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Expressions you don't get

2

Comments

  • #32
    Big Nasty
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,066 ✭✭✭✭Big Nasty


    'Smoke & Daggers'


  • #33
    Duggy747
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,295 ✭✭✭✭Duggy747


    "Play it be ear"

    I used to always think it was "Play it by year"..............which, in my mind, makes more sense considering the phrase is about how things will go when a situation develops or as time goes on.

    I dunno, feels like I've been living a lie all these years....


  • #34
    Sir Digby Chicken Caesar
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 23,554 ✭✭✭✭Sir Digby Chicken Caesar


    have your cake and eat it too... what's the ****ing point in having a cake if you're not going to eat it

    are there people who buy cakes just to keep them in the fridge for a few weeks?


  • #35
    Mr Benevolent
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,433 ✭✭✭✭Mr Benevolent


    B.A._Baracus wrote: »

    "All is fair in love and war"

    We all know the expression.
    By definition it means "When it comes down to it, all is fair" ... But lets look at some examples. What if I:


    • Screw a friend out of money.
    • Sleep with my so called "friend's" partner.
    • Use or manipulate a person.
    • Collect the social while working / or abuse the system.
    • Not pay tax.
    • Steal
    • etc
    I've heard so many people say "all is fair in love and war" when rationalising their actions. But never when its someone elses actions!

    Uh, if it's not love it's war. Simple.


  • #36
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 5,464 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    "Leave eh bleedin ouuuuu"
    Like "the cat is bleeding, put him outside"....?


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  • #37
    username123
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,484 ✭✭✭username123


    Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »
    have your cake and eat it too... what's the ****ing point in having a cake if you're not going to eat it

    are there people who buy cakes just to keep them in the fridge for a few weeks?

    If you have your cake (ie, keep it in the fridge) then you cannot also eat the cake, because then the cake will be gone.

    You cannot do both things with the cake. You can either eat it, or keep it in the fridge (to eat later) but you cant do both together.

    **** me pink - when people have sex they develop an inverted triangular sexual flush on the body. On white people, its pink.


  • #38
    username123
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,484 ✭✭✭username123


    dodderangler wrote: »
    If someone is suspicious your up to somethin and ya mate says here that chap is dog wide to u

    Ive never heard of dog wide, but a common Dublin expression is 'bang wide' - Ive no idea where it came from.

    Is it something to do with an animal approaching and keeping a wide berth because they are nervous and are looking at things from all angles?


  • #39
    Pompey Magnus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,406 ✭✭✭Pompey Magnus


    "The worm has turned"

    Where was the worm going, why did he turn around and who was watching it and thought the action so profound that they decided to turn it into a expression?


  • #40
    admiralofthefleet
    Closed Accounts Posts: 15,515 ✭✭✭✭admiralofthefleet


    'think outside the box' and other bollox spouted by HR types


  • #41
    endofrainbow
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,363 ✭✭✭endofrainbow


    *as the man say's* ...WHICH man?

    *giving it socks*


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  • #42
    markesmith
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,752 ✭✭✭markesmith


    "Die dog or sh*te a license!"

    Never got this one. Might never have been uttered outside my particular corner of Offaly though!


  • #43
    Savage Tyrant
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,164 ✭✭✭Savage Tyrant


    Duggy747 wrote: »
    "Play it be ear"

    I used to always think it was "Play it by year"..............which, in my mind, makes more sense considering the phrase is about how things will go when a situation develops or as time goes on.

    I dunno, feels like I've been living a lie all these years....

    It's a musical term. Really good musicians can replay a bit of music without the written notes and by just listening to the piece.
    So the term "play it by ear" came to mean doing somethin on the fly or without any pre-planning or preparation.


  • #44
    byronbay2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,772 ✭✭✭byronbay2


    MCMLXXV wrote: »
    'Smoke & Daggers'

    I think you're mixing your metaphors - the expressions you're referring to are "smoke and mirrors" and "cloak and dagger".


  • #45
    gobnaitolunacy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,073 ✭✭✭gobnaitolunacy


    byronbay2 wrote: »
    I think you're mixing your metaphors - the expressions you're referring to are "smoke and mirrors" and "cloak and dagger".

    It's a Bertie-ism.


  • #46
    phil1nj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 716 ✭✭✭phil1nj


    maryb26 wrote: »
    "like the cuates egg, good in parts" Not a clue what that means.

    There's suppossedly a story about this that a curate was invited to dinner by the local priest and the meal served consisted of a boiled egg. The curate ate the egg (which was supposedly rotten). When asked by the priest how it tasted, the curate, eager not to offend or insult the senior priest, replied that parts of the egg were very good. Hence the expression "a curates egg" which means that overall something is terrible or lacking but certain parts of it are good or have merit - usually used when talking about movies, books, plays, albums or other such bodies of work.


  • #47
    Plazaman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,037 ✭✭✭Plazaman


    "Zip up your mickey". Ah good old Twink *


    * By good I mean mad auld bítch and by old I mean when Moses parted the red sea, she was on the other side washing clothes.


