all -- but twelve wins the match and there, stops the ball." (and when asked about one) "One is for sorrow, because it's always alone."
*** [[FridgeBrilliance It's impossible to roll a one on a pair of dice; hence, sorrow.]]
* In the FanFic/TrollCops {{Homestuck}} AU, there is a pair of stories called "One For Sorrow", which has:
''One is for Sorrow.
Two is for Mirth.
Three is for a Funeral.
Four is for a Birth.
Five is for Heaven.
Six is for Hell.
Seven's for the Devil himself.''

* In the ''DoctorWho'' episode "Boom Town", the Slitheen Margaret Blaine described the Doctor as having a "magpie mind", i.e. one that's always collecting bits of information.

*** [[FridgeLogic ...But it's impossible to roll a one on a pair of dice.]]
*** [[FridgeBrilliance Good thing that one's sorrow, then.]]

Magpies are members of the corvid family. All birds in this family are crows. They're relatives of Ravens, both in RealLife and as tropes. (The rhyme (in all its manifold variations) is also used for crows, on occasion.)

Magpies. Black and white birds that feature in a lot of stories.

* In the Troll!Cops {{Homestuck}} AU, there is a pair of stories called "One For Sorrow", which has:

* Star In The Storm by Joan Hiatt Harlow uses "One for sadness, two for mirth; three for marriage, four for birth; five for laughing, six for crying; seven for sickness, eight for dying; nine for silver, ten for gold; eleven for a secret that will never be told."

*** [FridgeLogic ...But it's impossible to roll a one on a pair of dice.]]

They're relatives of RavensAndCrows, both in RealLife and as tropes. (The rhyme (in all its manifold variations) is also used for crows, on occasion.)

* The rhyme itself appears in the song "A Murder of One" by CountingCrows, but this is presumably a reference to crows rather than magpies. The rhyme is also the origin of the band's name.

* The Windex cleaning spray commercials prominently features magpies.

* The Windex cleaning spray prominently features magpies.

---> '''[[DeathDealer Luxord:]]''' [using [[TheGambler two dice,]] but mentions magpies] "Two is for fresh luck, while three starts the play. Four means start running, five means you stay. Six earns you silver, seven earns gold. Eight for new allies, nine for the old. Ten wins good fortune, eleven risks all -- but twelve wins the match and there, stops the ball." (and when asked about one) "One is for sorrow, because it?s always alone."

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]
* ''Magpie'' was the name of a kids' TV show on {{ITV}} in the 1970s (which was pretty much a ''BluePeter'' lookalike). The theme tune used a version of the rhyme as its lyrics, and the show's mascot was a cartoon magpie named Murgatroyd, who looked too fat to fly.
* In the ''DoctorWho'' episode "Boom Town", the Slitheen Margaret Blaine described the Doctor as having a "magpie mind", i.e. one that's always collecting bits of information.

** This troper has always invoked it as "One for sorrow, two for mirth / three for a wedding, four for a birth"