Cliched sayings you just don't understand.

[TimTwoFace]

There are plenty of popular (and usually cliched) sayings out there we use a lot of the time. Most of them I understand, but there are still a lot of them that make no sense to me. A friend and I were e-mailing back and forth about this, trying to figure out the meanings for some of them, and we got stumped a number of times. For example...

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

Alright, I get the gyst of it, but where does this one come from? And what about "the pot calling the kettle black"? What the...?

Can you think of any yourself? Or, more importantly, can you explain any of them to the rest of us?

-Tim
(the confused philosopher)

[Jedigreedo]

Heard the bird in the hand one explained somewhere but don't remember what it meant or where it was explained.

The "pot calling the kettle black" though is most pots are black, and so it'd be like a pop star calling someone else a fruad. ;) I think when it was created it referred to older times when pots were black because of the stuff they were made from. I dunno, just my guess.

[Bleu Unicorn]

Originally posted by TimTwoFace
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

It's actually a hunting euphamism -- best to take the one you shot then fight with two you think are in the bush over their. Basically the same as "the grass is always greener on the other side."

Now the "pot calling the kettle black" is pretty interesting. Jedi got it pretty much right. I don't think it's as old as that, but it basically refers to calling someone (or in this case thing) something without realizing you actually are the same way. Pointing out other's faults before noticing your own. Pots and kettles in the colonial times were all cast iron, thus they were black.

Hope I helped! (I love adages, btw.)

The one I dislike, not 'cause I don't understand it, is "killing two birds with one stone." It's a bit too morbid for my tastes. But since I'm clarifying, it basically means accomplishing something with half the effort, just as efficiently. This one I don't know where it came from, so don't ask.

[ProdigyCube]

Give me your wallet or I'll bust a cap in your head!

What does it mean!?!?!?!

[zimbach]

Originally posted by ProdigyCube
Give me your wallet or I'll bust a cap in your head!

What does it mean!?!?!?! It refers to older firearms where you'd have to place a percussion cap under the hammer. Modern bullets have the precussion cap incorporated into their design.

[Failure]

Ok this one is PG-13...

[crap]-eating grin. And I mean another word to stand in place of [crap] ;)

What's that supposed to mean?

[zmanjz]

Ok, how about: A Rolling Stone Gathers no moss

[ProdigyCube]

A Rolling Stone Gathers no moss.

Stone that just lay on the ground will eventuly gather moss. I f is is moving around it wont.

Do stuff and you wont get old and boring.

[Terminatah]

Originally posted by BleuUnicorn
It's actually a hunting euphamism -- best to take the one you shot then fight with two you think are in the bush over their.No. The bird in your hand is not shot. The situation is, you have grabbed a bird, and he is yours. But there are two more birds in the bush. If you release your bird and grab the two in the bush, you will end up with more birds. However, the two in the bush also have a chance to fly away, so you risk losing your sure thing out of greed for more.

Originally posted by BleuUnicorn
Basically the same as "the grass is always greener on the other side."Similar, but not the same. Where the birds in the bush are definitively more than the bird in your hand, the grass on the other side is not necessarily more or less than your grass. You don't admire it because it's more valuable; you admire it because it's different.

-Terminatah

[JetMaster5]

"Money do not grow out of trees."

I know it means don't waste money, but how's it related to "trees"?

[jeffrey 228]

Meaning the more money you spend, the more trees get cut down.

[Bleu Unicorn]

Originally posted by jetwing5
"Money does not grow out of trees."
It means that money isn't as plentiful as leaves that grow on trees. Though jeffrey 228's explanation works, too. :D

[Galaxia]

Think about it:

Money is made of paper (kinda, sort of)
Paper comes from trees
Soooo.....money does grow on trees :D

[jeffrey 228]

Yea and that is where mine and BleuUnicorn's advice come in. :rolleyes:

[Naraht]

*surprised no one's mentioned this*

Have Your Cake & Eat it too....


This actually refers to a situation where a cake was made that was increadibly beautiful. It was made by a master chef, and it was as delicious as it was beautiful..

The delema was, do you keep the cake to look at, or eat it - destroying the artform that was the cake...

[JustJack]

"You'll always have a problem with moving a body in one piece, so I hear the best thing to do is chop it up into 6 pieces.......Then I hear the next best thing to do, is feed the body to pigs..............you'll need 16 pigs to complete the job of a 200 lb. body in, oh, 8 minutes. Which means that a single pig can eat threw 2 pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Thus the saying...as greedy as a pig" -Bricktop, SNATCH.

