These are some three of a kind examples accumulated over the years. Much thanks to my various correspondents. I ought to sort these out a bit.
Many are the top three of power-laws; i.e. Hertz, Avis, Budget. Once you’ve noticed that you can use any sharp power-law to generate three. For example the three top words in english: spoken: The, You, I; written: the, of, and; adjectives: other, good, new. And many of the geographic ones are like that, just forced onto the landscape: England, Scotland, and Wales.
Many of just regions along some natural scale: federal, state, city for example. There are lots that are on linear or cyclic time.
There are a number that are triangles; and then you can create a plane, or balance your three legged stool. Ordering the triangle – you have three objects and you link them into a circle with arrows rather than mere lines. Then you can play rock paper scissors; or polish your mirror.
There are number that are pairs with a middle: buyer, seller, middleman; man, woman, relationship; in, out, door; etc. In this context I find the triple: reflective, transparent, opaque thought provoking.
Apparently in some languages there are three words: one for a thing near me, a second for a thing near you, and finally a word for a thing distant from both of us. But foreign languages are not my thing. In Japanese? – koko/soko/asoko
I’m particularly amused by this group:
- solid, liquid, gas
- ground, sea, air
- army, navy, air force
- missiles, subs, bombers
- beast, fish, fowl
Well, here goes:
- Race, Language, and Culture
- Buyer, Seller, Middleman
- fast, good, cheap
- culture, structure, market
- ethics, choice, rules
- 3-D
- ON, OFF, Don’t Care (1,0,X)
- “Is cup half empty or half full?” … “Who dirtied the glass?”
- “That sword cut’s both ways.” … “Ok, let’s talk about the sword.”
- “Men, Women” … “Shall we talk of relationships?”
- Moe, Larry, and Curly
- Groucho, Chico, and Harpo
- Knife, Fork, and Spoon
- Bell, Book, and Candle
- Lock, Stock, and Barrel,
- Butcher, Baker, and Candle Stick Maker
- Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
- Motive, Means, and Opportunity
- Red, Green, and Blue; Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow
- Bombers, Missiles, and Subs
- Army, Navy, Air Force
- Three legged stool
- near you, near me, away
- Animal, Vegtable, Mineral
- Three wise men
- Harry, Ron, and Hermione
- Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis
- Bad things come in threes
- Bowens system theory
- Learning: acquisitive, integrative, mastery
- Three points define a plane
- The summer triangle: Deneb, Vega, and Altair
- Meat, Fish, Fowl
- England, Scotland, Wales; New York, New Jersey, Conneticut
- Id, Ego, Superego
- Earth, Heaven, Hell
- Liquid, Solid, Gas
- Faith, Hope, Charity
- See, Hear, Speak (no evil)
- Fates: Klothe, Atropos, Lachesis
- Liberté, Fraternité, Egalité
- Life, Liberty, and the Persuit of Happiness
- Three trials or tasks in fairy tales
- Thee Musketeers
- Past, Present, Future
- Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric
- Reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic
- Perl, Php, and Python
- Equatorial, Temperate, Artic
- Right, Left, Center
- King, Queen, Jack
- Black, and White, and Red all over
- Waltzes: 3/4 time
- Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis
- Lather, Rinse, Repeat
- small:medium, large
- Ford, GM:Chrysler
- Solid, Liquid, Gas
- I, you, (he, she, it)
- Earth, Wind, Fire
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- Gas, Brake, Clutch
- Sharp, Flat, Natural
- Preprocess, Compile, Link
- Stop, Drop, Roll
- paper, scissors, rock
- Oceania, Eurasia, Eastasia
- thesis, antithesis, synthesis
- up, down, strange (and continuing, charm, truth, bottom-beauty)
- Judaism, Christianity, Islam
- right, wrong, nuanced
- certitude, discourse, terrorism
- Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva (creater, preserver, destroyer)
- Urth, Vertandhi, Skuld (the Norns, representing past present and future)
- Executive, Legislative, Judicial
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
- Tom, Dick, and Harry
- Huey, Dewey, and Louie
- City, Suburb, Rural
- foo, bar, baz
- shake, rattle, roll
- reflective, transparent, opaque
- soprano, alto, tenor
- dna, rna, proteins
- beauty, truth, form
- less-then, equal, greater than (<, =, >)
- binary trees: left, right, ancestor or mother, father, child
- over constrained, well posed, under constrained
- chew, digest, defecate