What the heck? IDIOMS and COMMON EXPRESSIONS

[trojan_man_co]

I’ve always been fascinated by the different expressions out there that make no sense yet are used all the time.

kill 2 birds with 1 stone- when was the last time you killed 1 bird by throwing a stone not to mention 2, and what does that have to do with multi tasking?

don’t throw stones at glass houses- really who lives in an all glass house?

I’m working the grave yard shift- so every night job around involves a grave yard?

A Hot button- when did buttons heat up and what does that have to do with what I said dear?

You look killer- funny when I think of a horror icon I think freddy kruger not you a woman in a sexy black dress


Does any one else have any of these Idioms, phrases or common expressions that just seem odd to you?

 

[chy_girl]

don’t throw stones at glass houses- really who lives in an all glass house?

In my neck of the woods, it's "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Which makes sense if you've ever played in greenhouse made of glass. I still prefer "People in glass houses shouldn't cavort nude on top of the piano doing gorilla impersonations..." But I'm kind of weird.

As for odd... everything seems a little odd if you look at it right. But I love to track down the origins of all the little sayings. Like "To call a spade a spade."

A class mate of mine years back had a fit because someone used that saying and it "was racist." So I looked it up. According to what I found "To call a spade a spade" was actually a mistranslation of "To call a jug a jug" and first appeared in some ancient Greek play. Now I simply wait patiently for someone to over-react.

 

[trojan_man_co]

In my neck of the woods, it's "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." Which makes sense if you've ever played in greenhouse made of glass. I still prefer "People in glass houses shouldn't cavort nude on top of the piano doing gorilla impersonations..." But I'm kind of weird.

As for odd... everything seems a little odd if you look at it right. But I love to track down the origins of all the little sayings. Like "To call a spade a spade."

A class mate of mine years back had a fit because someone used that saying and it "was racist." So I looked it up. According to what I found "To call a spade a spade" was actually a mistranslation of "To call a jug a jug" and first appeared in some ancient Greek play. Now I simply wait patiently for someone to over-react.

hahaha thats great! one of my favs is

oh hes/she is in the dog house again.... brings a whole new meaning when used in the BDSM community...

 

[Sir_Winston54]

From Library Spot:

Current popular explanations for the origin of the phrase "graveyard shift" reference the 19th century problem of accidentally burying people who were still alive. To prevent this from happening, the story goes, caskets were equipped with a bell-ringing device enabling a waking "corpse" to notify the world that they were no longer dead. The graveyard attendants who remained vigilant throughout the day and night worked the graveyard shift.

According to Michael Quinion at World Wide Words the above explanation is merely a story and nothing more. He explains that the "graveyard shift is an evocative term for the night shift between about midnight and eight in the morning, when - no matter how often you've worked it - your skin is clammy, there's sand behind your eyeballs, and the world is creepily silent, like the graveyard. The phrase dates only from the early years of the twentieth century."

 

[ImOnIt]

"more haste less speed". This is an idiom that bugs me. It is often a smug expression implying 'I knew you were going to do that'. Totally bullshit.

Also, if you interpret it as instruction to: use more haste! use less speed! it is like saying SPEED UP SLOW DOWN. I failed to understand the real meaning (which, btw is totally not logical) as a child, and noone ever explained this to me.

Here I will translate 'More haste less speed'. They mean: The more haste you use (ie. being hurried or going quickly), the less overall SPEED you will achieve (because a mistake will happen and it will take long to fix it).

I would suggest an ironic counter-idiom such as 'more abbreviation less understanding'.

Thats about how much sense it makes. Yeah, nah. Not feeling it.

 

[trojan_man_co]

good one, what about

hes all thumbs- im pretty sure that humans typically only have 2 of them and given the younger generations there thumbs are getting more and more talanted given video games...

what about

kick the bucket- how is somone dead going to rise up and kick a bucket?

 

[Soumis]

"Gig 'em!" An Aggie term derived from frog hunting.

"Bless her (his) heart!" In case you haven't noticed this phrase is always followed by an insult. As in, "bless her heart, but that's just the ugliest baby I've ever seen!"

 

[trojan_man_co]

"Gig 'em!" An Aggie term derived from frog hunting.

"Bless her (his) heart!" In case you haven't noticed this phrase is always followed by an insult. As in, "bless her heart, but that's just the ugliest baby I've ever seen!"

hahah i love that one! very similar to another favorite of mine...

i mean no offence BUT...

or

Don't take this the wrong way BUT.....

 

[Netzach]

M thought looking a gift horse in the mouth had to do with the Trojan horse and I think that would be a way better expression for that reason.

 

[rida]

kill 2 birds with 1 stone- when was the last time you killed 1 bird by throwing a stone not to mention 2, and what does that have to do with multi tasking?

or, if your aim is as bad as mine: kill 1 bird with 2 stones

BTW, they have the exact same saying in Japanese.

