The 'phrases that you never quite understood' thread

[Count Bobulescu]

A few more American phrases.

A day late and a dollar short = insufficient

Let me cut to the chase, = get to the point

I’m not trying to blow smoke up your ass, = honestly, that’s the truth

The elevator doesn’t go to the top floor, = dim witted = not playing with the full deck

Like a saddle on a sow = messy

Does a snake have an ass? = No

[homer]

"People who eat their dinner in the middle of the day"

FFailures use this weird expression all the time, apparently it means "the plain people of Ireland" aka inbred mucksavage bogmen - the core FFailure vote - but who on earth actually eats their dinner in the middle of the day?!

I suggest many people have dinner ( or maybe lunch ) in middle of day, and tea rather than dinner in the evening

[TotalMayhem]

"People who eat their dinner in the middle of the day"

FFailures use this weird expression all the time, apparently it means "the plain people of Ireland" aka inbred mucksavage bogmen - the core FFailure vote - but who on earth actually eats their dinner in the middle of the day?!

Jackie Healy-Rae, no?

[Baron von Biffo]

"People who eat their dinner in the middle of the day"

FFailures use this weird expression all the time, apparently it means "the plain people of Ireland" aka inbred mucksavage bogmen - the core FFailure vote - but who on earth actually eats their dinner in the middle of the day?!

Traditionally farming and working class people here called their midday meal 'dinner'. Those who had 'lunch' were very pretentious.

[fluffybiscuits]

Traditionally farming and working class people here called their midday meal 'dinner'. Those who had 'lunch' were very pretentious.

I have a Scottish friend who used to call his dinner his tea. "De ya wannae yer tea"!

I hate these management buzzwords like "touch base" et al...

[Baron von Biffo]

I hate these management buzzwords like "touch base" et al...

Have your people interface with my people to see if can find a window to dialogue about that.

[fluffybiscuits]

Have your people interface with my people to see if can find a window to dialogue about that.

Oh then Im gonna fiddle with me bases....

[Sidewinder]

Traditionally farming and working class people here called their midday meal 'dinner'. Those who had 'lunch' were very pretentious.

Ah, finally an explanation that makes sense, thanks Baron.

So it used to be a phrase that would have resonated with the small farmer, blue-collar, tradesmen, factory worker etc vote then, once upon a time? But as language has changed over the last 30 years or so, it now just sounds fairly bizarre to anyone under 60.

[Baron von Biffo]

Ah, finally an explanation that makes sense, thanks Baron.

So it used to be a phrase that would have resonated with the small farmer, blue-collar, tradesmen, factory worker etc vote then, once upon a time? But as language has changed over the last 30 years or so, it now just sounds fairly bizarre to anyone under 60.

When particular usages drop out of fashion probably depends on what part of the country you're in. You could still get a cup of cha in parts of Offaly well into the 80s.

I blame the piped television for bringing sex and protestants into Ireland and giving people notions.

[Holly]

Ah, finally an explanation that makes sense, thanks Baron.

So it used to be a phrase that would have resonated with the small farmer, blue-collar, tradesmen, factory worker etc vote then, once upon a time? But as language has changed over the last 30 years or so, it now just sounds fairly bizarre to anyone under 60.

It shouldn't. Nowadays in hospitals the main meal (dinner) is given to patients at about midday and then a lighter one in the evening (supper). Certainly, manual workers wont get much accomplished after a light lunch and not a lot of plowing could be done after a plowman's lunch.

[fluffybiscuits]

When particular usages drop out of fashion probably depends on what part of the country you're in. You could still get a cup of cha in parts of Offaly well into the 80s.

I blame the piped television for bringing sex and protestants into Ireland and giving people notions.

Cha is still used by my parents!

[Apjp]

I've a few now. One was the word 'diadactic'(not trying to spell it right) always feckin used by an annoying English teacher in school. I don't know about phrases but in our office there is a lot of repetition of 'breaking it down' and 'really emphasising for ye lads how important this is' in the same rehashed motivation speeches that are actually more tiring and mind numbing than the work we do. 'That's business' is one often repeated though it's pretense is easily understood.

I actually never understood the point of anyone saying ''where are we going to get the money from' when they are attacking the socialist club on the Irish left when they themselves offer a far more deluded and less credible way forward(because austerity creates jobs do ye see).

A well confusing one of my childhood though must be 'together as Brown's cows' if only for I want to know where it comes from.

[TotalMayhem]

Traditionally farming and working class people here called their midday meal 'dinner'. Those who had 'lunch' were very pretentious.

To revive the this discussion, neither Fianna Fáil nor Jackie Healy-Rae deserve the credit:

Lunch

U or non-U (19th century)

What do you call the meal you have in the middle of the day? For many readers, there is no question: lunch. For many readers, there is no question: dinner. Clearly, there’s an issue here, and it’s one that has been a feature of English vocabulary for a long time.

In Britain, the issue was highlighted in the 1950s, when considerable media attention was paid to the vocabulary differences between upper-class (or ‘U’) speakers and those belonging to other classes (‘non-U’). It was claimed that U speakers said lunch or luncheon; everyone else said dinner. And similarly, U-speakers were supposed to say vegetables, lavatory paper and bike; non-U speakers greens, toilet paper and cycle. Long lists were compiled to illustrate the supposed linguistic ‘class war’.

However...

The situation was never as neat and tidy as the distinction suggested. U-speakers certainly called their midday meal lunch(eon), but if they had a dog they would give it its dinner at that time of day. One didn’t invite one’s dog to take lunch.

Source: David Crystal - The Story of English in 100 Words

[bernadette]

It extends to every aspect. Wedding invitations U seem to do plain, non fussy: understated. Others seem to try to express the joy and aspirations of the couple.

I remember Prince Charles becoming the cause of a debate is it: Afters, Dessert or Pudding? and who cares as long as its edible and one is not on a diet and does one smoke before or after afters?

I like it to me its part of the diversity and success of the English language and gets really strange if you start to include Americanisms...If only our language was allowed to be as relaxed.

[TotalMayhem]

2: The whole nine yards = “totally committed” or “all in” or “everything”.

The latter is fairly new (1960's) but even so appears to have no agreed explanation.

I just heard an interesting explanation tonight, going back a bit further than the 1960's.

Apparently, U.S. Navy was using differently sized ammunition belts for the machine guns of their their carrier based fighter planes, the longest being 9 yards. Thus - depending on the mission - pilots asked to "Load the whole nine yards".