Meaning of Well Known Phrases

pitythefool

All over the shop

it came from messy work places

it is simply an expression for disorganised.

the shop in question may be work-shop rather than retail outlet

Korvanica

"Thanks Captain Obvious"

sarcastic remark aimed at a person who just said something that was already understood by everyone. Ever.

pitythefool

Korvanica wrote: »

"Thanks Captain Obvious"

sarcastic remark aimed at a person who just said something that was already understood by everyone. Ever.

That is brilliant on so many levels in relation to my post

Thanks Captain Obvious

summerskin

The Whole Nine Yards

Not an American sports reference as many believe, but a reference to the "belt" of ammunition used by airforce gunners in WW2, which were nine yards long. Giving them "the whole nine yards" meant basically trying to blast the enemy to smithereens.

neil_hosey

dont look a gift horse in the mouth..

some one please explain

summerskin

neil_hosey wrote: »

dont look a gift horse in the mouth..

some one please explain

you can tell a horse's age by it's teeth, so if you are given one as a gift, don't look at it's teeth in case it lessens the value of the gift horse in your mind.

pitythefool

neil_hosey wrote: »

dont look a gift horse in the mouth..

some one please explain

Don't be ungrateful when you receive a gift.

As horses develop they grow more teeth and their existing teeth begin to change shape and project further forward. Determining a horse's age from its teeth is a specialist task, but it can be done. This incidentally is also the source of another teeth/age related phrase long in the the tooth

The advice given in the 'don't look...' proverb is: when receiving a gift be grateful for what it is; don't imply you wished for more by assessing its value.

Two birds with one stone there

hyperborean

neil_hosey wrote: »

dont look a gift horse in the mouth..

some one please explain

"Equi donati dentes non inspiciuntur."

some latin rubbish from the bible about horses teeth,


http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/don't_look_a_gift_horse_in_the_mouth

pitythefool

summerskin wrote: »

you can tell a horse's age by it's teeth, so if you are given one as a gift, don't look at it's teeth in case it lessens the value of the gift horse in your mind.

damn you summerskin

Cliona99

This is a bit of a guess...

You tell the age of a horse by its teeth, so if someone gives you a horse as a present, don't try to figure out how old it is, or how much it might be worth. Don't nitpick presents, basically.

Edit: missed the boat

Fratton Fred

Cliona99 wrote: »

This is a bit of a guess...

You tell the age of a horse by its teeth, so if someone gives you a horse as a present, don't try to figure out how old it is, or how much it might be worth. Don't nitpick presents, basically.

Edit: missed the boat

Dont you mean the horse has bolted?

fishy fishy

going forward

We've turned a corner.



strikes rage into the 99 percent of Irish adults.

fishy fishy

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.


Take whatever meaning you want from that. :pac::pac:

Matt_Trakker

......Jesus wept.....

I care not.

summerskin

fishy fishy wrote: »

going forward

We've turned a corner.



strikes rage into the 99 percent of Irish adults.

for fúck's sake, can we not have one single thread without references to politics, recession etc????????



some of us are better off than ever, not everyone is unhappy and fúcked!

stmol32

neil_hosey wrote: »

dont look a gift horse in the mouth..

some one please explain

Everyone is wrong it's actually from the Trojan horse story.

If you want to check if there's loads of Greeks hiding inside the don't look in the mouth end because there will be a fella waiting with a spear for your eyeball.

You're supposed to look underneath for the trapdoor.

summerskin

fishy fishy wrote: »

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.


Take whatever meaning you want from that. :pac::pac:

simple really, better to actually own one item of something, than to potentially own two

summerskin

stmol32 wrote: »

Everyone is wrong it's actually from the Trojan horse story.

If you want to check if there's loads of Greeks hiding inside the don't look in the mouth end because there will be a fella waiting with a spear for your eyeball.

You're supposed to look underneath for the trapdoor.

Funnily, every single form of reference available would say that you are mistaken, and that this, as hyperborean commented, is correct... "Equi donati dentes non inspiciuntur."

some latin rubbish from the bible about horses teeth,


http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/don't_...e_in_the_mouth "

stmol32

stmol32 wrote: »

Everyone is wrong it's actually from the Trojan horse story.