  • #48
    Greyjoy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 548 ✭✭✭Greyjoy


    splendid101 wrote: »
    Back in the day the sailors were allowed two blocks of wood from the ship for use in their own fires.

    Eventuallyit was reduces to one chip which they carried down the gangplank on one shoulder. They weren't happy about only being allowed one chip, that's where the phrase comes from.

    Not quite, the phrase originated from the shipbuilders who were permitted to carry out wood from the shipyard balanced on their shoulders. The rules were changed so that they had to carry the wood under their arms instead of on the shoulder. That change made the wood harder to carry so this meant the builders could only take a much smaller block.

    Some of the shipwrights persisted in carrying the wood out on their shoulders so someone with a "chip on their shoulder" came to mean a person who felt persecuted or had a grievance.


  • #49
    fincollins
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 117 ✭✭fincollins


    Jesus wept


    :confused:


    What the hell does that mean????? :(


  • #50
    kylith
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,745 ✭✭✭✭kylith


    The King of Moo wrote: »
    When we travel, we take roads and other types of paths which have to fit around natural and artificial obstacles.

    If a crow were travelling from the same point to the same destination, however, it would avoid those obstacles entirely and it would probably fly there directly in a fairly straight line.

    So the expression simply means there are no turns or sizeable curves on the route. It's pretty straight.
    'As the crow flies' is generally taken to mean 'cross country'*, not paying any attention to roads at all so, imo, the op is kind of right to be confused because it would seem that the lorry driver is advising that they start climbing over ditches and stuff.

    *"It's a 5 mile trip to work by road, but only 3 as the crow flies".


  • #51
    --Kaiser--
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭--Kaiser--


    maryb26 wrote: »
    "like the cuates egg, good in parts" Not a clue what that means.

    From a cartoon published in Punch magazine:
    "Bishop: "I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr Jones";
    Curate: "Oh, no, my Lord, I assure you that parts of it are excellent!"


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  • #52
    kylith
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,745 ✭✭✭✭kylith


    markesmith wrote: »
    "Die dog or sh*te a license!"

    Never got this one. Might never have been uttered outside my particular corner of Offaly though!
    I'd say it stems from a run-in with the dog warden where the dog's owner had no licence and he extolled the dog to either magically produce one or die so that he wouldn't be fined.

    You could also say "Explode, car, or have a tax disc magically appear in the glove box".


  • #53
    Duggy747
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,295 ✭✭✭✭Duggy747


    Savage Tyrant wrote: »
    It's a musical term. Really good musicians can replay a bit of music without the written notes and by just listening to the piece.
    So the term "play it by ear" came to mean doing somethin on the fly or without any pre-planning or preparation.

    Thank you, but I prefer it my way :pac:


  • #54
    Feisar
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,031 ✭✭✭Feisar


    opinion guy wrote: »
    This trend for using the word optics with regard to politics/public opinion.

    Makes me sick. Optics are things you shine light through or pour drinks thru. that's it. Full stop.

    Thinly veiled "I worked behind the counter" reply!

    First they came for the socialists...



  • #55
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 5,464 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    fincollins wrote: »
    Jesus wept


    :confused:


    What the hell does that mean????? :(

    When they were hammering the nails in, he cried like a baby.


  • #56
    Hazys
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,510 ✭✭✭Hazys


    I always thought the expression was "play it by year" because each year you would sit down and do a budget, make resolution or something and reassess your prospects for the new year, so basically you take it as it comes, one year at time...but used in the short term.

    But its actually "play it by ear"...This phrase comes from the musical ability to play music without having seen the music. This basically means to do something without a plan.


  • #57
    gigawatt2007
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 130 ✭✭gigawatt2007


    It is what it is

    What else is it supposed to be?


  • #58
    Savage Tyrant
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,164 ✭✭✭Savage Tyrant


    Hazys wrote: »
    I always thought the expression was "play it by year" because each year you would sit down and do a budget, make resolution or something and reassess your prospects for the new year, so basically you take it as it comes, one year at time...but used in the short term.

    But its actually "play it by ear"...This phrase comes from the musical ability to play music without having seen the music. This basically means to do something without a plan.

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=80972913&postcount=43


  • #59
    Gyalist
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,537 ✭✭✭Gyalist


    fincollins wrote: »
    Jesus wept


    :confused:


    What the hell does that mean????? :(

    It's from John 11:35 and it's the shortest verse in the KJV Bible.


  • #60
    Apanachi
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 757 ✭✭✭Apanachi


    Not quite so much an expression but a reference (kinda embarrassed to admit this actually, but what the hey, no-one here knows who I really am - I hope!!!)

    Until last week, I didn't know what people meant when they referred to "two girls one cup", so I googled it (fI was wise enough to google it from my phone and not my work PC though ;))

    and all I can say is - YUCK!!!!!


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  • #61
    stunmer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 279 ✭✭stunmer


    That's the exception which proves the rule.

    wtf?

    If it is an exception it doesn't prove anything.


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