Who shot John? (Idioms)

[glynndah]

"grinning like a possum chewing yellowjackets"
"as sincere as a born-again vacuum cleaner salesman"

 

[Vermilion]

a dog in a manger. (a person who is a petty or self centered hindrance to what others are trying to do)
---

'fucking the dog' =loafing on the job.

nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

This comes from one of the Hans Christian Anderson stories I believe. The horse wants some hay, but the dog won't get out of the manger.
</random factoid>
x
V

 

[floweringquince]

"busier than a one armed paper hanger"

"slicker than snot on a doorknob" (often used by engineers as a compliment to an elegant design)

"it won't fly" (it won't work, be agreed to, etc.)

"raining pitchforks and hammer handles"

"colder than a brass monkey in a witch's brasserie"

"hotter than Hell on the Fourth of July"

"hotter than the hinges on the gates of Hell" (said hinges being in constant motion to accomodate the sinners entering in huge numbers; and, since it would be a "kindness" to the metal to grease the hinges, and there are no kindnesses in hell, the hinges lack proper lubrication)

"your eyes look like two burnt holes in a blanket" (you have a hollow-eyed look that means that you're sick and should be in bed)

"she's set her cap for him" (she intends to entangle him in a realtionship involving sex, romance, and/or marriage)

"she'll trip him and beat him to the ground" (thus landing under him, in an excellent position for immediate sex)

"he's kicked the bucket/bought the farm/cashed it all in/left this world/shuffled off this mortal coil/passed over (to the other side)/passed away" (he has died)

"that would make a cat sick" (for some object of extraordinary disgust)

"that would make a cat laugh" (for something extraordinarily funny or preposterous)

"the dog's breakfast" an untidy, and usually unappealling, assortment of random items

"keep it between the ditches" (drive safely on the sort of a seldom-used rural road that has with deep drainage ditches on both sides, usually said by a host to the departing guest he has gotten falling-down-drunk with)


Not to dispute (er, whoever I'm hereby disputing , but I think "The Dog In The Manger" was not from the Brothers Grimm, but from Aesop's Fables.
Aesop also gave us "sour grapes" (for groundlessly disparaging something you want but can't get), and "don't count your chickens before they're hatched"

He went to shit and the hogs ate him.

Reminds me of my very favorite, usually said sarcastically upon the completion of some unwanted and thoroughly unpleasant task:

"I haven't had so much fun since the hogs ate Baby Brother!"

quince

 

[jeanne_d_artois]

Mutual misunderstanding

While many of these idioms may be colourful and very effective, they have limited usage in stories that can be read in any part of the world.

There is enough confusion between US and British English without using idiomatic terms that have restricted usage in a small part of a country. If we consider readers whose native language is not English, the probable response is "WTF!".

Please use these sparingly. A few can be useful to give colour to a particular character's speech, but once overdone they lose conviction. Kipling's soldier slang is a good example of how NOT to do it.

Jeanne

 

[Vermilion]

"busier than a one armed paper hanger"

"slicker than snot on a doorknob" (often used by engineers as a compliment to an elegant design)

"it won't fly" (it won't work, be agreed to, etc.)

"raining pitchforks and hammer handles"

"colder than a brass monkey in a witch's brasserie"

"hotter than Hell on the Fourth of July"

"hotter than the hinges on the gates of Hell" (said hinges being in constant motion to accomodate the sinners entering in huge numbers; and, since it would be a "kindness" to the metal to grease the hinges, and there are no kindnesses in hell, the hinges lack proper lubrication)

"your eyes look like two burnt holes in a blanket" (you have a hollow-eyed look that means that you're sick and should be in bed)

"she's set her cap for him" (she intends to entangle him in a realtionship involving sex, romance, and/or marriage)

"she'll trip him and beat him to the ground" (thus landing under him, in an excellent position for immediate sex)