If you want to check if there's loads of Greeks hiding inside the don't look in the mouth end because there will be a fella waiting with a spear for your eyeball.

You're supposed to look underneath for the trapdoor.

Also the Trojan Horse story is the origin of the lesser-used but once common phrase 'Beware of Greeks bearing gifts'

antodeco

And where "the greeks invented gays"

Something to do with a load of loads being inside a horse.

Wait, thats beastiality..

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

What the hell does the "Driving Miss Daisy" reference mean?

BillJ

"Taking the high road"

A term coined by hippies back in the 60's where they would smoke many many marijuana cigarettes before embarking on a journey

BillJ

BillJ wrote: »

"Taking the high road"

A term coined by hippies back in the 60's where they would smoke many many marijuana cigarettes before embarking on a journey

Usually followed by a period of abstinence, hence coining the phrase "Keep off the grass"

antodeco

deccurley wrote: »

What the hell does the "Driving Miss Daisy" reference mean?

Im assuming its from the movie? An old lad driving around an old woman, fairly lightly.

ScumLord

"Hand over fist", often heard as, making money hand over fist.

Comes from Roman times when two dies were used to mint coins. You'd hold the bottom die in your fist and hit the top die with your other hand, hand over fist.

Plazaman

In days of yore, most sailing ships had cannons and beside each cannon was a supply of iron cannon balls. These cannon balls were always stacked ferrero rocher style in a pyramid shape but at their base was a triangle made of brass, known as a monkey, to keep them in place.

In cold weather when the metal triangle contracted it caused the cannon balls to fall off.

Hence the phrase : "It would freeze the balls off a brass monkey".

Pompey Magnus

"To put the kibosh on..." means to put an end to something.

Most likely derived from the Irish "caip bháis", referring to the black cap a judge would put on before sentencing someone to death.

DEFTLEFTHAND

deccurley wrote: »

What the hell does the "Driving Miss Daisy" reference mean?

It's a film and stage play isn't it? Not sure if it has any special meaning.

3DataModem

My favourite misused one is "blood is thicker than water"... Most people assume it means family bonds are stronger than others but in fact it means the EXACT opposite.

It generally was a shortened version of "the blood of fraternity is thicker than the water of the womb"... friendships from the battlefield or similar are closer than those of your family.

cocobear

"Rule of thumb"

Originated with Miller's, they would take the ground flour between their thumb and index finger to test how coarse it was

--Kaiser--

summerskin wrote: »

The Whole Nine Yards

Not an American sports reference as many believe, but a reference to the "belt" of ammunition used by airforce gunners in WW2, which were nine yards long. Giving them "the whole nine yards" meant basically trying to blast the enemy to smithereens.

That's a common but unlikely explanation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_whole_nine_yards

http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/nineyards.asp

cocobear

cocobear wrote: »

"Rule of thumb"

Originated with Miller's, they would take the ground flour between their thumb and index finger to test how coarse it was

I always believed it was from an old law that held it was lawful for a man to beat his wife, provided he used an implement no thicker than his thumb to do so.

As this would suggest:


http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/rule-of-thumb.html

DEFTLEFTHAND

Cut and Run.

An old nautical expression meaning to cut a ships anchor loose to facilitate a speedy getaway instead of pulling it in.

wilkie2006

On and off the wagon...

Interestingly the phrase 'on the wagon' stems from another tradition that took place on [the last journey of a condemned-to-death prisoner in London]. At Queen Matilda's ( wife of Henry I) bequest a cup of charity was given to the condemned as they travelled towards their death. Originally this was given at St Giles-in-the-Fields, a leper hospital until 1539 (it became a church in 1547). Then it became a custom that Bow tavern gave a pint of ale to each condemned person. Commonly used to describe abstaining from alcohol, one theory states that the phrase developed because prisonsers were put back on the wagon, never to drink again. Another theory goes that the executioner stayed on the wagon the whole time, as they were not invited into the tavern.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-london/A988833

Dyr

antodeco wrote: »

And where "the greeks invented gays"

Something to do with a load of loads being inside a horse.