 

[trojan_man_co]

M thought looking a gift horse in the mouth had to do with the Trojan horse and I think that would be a way better expression for that reason.

hey im a fan of giving all sorts of gifts from my stalion hahaha... btw has any one tried out the new trojan extacy? ive heard good things about it...


and rida... we need to work on your aim haha is it the exact same in japan or is it slightly different?

 

[sb2009]

Early on in our years together i would get so frustrated when my husband would get these idioms wrong. He would not quite be committing malaprops, exactly, but saying things just a bit off. He also laughed off my generous instruction!!

So over the years it has become a hobby for him to mangle phrases. The other night we were (lightheartedly) bickering and he said "Well, that's the cat callling the kettle teflon!" and I came out of my chair and started pounding on his head with the laptop....

well, I gave him a dirty look, then posted it on Facebook so everyone could mock him.

 

[Cattypuss]

M thought looking a gift horse in the mouth had to do with the Trojan horse and I think that would be a way better expression for that reason.

The Trojan horse thing did give rise to the expression "beware Greeks bearing gifts".

As to looking a gift horse in the mouth, I'd heard it was that the way to tell the age (and therefore value) of a horse is to look at its teeth. If someone gives you a horse, you should just be grateful you've been given a gift, rather than starting to get picky about how good a gift it is.

And as we're on a BDSM board discussing horse-related expressions, I trust we all know where "gingered up" comes from

 

[Cattypuss]

hahah i love that one! very similar to another favorite of mine...

i mean no offence BUT...

or

Don't take this the wrong way BUT.....

Or "with all due respect..."

 

[TypicalDeviant]

Or "with all due respect..."

Eh, those aren't idioms, they're just a way to "politely" (ha!) warn someone that you're about to insult them.

 

[trojan_man_co]

Eh, those aren't idioms, they're just a way to "politely" (ha!) warn someone that you're about to insult them.

well with all due respect.... i said they could be common expressions as well not just idioms lol


here are a couple more i enjoy:

Green with envy- if somone is turning a shade of green i dont think its cus they are envious.

how to cure a hang over? Hair of the dog- How does that in any way shape or form translate into haveing more to drink?

Run of the mill? what mill and how does that mean somone is ordinary?

 

[TypicalDeviant]

here you go

Green with envy- if somone is turning a shade of green i dont think its cus they are envious.

Green is often considered the color of envy/jealousy

how to cure a hang over? Hair of the dog- How does that in any way shape or form translate into haveing more to drink?

It's a shortened version of the phrase "the hair of the dog that bit you". Essentially saying that the best way to avoid a hangover is to never sober up.

Run of the mill? what mill and how does that mean somone is ordinary?

A mill processes something (grain, corn, etc) to a uniform condition/consistency. So, if something is "run of the mill", it is indistinguishable from its peers.

 

[trojan_man_co]

I understand the meaning behind these i just dont understand there orgin or why there still in use, for example the green with envy i understand the green is associated with envy but why green?

some of the others are things like:

you can have your cake and eat it too- do people often give others cake and the refuse to let them eat it?

the whole 9 yards- what 9 yards? why not 10 or 11?

make no bones about it- do people often make bones?

 

[ImOnIt]

you can have your cake and eat it too-

If you have a cake, you cannot continue to possess the cake AND eat a delicious cake.

A choice, if you will.

 

[chy_girl]

Another one that I like is Ass-load. It's an actual form of measurement equaling roughly 450 gallons... Or however much you can load on an ass (/donkey/mule) for transport. It just depends on how far you go back and which source you check.

It's also a very fun fact to toss out at opportune moments.

 

[trojan_man_co]

Another one that I like is Ass-load. It's an actual form of measurement equaling roughly 450 gallons... Or however much you can load on an ass (/donkey/mule) for transport. It just depends on how far you go back and which source you check.

It's also a very fun fact to toss out at opportune moments.

hahahaha again a very fun one that may have an entirely different meaning in a BDSM form. Not that many of us are into scat play and enemas BUT it could be quite an ass load hahahah

 

[Stella_Omega]

A REAL kilt-- the kind you lay down on the floor and pleat up by hand just before you lay down on top of it and roll yourself up in it-- takes from 6 to nine yards of fine woven wool.

OR: to cut a gentleman's suit-- pants, coat vest-- you want nine yards of fabric.

Take your pick

 

[rida]

and rida... we need to work on your aim haha is it the exact same in japan or is it slightly different?

exactly the same:　一石二鳥　one stone two birds

 

[FloggingMolly]

when I was a kid, if my answer was 'I dont care', my gran used to say 'well, 'don't care' was _made_ to care'... often before I was sent to my room or spanked.

 

[FloggingMolly]

The other one that comes to mind is 'I could care less'. Over here, we always say 'I couldn't care less'. Or, in my family's case 'I couldn't give a hairy rats arse'