"he's kicked the bucket/bought the farm/cashed it all in/left this world/shuffled off this mortal coil/passed over (to the other side)/passed away" (he has died)

"that would make a cat sick" (for some object of extraordinary disgust)

"that would make a cat laugh" (for something extraordinarily funny or preposterous)

"the dog's breakfast" an untidy, and usually unappealling, assortment of random items

"keep it between the ditches" (drive safely on the sort of a seldom-used rural road that has with deep drainage ditches on both sides, usually said by a host to the departing guest he has gotten falling-down-drunk with)


Not to dispute (er, whoever I'm hereby disputing , but I think "The Dog In The Manger" was not from the Brothers Grimm, but from Aesop's Fables.
Aesop also gave us "sour grapes" (for groundlessly disparaging something you want but can't get), and "don't count your chickens before they're hatched"


Reminds me of my very favorite, usually said sarcastically upon the completion of some unwanted and thoroughly unpleasant task:

"I haven't had so much fun since the hogs ate Baby Brother!"

quince

Aesop - that's the one. I knew it wasn't Brothers Grimm, but couldn't remember exactly so guessed at Hans Christian Anderson. No. You're right, it's Aesop
x
V

 

[cumallday]

My girlfriend's French and will often say, "slack la patate!" Translation: slack the potato. I'm unsure what it's suppose to mean, but it sure is fun to say.

slack la patate
slack la patate

 

[floweringquince]

Yikes, V! I misremembered the reference you'd given, and didn't remember your name at all - and *yours was the previous post*!!! [wincing] Sorry about that

Doesn't the word "Duh!" mean anything to me???!!!

(above expression taken from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" movie

While many of these idioms may be colourful and very effective, they have limited usage in stories that can be read in any part of the world.

There is enough confusion between US and British English without using idiomatic terms that have restricted usage in a small part of a country. If we consider readers whose native language is not English, the probable response is "WTF!".

Please use these sparingly. A few can be useful to give colour to a particular character's speech, but once overdone they lose conviction. Kipling's soldier slang is a good example of how NOT to do it.

Jeanne

You're right, Jeanne. One of my most embarrassing moments was when I gave a farewell gift to an exchange student from France who'd spent the summer working in my office. We'd been discussing the story of it for some reason-or-other, so I got her a copy of "Huckleberry Finn."

I hadn't read it in years, and had forgotten that Twain wrote the whole damned thing in some pretty thick dialect. Now, B.'s English was really very good - she had a (very charming) accent, and sometimes struggled for the right word; but we could easily discuss work, and just as easily veer into other matters (like iconic tales of rafting down the Mississppi).
But she could not read that book to save her life.

We had a French ex-patriate in the same office who'd been in the US for five or six years (and who regularly published papers in English: I proof-read the drafts and never found a pure grammatical error), and he couldn't read it either. He suggested she get a good French translation, which was how he'd read Huck Finn.

Which meant I'd given B. an essentially useless gift. Boy, talk about putting my foot in it!


OTOH, you probably knew, or gathered from the context, that "could not read that book to save her life" meant that she could not read it regardless of how much she might want to; and that while I had not literally stepped into any sort of highly undesirable substances, I was as embarrased and chagrined as if I had and my smelly shoes were stinking up the whole place.

If you replaced those expressions in my anecdote with their literal phrasing, it would be dryer reading.
Do too much of that, and it's no fun at all; and then why bother reading it?

I always (try to make sure that my expressions are either self-explanatory ("to save her life"), or made clear by the context ("one of my most embarrassing moments".... I'd given B. an essentially useless gift": you know I'm embarrased, and you'd be chagrined in that situation, so that's probably what that foot-putting expression means).


And too many are just plain too many (there's an expression for that: it refers to "too much of a muchness" . Unless you're trying to explore some specialized idiom, like Kipling (or Twain); and then you have to bear in mind that your readers will either put up with it, or they won't.

But to write without using non-literal expressions (such "to put up with" at all would be almost impossible, and not something I would choose to do.