;)

[Mackenzie Rainelle]

Originally posted by TimTwoFace

Alright, I get the gyst of it, but where does this one come from? And what about "the pot calling the kettle black"? What the...?


I know this one. Back when people commonly cooked in fireplaces, both pots and kettles would turn black from being hung over the fire and getting coated in soot. The pot calling the kettle black would be a stupid insult, since the pot would be just as black as the kettle.

Therefore, it means not to insult someone about a trait you also have.

[zmanjz]

Originally posted by Mackenzie Rainelle
I know this one. Back when people commonly cooked in fireplaces, both pots and kettles would turn black from being hung over the fire and getting coated in soot.

You're joking right?

The cookware back then wasn't stainless steel.

It was Iron. Black Cast Iron. It was black before it was cooked... it's the nature of that type of cast Iron.

(Stand back, I'm a historian.)

<zmanjz whips a book out of his shouldr holster.>


(Obviously I was never an english major.)

[Calico]

Originally posted by SpikeJet143
Think about it:

Money is made of paper (kinda, sort of)
Paper comes from trees
Soooo.....money does grow on trees :D

Actually American money is printed on a cotton (75%) / linen (25%) blend, not paper at all.

Have Your Cake & Eat it too....

A common misquote, it is really "Eat your cake and have it too", ie having it after you eat it.

I know what they mean now but 'A dime a dozen' and 'Six of one, half dozen of another' confused me as a kid.

[Failure]

I see no one's attempted to touch mine's with a 50 foot pole.

[TimTwoFace]

Let's not forget the fact that we should not, repeat, should NOT look a gift-horse in the mouth.

I mean, whuh? :p

-Tim
(Neigh.)

[Mackenzie Rainelle]

Originally posted by zmanjz

The cookware back then wasn't stainless steel.


You're obviously not a cook either, or you'd know that stainless steel wouldn't be able to turn black from fire anyway. :D

[ninjagirl]

Originally posted by TimTwoFace
Let's not forget the fact that we should not, repeat, should NOT look a gift-horse in the mouth.

I mean, whuh? :p

-Tim
(Neigh.)
that one is just about being too critical about a gift or something that is free.
you look in the horse mouth to see its age before you buy it. If its a gift, hey its just a free horse, so be happy somebody gave it to you instead of looking for faults( maybe in front of the giver?). at least that's what I think. :)

[Kal-el]

I never got the saying "Right as Rain." What the heck does that mean? Where did it come from?

[panther3751]

You'll always find it in the last place you look.


I mean, DUH!!!!!!!!! :eek:

[kiddiesunshine]

you'll find it in the last you'd look:
easy. we lose things in obvious places. moreover, the more obvious the place is, the less likely we are to look there first.
six in one, half a dozen in the other:
well a half dozen is six, so what you're doing is making marinara out of red sauce, or making two identical things seem different.

[Terminatah]

Originally posted by jetwing5
"Money do not grow out of trees."

I know it means don't waste money, but how's it related to "trees"? Trees are just used as a contrast to the limited nature of money, because you can grow an infinite supply of trees by planting as many as you want.

Originally posted by Kal-el
I never got the saying "Right as Rain." What the heck does that mean? Where did it come from? Aside from its aesthetically pleasing use of alliteration, it most likely uses rain as an example of what is right because rain is pure water, and comes down in a straight, unrelenting path. Other than that, there is no secret origin to this one.

-Terminatah

[TimTwoFace]

Originally posted by ninjagirl
that one is just about being too critical about a gift or something that is free.
you look in the horse mouth to see its age before you buy it. If its a gift, hey its just a free horse, so be happy somebody gave it to you instead of looking for faults( maybe in front of the giver?). at least that's what I think. :)

Yeah, I was pretty sure that's what it meant. :)

Now this one I understand is to be taken in a sarcastic way, but I still don't know where it originated:

"Now that's a fine kettle of fish."

-Tim
(Dislikes seafood.)

[panther3751]

Originally posted by kiddiesunshine
you'll find it in the last you'd look:
easy. we lose things in obvious places. moreover, the more obvious the place is, the less likely we are to look there first.



But you don't keep looking for something once you find it! So of course it's the last place you look! So why does it become such a canned phrase????

AAGGGHHH!!!! :rolleyes:

[kiddiesunshine]

people don't say it right. you're gonna search AFTER discovery. but you will search everywhere but the right place.
"it's always in the last place you would think of" is a more understandable variant.