Wait, thats beastiality..

What do you think all dem greeks were doing in there? Waiting patiently?

davet82

'Its raining cats and dogs'

Did this ever really happen? :rolleyes:

RGDATA!

pitythefool wrote: »

That is brilliant on so many levels in relation to my post

Thanks Captain Obvious

"so many levels"
(usually means exactly "two levels")

--Kaiser--

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

That's a common but unlikely explanation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_whole_nine_yards

http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/nineyards.asp

From the Snopes website, a jocular origin for the phrase:

Love-struck Andy McTavish sets off to visit his fiancée while well into his cups. He wears a kilt his mother has woven for him which was made of 1 yard of cloth instead of the normal 9. In his excitement and drunkenness he manages to slam the door on that item of clothing, thereby pulling it from his person and leaving him naked underneath his cloak.

He arrives at his fiancées home in the middle of the night and wakes her by throwing stones at her window. Once she appears at the window he throws off his cloak revealing his full male glory (unbeknownst to him). He asks if she likes what she sees, the gal, blushingly, replies that she does, at which McTavish proudly says “Well lass, that’s nothing! I’ve 8 more yards at home!”

ronan45

"Hard Faced C%$T"

What is a hard face and what does it look like

666irishguy

"Over the top"

The most commonly believed origin of this phrase is that it is used to describe the action of exiting a trench in WW1 and heading into no-mans land. Trenches were below ground level for obvious reasons and "over the top" of the trench was the dangerous world outside of it. To go over the top and into no-mans land was at best dangerous and in hindsight, the tactic of advancing out of the trenches and into no-mans land is regarded as being needlessly risky and futile considering what was gained by such attacks. Hence today it is used to describe someone engaging or reacting in an excessive or reckless manner with regards to a situation.

Ray Palmer

davet82 wrote: »

'Its raining cats and dogs'

Did this ever really happen? :rolleyes:

Cats and dogs would sleep in the thatched roofs. When it rained so heavily the thatch would become so wet the cats and dogs would lose their footing and fall off. Hence it is raining "cats and dogs"

Ray Palmer

"Seize the day" is often misunderstood. It is seize the day for you don't know what tomorrow brings. The meaning was learn now because you might not have the chance to do so tomorrow not enjoy yourself now because you won't have the chance tomorrow.

castletownman

Piss Poor

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot and then once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were "piss poor".

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot. They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low

davet82

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Cats and dogs would sleep in the thatched roofs. When it rained so heavily the thatch would become so wet the cats and dogs would lose their footing and fall off. Hence it is raining "cats and dogs"

well you learn something new everyday

Mr. CooL ICE

AH has turned into the Ray Darcy show

Wibbs

Ray Palmer wrote: »

"Cease the day" is often misunderstood.

Indeed, "Cease the day" makes no sense, it's "Seize the day", from the Latin "Carpe diem".

--Kaiser--

Ray Palmer wrote: »

"Cease the day" is often misunderstood. It is cease the day for you don't know what tomorrow brings. The meaning was learn now because you might not have the chance to do so tomorrow not enjoy yourself now because you won't have the chance tomorrow.

Ahem. It's 'Seize the day'

Prodigious

"Tits on a bull"

Is another way of saying useless

Ray Palmer

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

Ahem. It's 'Seize the day'

Agreed I mistyped but the saying explanation is correct

Ray Palmer

Company folds

In china they used ribbon to tie manuscripts together. Somebody figure you could fold the paper instead and make a kind of book. This made ribbon companies loose so much business that the expression of a company "folding" came in to use.

Plazaman

Another one I like was in olden days when it came to wash night (probably once a week if lucky), the tin bath was placed in the middle of the kitchen floor and the man of the house would get to wash first, then the woman of the house and then their children in order of their ages eldest to youngest. All in the same water :eek:

By the time the youngest child or baby was to be washed, they'd probably end up even worse than they were as the water was so filthy, whatever was below the surface of the water could not be seen.

Hence "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water".