Sayings that don't make sense.

keith16

Degag wrote: »

Very concise explanation Dougal. Unlike you!

Must have been studying the diagram

Cookie_Monster

Head over heels.. ..in love etc

your head is (nearly) always over you heels, why would that be unusual?

My name is URL

ejmaztec wrote: »

Standing in front of a locked shop just after closing time with a big closed sign inside the window.

"are you open?"

I grew up in a village that had a shop which was never open. You had to bang on an old woman's back door for her to let you in via the kitchen.

The shop's front was literally never unlocked...


None of that is a euphemism either.

Irish Guitarist

"They got on like a house on fire".

My name is URL

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

"They got on like a house on fire".

That has something to do with threesomes.

locum-motion

Robert McGrath wrote: »

I heard it came from the two types of Meccano building sets you could get for kids in the 1920s and 30s.

The normal set was called Box Standard. This became a phrase for referring to something as ordinary and eventually over the years was corrupted into the phrase "Bog Standard"

The superior set was called Box Deluxe. This became a phrase for referring to something as superior and eventually over the years was corrupted into the phrase "Dog's Bollox"

Just a myth, I'm afraid.

Aphex

Believe you me.

mikemac1

Took the car for a spin

I managed to spin the car and wrote it off

Cee-Jay-Cee

Why should you never look a gift horse in the mouth? Will it bite you????

fussyonion

Dont count your chickens before they hatch.
Wouldn't touch her with a barge pole--what the hell's a barge pole?!
Go and teach your granny to suck eggs

slade_x

Thats bad luck or thats good luck

Amirani

Cheap as chips.

When did chips become a reasonable measure of cheapness?

mikemac1

That area is the size of Munster

Every piece of land in the world can be compared to Munster

If you are a Brit you compare everywhere to the size of Wales

Sinfonia

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Head over heels.. ..in love etc

your head is (nearly) always over you heels, why would that be unusual?

Indeed. Shit over tit is much better :P

fussyonion wrote: »

Dont count your chickens before they hatch.
Wouldn't touch her with a barge pole--what the hell's a barge pole?!
Go and teach your granny to suck eggs

1) You won't know how many chickens will actually be born (and alive) before they hatch.
2) A barge pole is a very long pole, used to propel a barge.

Boombastic

She thinks she's the cat pyjamas


Who's she? The Cats mother

Cee-Jay-Cee

fussyonion wrote: »

Wouldn't touch her with a barge pole--what the hell's a barge pole?!

It's a big long pole used on barges to steer the barge away from the canal banks.

The saying basically means I wouldn't touch her with a big long pole.

Galwayguy35

"I'm cheesed off"
Heard people say this when they weren't happy about something.

donegal_road

it was freezing last night, the road is 'like a bottle'

McChubbin

" A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
Never got that one.

Nulty

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

"I'm cheesed off"
Heard people say this when they weren't happy about something.

In fairness, if your going to highlight that, the colloquial "pissed off" doesn't make any more sense.

To be "pissed off"?

gara

Most of these things are metaphors that make perfect sense, just in an abstract way -quit being so literal people!

Which reminds me.... "I literally died of embarrassment!" :rolleyes::rolleyes:

mikemac1

screw the pooch

Means you made a horrendous mistake

I see it a lot on American sports forums

Just bizarre

AlmightyCushion

McChubbin wrote: »

" A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
Never got that one.

It's better to definitely have one of something than two of something that you don't have but potentially could have. E.g. It's better to have a euro than to have a scratch card that could potentially win you 2 euro.

kylith

alchemist33 wrote: »

The exception that proves the rule. How can an exception prove a rule? It should disprove it.

In that case 'prove' is used in its archaic form meaning 'test'.

keith16 wrote: »

I was always under the impression that this referred to how one spends Christmas. e.g. "I spent Christmas at home" and that the stinginess was implied by a person not even willing to spend this period of time somewhere, rather than not spending money.

I always took it to mean that they were so tight they wouldn't even spend time, Christmas being nothing more than a representation of time, and people being prone to say they 'spent Christmas' somewhere.

CJC999 wrote: »

Why should you never look a gift horse in the mouth? Will it bite you????

You can tell how old a horse is by how worn its teeth are. It is, of course, very rude to check the age of a horse which you have been given as a present, so of course you wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

mikemac1 wrote: »

That area is the size of Munster

Every piece of land in the world can be compared to Munster

If you are a Brit you compare everywhere to the size of Wales

Indeed. The Wales is a standard unit of measurement.

Eoin

Regarding a hangover - "That will teach you to be out all hours"

Nope, it will teach me not to do that.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Head over heels.. ..in love etc

your head is (nearly) always over you heels, why would that be unusual?

As in doing cartwheels I think?

kylith wrote: »

I always took it to mean that they were so tight they wouldn't even spend time, Christmas being nothing more than a representation of time, and people being prone to say they 'spent Christmas' somewhere.

Yep, I think you're right on this one.

Wrongway1985

This one - why is it when you are looking for something its always in the last place you look?....because why the feck would you continue looking if ya found the thing!!

120_Minutes

Lapin wrote: »

There'll be wigs on the green I tell ya.


WTF

There'll be hell toupée.

Smidge

120_Minutes wrote: »

There'll be hell toupée.

Bah dum bum bum

TAlderson

alchemist33 wrote: »

The exception that proves the rule. How can an exception prove a rule? It should disprove it.

Actually a frequently misunderstood but quite useful saying. Essentially, the "exception that proves the rule" means that if there is a specific exception stated, the rule must be in effect for all other cases besides that exception.

The most common example used is a parking sign. A sign says "No parking (except Sundays)." The fact that they've explicitly given an exception means that there are no other implicit exceptions. So unless it's Sunday, you can't park there.

It's useful in legal arguments, because if you have a document that says "no tenants may have a pet in the building, unless that pet is guide animal," no one can argue that they misunderstood any sort of "implied" exception ("but turtles don't really count!").

Now, if we could just get people to stop misusing "begs the question."

-Tyler

extra gravy

"I'll send you into the middle of next week" - said to me by my angry mother on numerous occasions when i young and being naughty!