A few idioms and colloquialisms cribbed (i.e. copied or stolen) from a post on another thread:


"from the right side of the tracks" (from the better part of town, or from a good background)

"(has been) done to death" ((is) overused, tired, trite)

"straight-up" (undiluted, fully, absolutely)

"the elephant in the living room" (the thing that, although unavoidably obvious to everyone, is never discussed, in a feeble effort to prove that it doesn't exist: e.g. "the matter of Uncle Fred's outrageous drunkeness at Christmas Dinner was the elephant in the living room")


And a lovely expression for poking fun at oneself when one in fact has too much of a muchness:
"If some is good, more is better, and too much is just right."

quince

 

[Xelebes]

My girlfriend's French and will often say, "slack la patate!" Translation: slack the potato. I'm unsure what it's suppose to mean, but it sure is fun to say.

slack la patate
slack la patate

I think it is the French making fun of the Irish or the Irish making fun of the French.

Edit:

Here's a couple that has passed on from my Welsh grandmother that is sometimes still used...

"Hotter than the hobs of hell"

"Bloody" - Used to replace every single swearword out there.

"Bloody ninny" - literal translation: beaten lame-ass

 

[cumallday]

bingo wings

I think it is the French making fun of the Irish or the Irish making fun of the French.

Edit:

Here's a couple that has passed on from my Welsh grandmother that is sometimes still used...

"Hotter than the hobs of hell"

"Bloody" - Used to replace every single swearword out there.

"Bloody ninny" - literal translation: beaten lame-ass

Well if "slack la patate" is meant to make fun of the Irish, which I doubt but nonetheless, I'm going to have to start making fun of her for I lived in Ireland with me mum as a youngster. I'll start calling her "bingo wings" which is Irish slang meaning a woman with flabby arms, even though she keeps in really good shape. The insinuation itself ought to rile her up the way she pretends not to like.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

The French language has only one respectable cuss word, MERDE.

Spanish isn't much better. About the best it has to offer is, PUTA.

English may be a bitch to learn and constantly changing, but it takes a backseat to no other language when it comes to profanities.

I agree with Jeanne/Og that idioms can be overused and confuse readers. However, many are fairly self-explanatory even standing alone. When taken in context, some even make sense.

Pee'd in the whiskey.

Road hard and put up wet.

Ain't no hill for a stepper.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[floweringquince]

Spanish isn't much better. About the best it has to offer is, PUTA.

I take leave to differ. Or, to put it another way:
Chengarse, pendejo!

(And I'm no good at Spanish, blue or otherwise.)


Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch:

I've been trying to think up expressions and synonyms for "ugly," for a writing project which revolves on the heroine's unattractiveness:

"ugly as sin"

"If my dog were that ugly, I'd shave its butt and teach it to walk backwards."

"You could take that down to the river, and wash ugly off of it for a week."


Any others?

- quince

 

[LadyCibelle]

My girlfriend's French and will often say, "slack la patate!" Translation: slack the potato. I'm unsure what it's suppose to mean, but it sure is fun to say.

slack la patate
slack la patate

What it's supposed to mean is, relax; go slow, calm down. And FYI it's more French Canadian than truly French.

 

[only_more_so]

I take leave to differ. Or, to put it another way:
Chengarse, pendejo!

(And I'm no good at Spanish, blue or otherwise.)


Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch:

I've been trying to think up expressions and synonyms for "ugly," for a writing project which revolves on the heroine's unattractiveness:

"ugly as sin"

"If my dog were that ugly, I'd shave its butt and teach it to walk backwards."

"You could take that down to the river, and wash ugly off of it for a week."


Any others?

- quince

Someone lit her face on fire and beat it out with an ugly stick.

Her face looked like it was made from sugar, and someone had already licked it (or it had been left out in the rain).

She had a porcelin face like an angel, that had been smashed and put back together by a blind two year old.

