What is common knowledge?

[Kumquatqueen]

I work with people from many different countries and occasionally sow confusion (deliberately) by asking for something 'by stumps'.

That's a pretty niche cricketing reference even for the UK. As opposed to Close of Play, which seems to be the default term for 'get that done by the end of the day', with debate as to whether it means 5pm or when the boss goes home or just you don't get to go home until it's done.

Tabling something is a tricky one for transatlantic groups. The Brits think it means putting something on the meeting table for discussion, the Americans think it means putting it on a side table and not discussing it at that meeting...

 

[Writer61]

“The exception proves the rule”

What it actually means is that, if a sign says “No Parking on Sundays”, that indicates that Sunday is an exception to the rule that it is okay to park there on other days.

No, it doesn't mean that.

One of the meanings of 'prove' is to test something, so the phrase means that whether a rule works or not depends on exceptional cases. It is a warning to consider difficult situations when creating rules.

 

[Writer61]

Recently I confused my brother by using the term 'sparrow-fart'. Not sure where I picked it up from.

 

[TheLobster]

Tabling something is a tricky one for transatlantic groups.

Saying “bring up” and “shelve” seems to avoid confusion in my experience.

 

[Writer61]

Some years ago there was a crazy guy who tried to kill a member of Congress. One of the things he said at the time was, "What is government if words have no meaning?"

George Orwell wrote a book about that.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Recently I confused my brother by using the term 'sparrow-fart'. Not sure where I picked it up from.

"Sparrow's fart" is a very common expression in Oz.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Tabling something is a tricky one for transatlantic groups. The Brits think it means putting something on the meeting table for discussion, the Americans think it means putting it on a side table and not discussing it at that meeting...

That caused a fundamental confusion during a major contract negotiation between an Australian prime contractor and the US supplier. It was solved by the Oz lead negotiator saying, "Of course we want to fucking talk about it!" Or words to that effect.

 

[Writer61]

"Sparrow's fart" is a very common expression in Oz.

Probably where I picked it up.

 

[jehoram]

Measured anew with each succeeding pharaoh. Must have made for some interesting calculations if one died and was succeeded half way through a project.

Similarly, a "yard" was allegedly the distance from some king's nose to the tip of his middle finger. (One of the English Henry's, I think.) And a "clothyard" was something like 30", based on the width of most of the looms that produced it. So those "clothyard" shafts that the Medieval arches used wasn't as long as you thought it was.

 

[WetSubGirl]

Huh, I didn't know that cubit was also based on the body. Interesting.

Cubit comes from latin Cubitum=elbow

 

[MelissaBaby]

No, it doesn't mean that.

One of the meanings of 'prove' is to test something, so the phrase means that whether a rule works or not depends on exceptional cases. It is a warning to consider difficult situations when creating rules.

A little research finds that both interpretations are generally considered valid.

 

[Writer61]

A little research finds that both interpretations are generally considered valid.

That can happen with a little research.

 

[Writer61]

That can happen with a little research.

As with most questions of grammar, I'm with Fowler.