Sayings you dont understand
- Thread starter Merkavar
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I've never understood what it meant to "have one's cake and eat it too". I mean, what else are you going to do with a cake? A cake is functionally useless if you can't eat it. Unless, of course, you're going to throw it at someone, and I'm sure not going to do that. It's my cake! I have it and I'm going to eat it, too!
Once you eat it, you can no longer eat it later. Thus, if you have a finite supply of cake, you need to decide between having and eating it.supersupersuperguy said:
or
Does the awesome feeling from having a cake override the joy from eating said cake.
or
This cake is so pretty, if I eat some of it, it will be kind of ugly.
The deeper something is, the greater the amount. In the context of the saying, it's the depth and therefore sincerity of the sentiment.Merkavar said:
Because the rule may be, for example, "There is always a chance of anything and everything going wrong all at once and at any given moment, regardless of the planning and preparation beforehand", then if something does indeed go wrong despite aforementioned preperation, it is an exception to the circumstance. (You would expect something you have prepared for to go smoothly, but this 0.1% chance it didn't) Therefore it is the exception that has proved the rule that no matter the preparation, something at some point may inevitably go wrong regardless of how high the probability that it won't - Murphy's Law, in this case.TheDarkEricDraven said:
It's meant to be taken as two halves. You could be in the wrong place, but if you had come at any other time, you would be fine. Likewise, if you were to be at a different place during the exact time of the unfortunate coincidence, it wouldn't affect you because you wouldn't be present at that exact moment. You were at the wrong place, and at the wrong time. The conjunctive is removed in the saying due to colloquialism.Shreder55 said:
Back in the olden days, there wasn't really such a thing as a basic lunch. You would have to spend forever over a stove cooking a proper meal, or go without. The sandwich was not invented until the 18th century, when the Earl of Sandwich demanded he have his meat between two slices of bread as he had no time to eat it otherwise. He grew fond of this as it let him do other things while eating, and thus the sandwich was born.Arkvoodle said:
Bread has been a staple of peasant diet since long before this though, and that is because bread is relatively cheap to make and produce. So for the peasantry to be able to live off such a simple, versatile food, it was considered pretty great. That's just speculation, though, i can't say when this phrase properly entered circulation.
This comes from greed and self restraint. Like wrong place at the wrong time, it is twofold. Acquiring the cake is seen as a form of reward, and if you consume the cake immediately after, it is more reward without effort. You must work to obtain the cake, and then save it until after you have worked some more. If you try to overextend yourself, you will not only have the buyer's remorse later on when you realise the cake is already gone, but you will feel no incentive to work hard again afterwards.supersupersuperguy said:
There's several phrases i don't understand, the majority of which are American. I can't think of any just yet, but when i do, i'll edit it in.
"Made to order"
It is meant to imply that the food is only cooked after you order it. Made to order, literally, means it is already made and then you can order it.
"Not made until you order it" would be a more apt saying
It is meant to imply that the food is only cooked after you order it. Made to order, literally, means it is already made and then you can order it.
"Not made until you order it" would be a more apt saying
Made to order is not exclusive to food. It means made to your exact orders. An order is an instruction. For example, if you order a computer from a company that has very specific components that go beyond basic manufacturing guidelines, it has been made to order - not pre-made and ready for you to order. It has been made from scratch to your exact specifications and instructions. This can be applied to anything, from the toppings you want on your pizza to a tailor-made suit.chach_face said:
When in Rome...
I'm sorry nobody has seen Anchorman and did not get my joke.
In the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Tom Burgundy, he is told by his attractive co-worker Veronica who he is showing the city, "When in Rome...". He does not know what this means and explains that he has never heard it before. Veronica then says that the full expression in "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." He still does not understand because he is an idiot.
Ron tries to later use the saying, but since the context is completely wrong Veronica tells him that the phrase doesn't really apply to the situation.
I'm sorry nobody has seen Anchorman and did not get my joke.
In the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Tom Burgundy, he is told by his attractive co-worker Veronica who he is showing the city, "When in Rome...". He does not know what this means and explains that he has never heard it before. Veronica then says that the full expression in "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." He still does not understand because he is an idiot.
Ron tries to later use the saying, but since the context is completely wrong Veronica tells him that the phrase doesn't really apply to the situation.
This is more just a mistake rather than an actual saying, but I *really* don't understand why some people feel that the phrase "I could care less" (rather than "I couldn't care less") actually makes sense.
David Mitchell explains it better than I.
<YOUTUBE=om7O0MFkmpw>
David Mitchell explains it better than I.
<YOUTUBE=om7O0MFkmpw>
On the contrary. When fighting forest fires, especially when it could endanger homes, it's actually a very widespead method. You create a "border" of sorts by burning down a circle around the burning forest. Once the intentionally burnt area turns to ashes, the fire won't go any further, since ashes can't burn again.CODE-D said:
I know what the saying means. The English of it indicates something else, like it's made and then you order itGralian said:
I always thought this meant enjoying something without any negative side-effects. Eating a cake is good experience but doing so in an unhealthy action. Therefore to "have your cake and eat it" would be getting to do something pleasing but not having to face the consequences. This is just my own opinion based on the context I've seen it used in. It seems like the other answers are more correct but I'd thought I'd throw this out there.supersupersuperguy said:
Not at all. It's just a colloquialism of "made to YOUR order". That means it is made to your specific order. You're simply reading it as "made, you order it", which is something reminiscent of broken English understood by people whose mother tongue is not English. For example, sentence structure of English is vastly different to that of German or French.chach_face said:
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." I have never been able to grasp this concept, I mean its sound on paper I suppose. But when you apply it in real life its really flawed logic, just because you have an enemy that has another enemy doesn't mean you and enemy of your enemy should be buddies. For all you know enemy of your enemy is also your enemy, but you guys both just happen to have a common enemy.