Figures of speech.

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I like figures of speech. When I would hear one for the first time, I would generally take it literally and be perplexed by it. However, I like using figures of speech because it's like creating an image with words to convey an idea. It's like talking in a sort of code, and I find that interesting. I actually have tended to refrain or restrict myself in using figures of speech often when on WP because I know that others can tend to take things literally like I do.

"Burn the midnight oil." or "Burn the candle at both ends."

There are many many others.

There is a figure of speech that I've used for years when appropriate that I believe I've originated which I thought of while cutting firewood:

"Don't burn the ax handle yet."

This means don't give up and use your last means or your last resort. An ax handle made of wood would provide heat in a fire, but after you'd burn it up you would have rendered your ax useless and therefore not be able to chop/split any more wood thereby "throwing caution to the wind" and putting your survival in jeopardy.

i like to drop them in conversations (like it's hot!) - not just figures of speech but any "speech pattern" that is highly referential, I find them amusing to use. I sometimes use a word just because I feel like saying it even tho I know it doesn't exactly fit the context.

I have another figure of speech that's meant something only to me.

In the song Once in a Lifetime by the Talking Heads off of the album Remain In Light, toward the end of the song, David Byrne mumbles: "Here comes the twister."

When I'm going into a situation that I'd rather not be a part of or face a difficult or stressful situation with uncertain outcomes that I can't avoid, I'll either think or sometimes even say to myself quietly but out loud: "Here comes the twister." As in, "Here comes the tornado.".

I've always been fascinated by figures of speech, clever metaphors and dialects. My family and step-family come from all over the country, so I got a taste for dialects, accents and local turns of phrase at a young age. I've been living in Yorkshire for over half my life now, and I still get caught out by some of the phrases that people come out with. One of the generic local greetings in particular still stumps me every time; "So, whad'ya know then?" - "nowt abaht owt" (nothing about anything) is probably the best quick answer most of the time! "Blobbed" for "didn't show up as expected" still makes me giggle every time I hear it.

They are fun. I especially like mixing them up for humour, like "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it."...

^ I like that one!