 

[cumallday]

What it's supposed to mean is, relax; go slow, calm down. And FYI it's more French Canadian than truly French.

Je gage que t'est "cibelle" que tu t'apelle!

I also enjoy when an impatient friend of mine uses, "Shit or get off the pot!" I feel I must disagree with the idea that you "shouldn't" use idioms in stories, or at least rely too heavily on them. To hear "shouldn't" should only challenge you more. The reason I say this is because I quite enjoy the saying, "There are no lines to stay within if you've got an honest imagination."

 

[jeanne_d_artois]

Je gage que t'est "cibelle" que tu t'apelle!

I also enjoy when an impatient friend of mine uses, "Shit or get off the pot!" I feel I must disagree with the idea that you "shouldn't" use idioms in stories, or at least rely too heavily on them. To hear "shouldn't" should only challenge you more. The reason I say this is because I quite enjoy the saying, "There are no lines to stay within if you've got an honest imagination."

Jeanne didn't say "shouldn't". She suggested caution and discretion.

As with all writing, thinking before finalising a word or expression is good. Whatever works is valid but idiomatic expressions can be overdone.

Og aka jeanne

 

[LadyCibelle]

Je gage que t'est "cibelle" que tu t'apelle!

Gages pas, tu perdrais.

 

[jomar]

Don't know if these have been mentioned:

Shit don't stink don't stir it.

Hotter than a June bride on a feather bed.
(can refer to weather or food or whatever)

 

[cumallday]

Jeanne didn't say "shouldn't". She suggested caution and discretion.

As with all writing, thinking before finalising a word or expression is good. Whatever works is valid but idiomatic expressions can be overdone.

Og aka jeanne

I partially agree. Who exactly are you seeking validation from and who is to decide when idioms are overdone? You shouldn't have to worry about caution and discretion if you're as good a writer as you say you are, shouldn't you? What you "should" do is trust your audience to be good judges of whether or not you've properly thought out the words and expressions in your writing before finalizing your work, n'est ce pas? Just a thought.

Oh now come on Lady Cibelle, I've been to Moncton. From what I've seen of the town I don't believe you have much competition.

 

[shereads]

"She ran through an ugly forest and bumped every tree."

~ My dad

 

[minsue]

"She ran through an ugly forest and bumped every tree."

~ My dad

She fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.

 

[LadyCibelle]

I partially agree. Who exactly are you seeking validation from and who is to decide when idioms are overdone? You shouldn't have to worry about caution and discretion if you're as good a writer as you say you are, shouldn't you? What you "should" do is trust your audience to be good judges of whether or not you've properly thought out the words and expressions in your writing before finalizing your work, n'est ce pas? Just a thought.

Oh now come on Lady Cibelle, I've been to Moncton. From what I've seen of the town I don't believe you have much competition.

Aww sweet of you.

 

[Misty_Morning]

She fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.

Threw her in a pond and skimmed ugly for a week.

 

[Xelebes]

Well if "slack la patate" is meant to make fun of the Irish, which I doubt but nonetheless, I'm going to have to start making fun of her for I lived in Ireland with me mum as a youngster. I'll start calling her "bingo wings" which is Irish slang meaning a woman with flabby arms, even though she keeps in really good shape. The insinuation itself ought to rile her up the way she pretends not to like.

I think it's more of a joke between the Irish and the French in Quebec. I'll leave it at that.


Anyways, some more for Alberta.

Strong like tractor, twice as smart. = big and dumb

like molasses in January with an uphill drag. = really slow or not moving

smelling the dandelions = slow, dawdling

 

[cumallday]

My mother used to say, "That'll put the kaibosh to ya!" I now pay my therapist eighty dollars an hour to put the kaibosh out of me.

 

[slyc_willie]

My father's one good piece of advice, given to me when I was heading out for my first 'real' job interview:

"Just remember: He's as full of shit as you are."

I still use that line to this day.