Sayings that make no sense!

Post Reply New Topic

I learnt recently, thanks to this forum, that the saying "sweating like a pig" actually makes no sense because pigs don't have sweat glands.

Now I'm curious, are there any other common sayings which make no sense? I don't mean ones that are plain non-sense, like "apple in my eye", I mean something like the pig simile which is a non-sensual comparison or something.

Sick as a dog?

Dogs aren't always sick...

"Takes one to know one", which implies that the person saying it is just as much one as the person whom he/she was talking to.

I say things that make no sense, all the time.

Wait, what?

The British/English......have a saying "as pissed (drunk) as a cricket' DESPITE the fact that crickets (like most other insects) don't drink alcohol (at least not in England/Britain)

Americans actually invented the 'English Muffin' which was unknown in England until recently.

I imagine the Danes are appalled every time they hear a pastry described as a 'Plum Danish'

I am always amused by British buildings where it is necessary to go up a flight of stairs to get to the FIRST floor (when you walk in at street level, you are on the Ground floor)

I can sympathize with calling the street level floor (which is actually THE first floor) the ground floor; I have just never understood why they don't just call the floor above that one the SECOND floor (so that Ground floor is just an alternative to First floor) instead of messing up the counting for the entire building (and confusing Autistics who take things literally)

Last edited by Blindspot149 on 09 Jul 2010, 8:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

as drunk as chloe. (although i just googled that one and it seems to have some historic inception)
as sober as a judge.
as wise as an owl.
straight as the crow flies.
as keen as mustard. (possible connection determined since i looked it up)
as bright as a button.
as slow as a wet week.
as high as a kite (kites are not always in the air, and when they are they are not that high).
god strike me pink.
good grief.
holy hell.

there are heaps of sayings that make no sense to me.

raining cats and dogs
cute as a button
smart as a wimp

This is a British saying: Mustard USED to be the hottest ingredient used in their cuisine and I think 'keen' in this context refers to the food being hot


Probably an old Army expression, as silver buttons on military dress uniforms were polished.

.....but they are a lot higher than the person holding the string when they ARE in the air.

Last edited by Blindspot149 on 09 Jul 2010, 7:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

a mind like a steel trap.

i never read anything of interest written by a steel trap.

a rapier wit.

i once spent my lunch time talking to a rapier and it never said anything back to me that i considered witty. maybe it was because i do not have a rapier wit so it went over my head.
(thank goodness)

yeah cool blind spot.
thanks for your dissemblement.

silver buttons on a jacket are bright
and higher than the holder is the height of their kite
and keenness is a measure of hotness and "bite"

so with those answers i can safely say good night.
...end of rhyme

with none of those questions flowing into my dreams
i will not be confused by what "is" and what "seems".
the safety of confidence that now cloaks my sight
means that i will sleep so deadly tight....tonight.

errk i got to get out of here before i lather myself in mud

I really hate these types of sayings. They end up confusing me and making me stop dead in my tracks trying to stop and figure out what the hell people are talking about. -.-

Not British, European. Most European countries have a specific name for the ground floor and then number other floors from one.



Never heard that in my entire life. The expression is "pissed as a newt", presumably on account of newts spending their time in water.



Sarcasm. Judges being characterised as drunken fools.



Never heard it. Sounds like localised slang?



Birds usually fly in a straight line over any obstacles. A crow travels the shortest distance between two points. Unless you get really picky about Great Circles.



Buttons are polished so that they shine. This is connected with the metaphorical use of "bright" to mean intelligent, illuminated, or fresh.



Never heard it, probably meaning a working week when it's raining outside and time is subjectively slow due to boredom.



Indeed not, but the typical state of a kite is high in the air. I don't know whether the phrase refers to kites-the-object or kites-the-bird.



Of course not. The comparison is not to the mind of a steel trap, which is nonsensical, but of a mind to a steel trap's main attribute - dangerous speed.



The designed function of a rapier is to stab people. Rapier wit delivers the mental equivalent of a stab.

This applies in Australia too

Whenever I go to the city, which isn't a great deal, I always end up getting off the elevator one level less than I should only to have to get back in and try again. I sometimes even imagine that ground floor is maybe below ground level so I can make some sense of it...but alas, it isn't.

I always thought this saying was used because of the brand Keen's Mustard. I'm sure Keen's also has curry powder, so I couldn't see why you couldn't be "as keen as curry"

However on closer inspection and a lot of help from Google, Blindspot is absolutely right, the saying has been around since 1672 and the company, Keen and Sons, that manufactured Keen's Mustard was formed in 1742.

In Poland we have this saying "as healthy as a fish" which is our equivalent of "as fit as a fiddle" - I keep fish and I can tell you they are delicate and get ill often.