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cimarch
Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 358
Location: Dalian
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 Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 7:50 am Post subject: |
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| Four square meals a day? But I only have round plates! |
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Aramas
Joined: 13 Feb 2004
Posts: 874
Location: Slightly left of Centre
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 7:56 am Post subject: |
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Being a maritime nation, English is loaded with shippy stuff , the origins of which are not widely known.
'The devil to pay'
The Devil Seam is the seam between the keel and the garboard (first plank), and is the worst job in a refit since it involves lying in the mud and pouring tar upward.
'Between the devil and the deep blue sea'
The Devil Seam again, this time referring to keelhauling, where naughty sailers were hauled from one side of the ship to the other under the keel. Being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea meant getting hung up on the keel, which is most certainly an unenviable position.
'Cash on the nail'
A seaside town on the south coast of England (I forget which - probably Falmouth) had posts along the quay called 'nails', and when the fisherman sold their catch the cash was put 'on the nail' to close the deal.
There's lots more but i have to go to work soon. I'll add some as I think of it. |
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RVN
Joined: 05 May 2003
Posts: 62
Location: China
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 8:32 am Post subject: |
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| Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs! |
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rj
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 159
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 9:26 am Post subject: |
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| Since I'm planning to go to China, I also look fondly on the saying, "What's that got to do with the price of eggs in China?" |
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Shaman
Joined: 06 Apr 2003
Posts: 446
Location: Hammertown
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 10:46 am Post subject: |
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| scot47 wrote: |
Mergatroid ?
I always assumed it was "Murgatroyd" which is, I think, a proper name from the Emerald Isle. |
Yikes! I'll defer to scot47 on this one. Sadly, I didn't have time to look up the spelling. Obviously not an asteroid then. 
Shaman |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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Ben Round de Bloc
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1946
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 10:59 am Post subject: |
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Since I'm planning to go to China, I also look fondly on the saying, "What's that got to do with the price of eggs in China?"
- rj |
Where I come from, it's tea not eggs . . . or did I miss something in the translation? |
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Otterman Ollie
Joined: 23 Feb 2004
Posts: 1067
Location: South Western Turkey
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 11:03 am Post subject: express yourself !! |
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Hi Folks
Enjoying this thread so perhaps the more gifted could explain the history behind these few well known oft used expressions such as ;
blind as a bat
rare as rocking horse manure
hells teeth
luv a duck
strike a light
for f**ks sake
jesus wept,mary had a bucket
oh my giddy aunt
nice one
holy broken bones
guts for garters ,gonads for paperweights
put the wood in the hole
You're a bit previous
Just a few to keep the pot boiling . |
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rj
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 159
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 11:17 am Post subject: |
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| Ben Round de Bloc wrote: |
Where I come from, it's tea not eggs . . . or did I miss something in the translation? |
Perhaps its one of those things that differs by location? Are you from the US? I've spent my life in Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania and have always heard it as eggs.
One of my parents' favorites was "little pictures have big ears." I've also heard "little pitchers have big ears" (which didn't make sense to me). Translation: Kids are listening in on our conversation. |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 11:30 am Post subject: Now 'ear this |
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Dear rj,
I'm not 100% sure about this, but I think that the "handles" on pitchers are sometimes referred to as "ears".
Regards,
John |
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Ben Round de Bloc
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1946
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 11:46 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Ben Round de Bloc wrote:
Where I come from, it's tea not eggs . . . or did I miss something in the translation?
rj wrote:
Perhaps its one of those things that differs by location? Are you from the US? I've spent my life in Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania and have always heard it as eggs. |
Upper-Midwest USA -- Iowa. Maybe it changed from eggs to tea when it crossed the Mississippi . . . or maybe we (former) Iowans just confuse it with I wouldn't do that for all the tea in China. |
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rj
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 159
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 12:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Ben Round de Bloc wrote: |
Upper-Midwest USA -- Iowa. Maybe it changed from eggs to tea when it crossed the Mississippi . . . or maybe we (former) Iowans just confuse it with I wouldn't do that for all the tea in China. |
Ahhh! I have heard "I wouldn't do that for all the tea in China" before! No clue where the eggs came in, it's just the way I always heard it phrased. Perhaps we mixed it up on this side of the river
johnslat, that would make sense if it's true. I originally thought it was a matter of pronunciation but in high school there was a huge discussion on the phrase when an out-of-town teacher overheard it. She couldn't determine which word was being said so asked students to spell it and we were saying different words. The "pictures" could explain the story behind the meaning but the "pitchers" couldn't associate it with anything. I thought perhaps it really was just a matter of differing accents and over time, "pictures" had become "pitchers" with noone noticing. I only included it in case someone had heard it phrased that way. |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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rj
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 159
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 12:28 pm Post subject: |
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Haha! So I have learned the corrupted version then  Thank you for the link. |
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Ludwig
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
Posts: 1096
Location: 22� 20' N, 114� 11' E
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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A great example of just how arbitrary Saussurean signs can be is one that has always puzzled me, viz., a 'near-miss'.
Surely if two or more objects nearly miss then they do indeed actually collide?
If I were to say that I 'nearly missed' the train, you would interpret that as meaning that I did indeed ultimately manage to catch the train, regardless of how close I was to missing it.
Though, in the context of aircraft, to cite but one such context, a 'near-miss' is interpreted as (essentially, in formal logic form), a near-hit. |
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