[ninjagirl]

"Now that's a fine kettle of fish."

I haven't the foggiest idea. how abou this one:

get the lead out meaning (i think) hurry up.

duck dodgers says it to porky but how does it make sense?

[Clayface]

Originally posted by ninjagirl

get the lead out meaning (i think) hurry up.

duck dodgers says it to porky but how does it make sense?


Lead is a very dense, and thus very heavy metal. If you're carrying around a load of lead, you can't move swiftly. Thus, when you "get the lead out" (get rid of the lead) you lighten your weight, and you can move faster, or speed things up.

The origin of it? I have no idea.

[TimTwoFace]

OK, here's one that we're familiar with but I can't figure out it's origin:

"Surf the net."

-Tim

[ninjagirl]

Originally posted by Clayface

Lead is a very dense, and thus very heavy metal. If you're carrying around a load of lead, you can't move swiftly. Thus, when you "get the lead out" (get rid of the lead) you lighten your weight, and you can move faster, or speed things up.

The origin of it? I have no idea.

did people in the past often lug around large amounts of lead?

[Mattashell]

I don't understand why people say Show me the money. Is that supposed to be funny? Why? I know it was in a movie, but I don't see why it's funny in a movie, and I don't see why it's funny to go around repeating it.

[Terminatah]

Originally posted by Clayface

Lead is a very dense, and thus very heavy metal. If you're carrying around a load of lead, you can't move swiftly. Thus, when you "get the lead out" (get rid of the lead) you lighten your weight, and you can move faster, or speed things up.

The origin of it? I have no idea.
Another suggested origin for this phrase involves horse racing. Some magazine reported that the horse racing people claimed to have coined this phrase from the practice of weighing down certain jockeys with lead weights to equalize the loads carried by horses during the races. Supposedly, to "get the lead out" referred to the onetime practice of dumping the weights on the backstretch to give your horse an advantage. Now they weigh jockeys at the end of the race to make sure they didn't cheat.

The site where I read this was skeptical about whether or not this was really the origin of the phrase, because groups (such as the horse racing people) often like to take credit for stuff like that, and are not aversed to making up stories that sound accurate. But it's still a nice story.

-Terminatah

[Clayface]

Originally posted by ninjagirl
did people in the past often lug around large amounts of lead?


LOL! I don't know! But here's an interesting thread on the phrase from another message board:

http://www.wordwizard.com/clubhouse/founddiscuss.asp?Num=2976

Edit: Doh! Terminatah just beat me to it - the link I provided is the same thing he just said!

[Terminatah]

Wow, I think Clayface and I just had some kinda mind meld.

-Terminatah

[jeffrey 228]

Well that is a very strange to see then, but I don't get it. :confused:

[TimTwoFace]

Originally posted by Mattashell
I don't understand why people say Show me the money. Is that supposed to be funny? Why? I know it was in a movie, but I don't see why it's funny in a movie, and I don't see why it's funny to go around repeating it.

That means that they won't do a thing until they see some money comin' there way, or some other type of payment. I guess it's kinda similar to the "money talks" saying.

What about this one?

"I'll be there with bells on."

-Tim

[Nightflower]

Did anyone cover "easy as pie" yet?

[Galaxia]

Originally posted by TimTwoFace
"I'll be there with bells on."

-Tim

I think I have an idea of what it means........but I can't seem to find the right words to explain it. Maybe it means someone is going somewhere and they want to get noticed or recognized (ergo, the "bells" thing).


Did anyone cover "easy as pie" yet?

Pi isn't easy - it's 3.14159265..........

:D


::TWACK!::


.........................Oww....................

[Mattashell]

Originally posted by Nightflower
Did anyone cover "easy as pie" yet?

Pie is easier to eat than it is to make. :D

[Theking]

Now I always thought that that one ment you would show up very well dressed and ready to go.

TheKing

[Galaxia]

It could be... ^^;

[Lonestarr]

Sorry to play Victor Frankenstein (or Herbert West, for that matter), but I thought of two sayings I'd like explained:

"Throwing out the baby with the bath water."

and

"shaggy-dog story"

Could someone help?

[Nightflower]

How does "piece of cake" mean something's easy?

[jimi5150]

Back in the days before running water...

The tub was filled. The MAN of the house went first. (He worked for a living!). The older children (however many there were) went next. The lady of the house then took her bath, afterwards tossing in the bouncing baby. By then, of course, the water was pretty dark & cloudy. The saying came from when it was time to throw out the REALLY dirty bathwater; make sure the baby's not still in it.

