Verbal Expressions That You Don't Get

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mysassyself
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03 Sep 2010, 3:33 am

Pseudeos wrote:

"A different kettle of fish". This one is quite silly.

"Bee in your bonnet". I still don't understand what this one means.

"Pop the question". I think this might have something to do with marriage, but I'm not sure.

"Hook up". NT teens seem to frequently say this, but I still don't know what it means.

There's a book called "An Asperger Dictionary Of Everyday Expressions" that might be useful to a lot of people here. I know I would like to buy it one day.
http://www.amazon.com/Asperger-Dictiona ... 1843101521

Hi Pseudeos. I'm also from Aus, so wanted to say hi. Hi!! :mrgreen:

The book looks great. I daren't look too much, or I will buy it. I also think 'kettle of fish' is silly. Almost as silly as a gift horse.

Though, I do like gifts, and I l:heart: ve bargains :sunny:

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Robdemanc
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03 Sep 2010, 3:49 am

nemorosa wrote:

Robdemanc wrote:

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" - Haven't got a clue what this means at all and don't think anyone does

http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/i ... +bush.html

Well I am quite dissapointed with that explanation. I was hoping for something more profound.

Funny - someone once told me it meant: "It is better to have a long term relationship than one night stands" I think he derived it from the "bird" and the "bush".

jaspie
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03 Sep 2010, 5:12 am

What about "Kid in a candy store."Of course there are kids in a candy store.What do you expect in a candy store(except candy)?

Pseudeos
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03 Sep 2010, 5:57 am

mysassyself wrote:

Pseudeos wrote:

Hi Pseudeos. I'm also from Aus, so wanted to say hi. Hi!! :mrgreen:

The book looks great. I daren't look too much, or I will buy it. I also think 'kettle of fish' is silly. Almost as silly as a gift horse.

Though, I do like gifts, and I l:heart: ve bargains :sunny:

Hello, mysassyself (nice name, by the way)!
I've never heard/seen the 'gift horse' expression until you mentioned it. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/dont ... mouth.html
Though these sayings are annoying, I think it would be fun to create them and confuse people with them

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happymusic
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03 Sep 2010, 6:29 am

marshall wrote:

hellopuppy wrote:

Never liked or understood the rampant use of "What's up?"

Or worse yet, "How's it hangin?".

Maybe I should reply with "Like a horse".

LOL!! ! That's exactly what you should say!

I never understood "it hurts like all get out". Wtf?

A lot of the other ones I understand, though I do still get the flash of an image like with "between a rock and a hard place" I see a lichen covered rock in a river with some water flowing between it and some other mysterious hard material that is unidentifiable.

These kinds of sayings trip me up, especially if I've not heard them before. If I have they just slow down my processing because I have to remember the meaning I have filed away in my head.

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03 Sep 2010, 8:45 am

It's been a hard day's night, and I've been working like a dog. It's been a hard day's night, I should be sleeping like a log.

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LiendaBalla
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03 Sep 2010, 9:54 am

"The pot calling the kettle black." :huh: I have seriously tried to understand this many times. I have reread the content they usualy get connected to, which is usualy an argument, and I certainly can't grasp the point.

How about "grab the bull by the horns"? I think that means "bold risk to complete a goal".

ScottyN wrote:

Things are not going well. i think its time to "circle the wagons."

Knowing nothing about wagons and their use on farming is makeing that one confusing to me.

hartzofspace
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03 Sep 2010, 11:56 am

rowingineden wrote:

"Do what now?" (Southern US expression - it is a way of saying one does not understand what was just said, but it sounds like you told the person to go do something. I hate it.)

I've heard that too, and dislike it intensely. I wonder if it is kin to "Say what?"

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Oren
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03 Sep 2010, 12:24 pm

I don't like idioms, and many of them make me angry.

"Say what you mean "is a good instruction for life.

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03 Sep 2010, 1:07 pm

I think "circle the wagons" refers to the covered wagons used by settlers moving to the Old West (US). They'd travel in a caravan (wagon train) and at night they would form a circle & post watchmen, the better to protect their families, animals, valuables etc. from "intruders".

Kind of like "let's close ranks" - "united we stand, divided we fall" kind of thing.

MotherKnowsBest
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03 Sep 2010, 1:20 pm

LiendaBalla wrote:

"The pot calling the kettle black." :huh:

I have seriously tried to understand this many times. I have reread the content .

Pots and kettles used to be made of black cast iron. The pot calling the kettle black is saying that someone (the pot) is being a hypocrite by accusing someone else (the kettle) of doing/saying something (being black) that they do themselves.

You are correct in your understanding of taking the bull by the horns. It's about facing a situation head on and dealing with it.

MotherKnowsBest
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03 Sep 2010, 1:24 pm

jaspie wrote:

What about "Kid in a candy store."Of course there are kids in a candy store.What do you expect in a candy store(except candy)?

That means spoilt for choice, in a very good way.

MotherKnowsBest
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03 Sep 2010, 1:34 pm

Pseudeos wrote:

"A different kettle of fish". This one is quite silly.

A kettle is a large barrel type container that used to be used for storing different types of fish. The expression just means that something completely seperate.

Pseudeos wrote:

"Bee in your bonnet". I still don't understand what this one means..

This means a niggly thought in your head that is going round and round and irritating you or others. It relates to minor things. EG I get a bee in my bonnet over my husband walking in the door and leaving his work bag in the middle of the room instead of putting it away. It's a very trivial thing but it annoys the hell out of me.

Pseudeos wrote:

"Pop the question". I think this might have something to do with marriage, but I'm not sure.

You're right. It means proposing to someone. Has he popped the question = has he proposed.

Pseudeos wrote:

"Hook up". NT teens seem to frequently say this, but I still don't know what it means..

It means connect to communicate ie meet up, ring each other, msn. I think it comes from when the phone operators had to hook you up to the person you were calling.

MotherKnowsBest
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03 Sep 2010, 1:48 pm

Morgana wrote:

My uncle is getting a divorce, and recently I heard my aunt say that his wife is going to "take him to the cleaners". I imagined her accompanying him to the laundromat, and I wondered why an ex-wife would go through all that trouble?

Taking someone to the cleaners means taking everything off them you can get. I don't know for sure but I think it relates to when cleaners used to come in after a death and help themselves to the valuables. It reminds me of the scene in A Christmas Carol where the old women are arguing over who gets Scrooge's expensive bed curtains after he died.

Morgana wrote:

I don´t like it when people say "that´s a bunch of malarcky". What the heck is malarcky, anyway? (And see- I can´t even spell it). I guess this is not a real expression, I just hate this word.

Malarkey is meaningless talk or nonsense. Saying that's a bunch of malarkey is saying that someone is talking rubbish.

Morgana
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03 Sep 2010, 3:39 pm

mysassyself wrote:

'

Being told that 'others are going through this too' or phrases with any similar implications annoys the heck out of me

Oh, that annoys me too! First off, no one else really knows what I´m "going through" anyway, and just the knowledge of someone else experiencing something similar doesn´t automatically make me feel better.

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hartzofspace
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03 Sep 2010, 4:48 pm

Morgana wrote:

mysassyself wrote:

'

Being told that 'others are going through this too' or phrases with any similar implications annoys the heck out of me

Yes, this is one of my top ones to dislike; this inference that it is important or meaningful to me, to hear this. I usually feel minimized, if anything. For instance: If I am puking my guts out, should I feel better because somebody tells me that my next door neighbor is puking her guts out, too?

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