Things that make you go hmmm...
Nov 4th, 2003, 04:03 PM
#61
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My dad (Bayou Country, Louisiana) used to say on icy days "It's as slick as owl sh*t on a tin roof." A lovely saying.
I've always loved saying that someone is "as dumb as a bag of hammers" or "stupid as a box of hair" (kinda like Molly Ivins would say).
I love good Spanish sayings like "El que se acuesta con niños se levanta cagado" ('He who sleeps with children wakes up sh*t on')-- meaning "Choose your compatriots carefully". Or "Tanto va el cántaro a la fuente que alguna vez se quiebra" ('The pitcher goes to the fountain so much, sometime it's going to break')-- meaning "Don't press your luck". Anyone else?
I've always loved saying that someone is "as dumb as a bag of hammers" or "stupid as a box of hair" (kinda like Molly Ivins would say).
I love good Spanish sayings like "El que se acuesta con niños se levanta cagado" ('He who sleeps with children wakes up sh*t on')-- meaning "Choose your compatriots carefully". Or "Tanto va el cántaro a la fuente que alguna vez se quiebra" ('The pitcher goes to the fountain so much, sometime it's going to break')-- meaning "Don't press your luck". Anyone else?
Nov 4th, 2003, 04:57 PM
#62
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I was wandering the little shops with a friend in Australia and she suggested we have ". . a sticky beak.." I thought she meant something about a sticky bun, which I had heard before. No... she meant we'd take a quick peek inside a shop!
Nov 4th, 2003, 06:22 PM
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An old standard from childhood days...
"I swear, if you had a brain you'd take it out and play with it"
And then there's the thing I heard on the radio the other day on the ultimate southern out-clause "Bless Her/His Heart"
The idea here was that you could say anything about anyone, as long as you started or ended with "Bless her heart"
"Mmmm, mmm, that boy drinks like a dehydrated fish.... bless his heart"
"She's got a mind like a steel trap. Rusted shut. .... Bless her heart"
"I swear, if you had a brain you'd take it out and play with it"
And then there's the thing I heard on the radio the other day on the ultimate southern out-clause "Bless Her/His Heart"
The idea here was that you could say anything about anyone, as long as you started or ended with "Bless her heart"
"Mmmm, mmm, that boy drinks like a dehydrated fish.... bless his heart"
"She's got a mind like a steel trap. Rusted shut. .... Bless her heart"
Nov 4th, 2003, 07:13 PM
#66
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This one is from New England, and you have to say it sarcastically: "Dawn breaks on Marblehead." It means that someone has finally figured something out--way, way after everyone else did! Sort of like saying you have rocks instead of brains upstairs. (Marblehead is a fishing town outside Boston.)
Nov 4th, 2003, 07:15 PM
#67
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From a teacher:
Your son is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.
This student has a "full six-pack" but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together.
I would not allow this student to breed.
Your son sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them.
Your son is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.
This student has a "full six-pack" but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together.
I would not allow this student to breed.
Your son sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them.
Nov 4th, 2003, 07:31 PM
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<< Darling, a house in Marblehead goes for about $3 million. Some fishing town!>>
No kidding! As a kid, I was a guest at a friend's Marblehead mansion for a week. They had a solid Italian marble floor on their "ballroom" and a private beach. I remember, as a 13-year-old, asking if there were sharks in the water on their private beach and being told "No, of course, we don't allow them." Marblehead is no more a "fishing village" than is Monaco. It is, of course, ripe for a slew of interesting and colorful phrases.
No kidding! As a kid, I was a guest at a friend's Marblehead mansion for a week. They had a solid Italian marble floor on their "ballroom" and a private beach. I remember, as a 13-year-old, asking if there were sharks in the water on their private beach and being told "No, of course, we don't allow them." Marblehead is no more a "fishing village" than is Monaco. It is, of course, ripe for a slew of interesting and colorful phrases.
Nov 5th, 2003, 04:57 AM
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Travelers from "The Great State of South Carolina" to the UK, should refrain from wearing their t-shirts that proclaim their love of the state dance "The Shag". You know, such things as "Shaggin' On The Strand", etc. Need I say more.
Nov 5th, 2003, 10:11 AM
#78
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Mary Fran:
"Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof" translates into "I understand only 'railway station'" and is used the way your sister says.
"Choose your company carefully": "Wer mit Affen spielt, wird gebissen" (Whoever plays with monkeys will get bitten).
Specific to Basel: "verzell du das em fäärimaa" (tell it to the ferry operator ;-)): I don't believe a word you're saying
"Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof" translates into "I understand only 'railway station'" and is used the way your sister says.
"Choose your company carefully": "Wer mit Affen spielt, wird gebissen" (Whoever plays with monkeys will get bitten).
Specific to Basel: "verzell du das em fäärimaa" (tell it to the ferry operator ;-)): I don't believe a word you're saying
Nov 5th, 2003, 10:44 AM
#79
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this doesn't have anything to do with sayings, but rather customs.
Being American, I'm used to slightly different condiments than those used in other countries. I was in England visiting my then boyfriend and his mother. We had gone to a steak restaurant. The waitress asked each diner what sort of mustard, English or French, did they want on their steaks. When she got to me, I requested worchester sauce. My friend, his mother, AND the waitress all looked at me incredulously and asked "what are you going to put it on?" (apparantly, in Britain, worchester sauce is reserved for soups and stews) They and I all thought "hmmmmm"
Being American, I'm used to slightly different condiments than those used in other countries. I was in England visiting my then boyfriend and his mother. We had gone to a steak restaurant. The waitress asked each diner what sort of mustard, English or French, did they want on their steaks. When she got to me, I requested worchester sauce. My friend, his mother, AND the waitress all looked at me incredulously and asked "what are you going to put it on?" (apparantly, in Britain, worchester sauce is reserved for soups and stews) They and I all thought "hmmmmm"