[Jade_GL]

I always enjoyed "Said the desert to the grain of sand"

[Frank White]

Whats the orgin of OK?

[Jade_GL]

Originally posted by Frank White
Whats the orgin of OK?

Read this ---> Origin of the word OK (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_250)

This website answers so many good questions. I saw your post and remembered reading this entry. Hope it helps you out. :D

[TimTwoFace]

Wow, it was nice to see that someone revived this thread. :)

"Nice buns."

Why buns? :p *LOOKS BEHIND SELF*

-Tim

[Mattashell]

I think a person's buttocks resemble to buns together, like on a sandwich.

[Palin Dromos]

I'll toss another one out.

Something about "The writings on the walls" or "The writing's on the walls"

They say it in Goldeneye and I've heard it other places but I have no idea what it's refering to or trying to say.

[Terminatah]

Originally posted by Palin Dromos
I'll toss another one out.

Something about "The writings on the walls" or "The writing's on the walls"

They say it in Goldeneye and I've heard it other places but I have no idea what it's refering to or trying to say. THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL
Meaning: The outcome (usually negative) is obvious.
Background: The expression comes from a Babylonian legend in which the evil King Belshazzar drank from a sacred vessel looted from the Temple in Jerusalem. According to one version of the legend, "A mysterious hand appeared after this act of sacrilege and to the astonishment of the king wrote four strange words on the wall of the banquet room. Only the Hebrew prophet, Daniel, could interpret the mysterious message. He boldly told the ruler that they spelled disaster for him and his nation. Soon afterward, Belshazzar was defeated and slain, just as Daniel said." The scene was a popular subject for tapestries and paintings during the Middle Ages.

-Terminatah

[TimTwoFace]

"All that and a bag of chips."

Any help?

-Tim

[zimbach]

Originally posted by TimTwoFace
"All that and a bag of chips."

Any help?

-Tim
After a typical deli value meal offer, e.g. buy a sandwitch and a soda at the regular price; you get all that, and a bag of chips for free.

It's a retort meaning "Yes to everything you spoke of, plus more as well".

[Mattashell]

Further more, in Ireland, an order of fries is a "bag of chips", probably England too. So much like zimbach said with the deli meals, it's like you get fries with that meal. "Everything and more."

[Artemis]

Originally posted by BleuUnicorn

The one I dislike, not 'cause I don't understand it, is "killing two birds with one stone." It's a bit too morbid for my tastes. But since I'm clarifying, it basically means accomplishing something with half the effort, just as efficiently. This one I don't know where it came from, so don't ask.

No, I think "killing two birds with one stone" means accomplishing a task, but also accomplishing a second desirable task by accomplishing the first task. "Killing two birds with one stone".

Here's one I don't get.

"That's the final straw!"

I know what it means, but what does it have to with "That's it! I'm not taking it anymore!"? ¡Explicame, por favor!

[zimbach]

Originally posted by Artemis
Here's one I don't get.

"That's the final straw!"

I know what it means, but what does it have to with "That's it! I'm not taking it anymore!"? ¡Explicame, por favor! It's a reference to a fable about "the straw that broke the camel's back". Camels are beasts of burden, and straw is among the cargoes they historically carry. When loading a camel, particularly with straw, it is tempting to add just one more peice, since the camel appears to have no trouble with the current load. Eventually, though, it will only take one more piece of straw to make the camel collapse under it's weight. That is "the last straw".

This is all a warning of the perils of incrementalism. :D

[JohnCrichton]

"Physician heal thyself!"

Closest I got to an explanation from this was alot of confused looks at someone saying, "I think it's some reference to Jesus or something....."

0_o

What the hells does it mean?

[zimbach]

Originally posted by JohnCrichton
"Physician heal thyself!"

Closest I got to an explanation from this was alot of confused looks at someone saying, "I think it's some reference to Jesus or something....."

0_o

What the hells does it mean? It's a basic anti-hypocrite retort, similar to "practice what you preach!"

It's sort of like "Who are you to tell me what to do when you don't follow your own advice?"

It is also specifically a taunt against a sick doctor to challenge his medical skill, but that's the literal interpritation.

[Rabbiterose]

:dot:

I may have screwed up the saying but...

What is the origin and meaning of "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"?

[Taiso]

No idea about the origin of that saying

But basically it means that you can show someone the right path, but it doesn't mean they will take it. For example, you can send a murderer to jail, give him/her counselling etc, but it doesn't mean that they won't chose to commit murder again.