Phrases you've never understood.

[funguy2121]

INB4 "I could care less"

Umad?

Spoiler: Yup.

But yeah, that one is a head-scratcher when I hear people use it.

OT: "Right as rain." I have no idea why things could be "Right as rain."

Ugh. How do all of those Republicans jerk off to her? Is it like the Ed Hardy-wearing jocks spankin' it to Paris Hilton giving the worst blowjob in history - they tell themselves that she/it is hotter than she actually is? Oh well, Jon Stewart was right. She does have some sexy boots.

 

[dorkette1990]

OT: "Sick as a dog". To my knowledge, dogs are not known for being terribly ill...

I think that hearkens back to the days of the plague, when they were more (or just as) susceptible to it than humans. And it was their gait and general malaise that that expression arose from.

Oh! That makes so much sense! Thank you!

 

[EdwardOrchard]

"....and Bob's your uncle."

I heard it for the first time a couple of years ago and had no idea what the hell it meant. I've heard it quite a few times since then and still have no idea what these people are trying to say. They just seem to tack it on to the ends of sentences whenever they bloody well feel like it. And Bob's your uncle.

 

[Braedan]

People are either really quite dumb or trying as hard a possible to misinterpret a good number of phrases...

OT: trying hard as possible.

Eh? How does one "try hard"?

 

[Amondren]

F*ck me. I mean, I say it as well, but it doesn't really make much sense.

Its a proper sentence its has a verb and a subject.

 

[ChickenZombie]

Also, "When shit hits the fan" and it's related phrases.

Why would the shit hit the fan? Is it piling up in a room and it's about to reach the roof? Or is there a fan oscillating and the shit is slowly approaching? Or is someone gonna toss the shit at the fan and it will cause it to splatter everywhere?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYxvVe9y5NQ

Thats a good example.

 

[conflictofinterests]

I still don't see the connection between whining and tiny violins. It isn't like it makes a difference.

Somebody's been maiking lots of threads.

Violins make some pretty heart-rending melodies, and generally when someone rubs their pointer finger and thumb together and said that they're playing the world's tiniest violin for them, it is making one of those sad, depressing tunes. It's sarcasm, making fun of how much of a big deal they're making out of something.

 

[Images]

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it"

Meaning, we'll do that thing or worry about it at a more appropriate time. My problem with it is that even if you wanted to you CAN'T cross the bridge till you get there. I always say "we'll build that bridge when we get to the river" instead. I mean, it confuses the hell out of people when I say it but at least you can build a bridge before you get to the river, it just has far less use or wastes effort at the wrong time!

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

"My dog's are barking" when people refer to their feet hurting. I don't know where it came from, but it's really stupid.

 

[The Coop]

You're trying to find something that someone asked you to get for them. You search for a minute where they said the object was, but you can't find it. So, you go back to that person and tell them so. They then get up, and in a frustrated manner, say, "If it was up your ass, you'd know where it was."


...

Um, OK. That's a given, but... what?

 

[Purple Shrimp]

how do you not understand "could care less"

 

[Treefingers]

"have your cake and eat it too." If I have a cake, it's because I'm going to eat it.

So... Go crazy.

Yeah, this was exactly what I was thinking when I clicked on the thread. I understand what it's saying, but I think it's completely retarded way of expressing that, because of the reason you pointed out yourself.

Violin music is usually sad.

No it isn't.

 

[NeutralMunchHotel]

Whenever anybody claims that The Escapist is more intelligent than the rest of the internet, this topic should be brought out to refute that.

 

[Harlief]

Violin music is usually sad.

No it isn't.

Fine, stereotypically sad.
I'll let a talking crab demonstrate:

 

[snowpuppy]

"Smart as paint." What the hell does that mean. I have never heard of cans of paint at a Mensa meeting.

Perhaps it means, smart as in tidy and orderly?

 

[HappyPillz]

One that really bugs me that people use a lot is "It's not even ______"

'It's not even funny' is a common one and it makes no sense. Say someone tells a joke, the joke can either be funny(good), or not funny(bad), so saying that the joke is not even funny is the same thing as saying that it's so bad that it isn't even good.

"He's so sick that he isn't even healthy" or "He's so fat that he isn't even skinny" Well, duh.

 

[kinapuffar]

One that really bugs me that people use a lot is "It's not even ______"

'It's not even funny' is a common one and it makes no sense. Say someone tells a joke, the joke can either be funny(good), or not funny(bad), so saying that the joke is not even funny is the same thing as saying that it's so bad that it isn't even good.

"He's so sick that he isn't even healthy" or "He's so fat that he isn't even skinny" Well, duh.

You can use it for other things than jokes. "The prank you pulled on Rajesh was not only incredibly cruel, it wasn't even funny. You're an asshole, kill yourself."
And various situations like that.
"Fart pillow? Really, Jamal? It's not even funny." Reading between the lines the implication being that first and foremost fart jokes are immature, and secondly, they're not even funny, which if they were, might excuse the immaturity.

 

[HappyPillz]

One that really bugs me that people use a lot is "It's not even ______"

'It's not even funny' is a common one and it makes no sense. Say someone tells a joke, the joke can either be funny(good), or not funny(bad), so saying that the joke is not even funny is the same thing as saying that it's so bad that it isn't even good.

"He's so sick that he isn't even healthy" or "He's so fat that he isn't even skinny" Well, duh.

You can use it for other things than jokes. "The prank you pulled on Rajesh was not only incredibly cruel, it wasn't even funny. You're an asshole, kill yourself."
And various situations like that.
"Fart pillow? Really, Jamal? It's not even funny." Reading between the lines the implication being that first and foremost fart jokes are immature, and secondly, they're not even funny, which if they were, might excuse the immaturity.

Your first point, sure, that makes sense. Except people don't really use it that way.

But the point still remains that using 'not even' implies that whatever it is can't even reach some low standard. You could say "It's not even a 3 out of 10" and that would make sense: it's so bad that it doesn't get a decent score. Instead though, people say it like "It's so bad that it's not even a 10 out of 10"

'Not even' means that it's falling short of the mark, and if the mark is being the best it can be then you have a grammatical redundancy. You could say "He is poor", instead of "He isn't even a millionaire"

 

[The-Epicly-Named-Man]

F*ck me. I mean, I say it as well, but it doesn't really make much sense.

Its a proper sentence its has a verb and a subject.

It was more to do with asking people to f*ck me when I see something out of the ordinary.