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naturalplastic
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18 Jul 2017, 4:57 am

IstominFan wrote:
I'm American, but have studied a lot of British expressions due to my interests in The Beatles and Roger Bannister. However, some of these expressions are entirely new to me. I never heard of the wood in the hole expression before. "Were you born in a barn?" is one I have heard frequently, although it is probably not used in California. I always thought it was far more general than a request to close the door and referred to bad manners as a whole.


Yes. "Did you grow up in a barn?", or "were you raised in a barn?" is a pretty common expression in the US meaning "you lack basic social niceties". Not specifically about door shutting.



Trueno
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18 Jul 2017, 6:20 am

I have never heard "were you born in a barn" in any context other than "you've left the door open".


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naturalplastic
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18 Jul 2017, 8:26 am

Interesting. In the US its "raised in", and not "born in". And its usually used for folks don't say "thank you", or don't wipe their feet on the door mat before coming in, and such.



naturalplastic
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18 Jul 2017, 8:33 am

The US generates so much raunchy slang.

I drove by a suburban street the other day named "Morning Wood Drive".

Even a few years ago that phrase was still perfectly innocent, but nowadays "morning wood" is a certain sexual thing.

And "wood in the hole" would be off the charts dirty here in US. Lol!



SaveFerris
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18 Jul 2017, 9:08 am

Trueno wrote:
I have never heard "were you born in a barn" in any context other than "you've left the door open".


I also have only ever heard it used in context of shutting the door but maybe I just interpreted to mean lack of manners as well , or maybe it's a geographical thing in the UK , or maybe I'm confusing it with "raised in a barn", my family was big on manners.


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rowan_nichol
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21 Jul 2017, 7:06 am

Up and Down occur on the railway. The Up line is the track towards the major city, usually London, Edinburgh in Scotland, also Derby on the old Midland railway routes, and Down being the line in the opposite direction.



soloha
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21 Jul 2017, 2:57 pm

SaveFerris wrote:
Can taking things too literally get better which age , if so , is it just a case of learning from your mistakes i.e you still initially think literally but hardly ever take it that way.

Can anyone give me examples of the ways you have taken things too literally apart from the obvious things that are usually quoted in textbooks ( e.g pull your socks up ).


It's just a learning thing. I never really understood the whole "Aspies take things too literally". Doesn't everyone take things too literally until they get explained? How could you possible know what it means otherwise? Once it's explained, then you know.

Your post provides the perfect example. I seriously had no idea what "pull your socks up" was. I tried to figure it but I could not. So I looked it up. And now I know the definition. Thanks for that :) !



soloha
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21 Jul 2017, 2:59 pm

SaveFerris wrote:
Trueno wrote:
I have never heard "were you born in a barn" in any context other than "you've left the door open".


I also have only ever heard it used in context of shutting the door but maybe I just interpreted to mean lack of manners as well , or maybe it's a geographical thing in the UK , or maybe I'm confusing it with "raised in a barn", my family was big on manners.


I was taught it indicated a lack of manners. Not shutting the door behind you is just one application.



naturalplastic
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21 Jul 2017, 6:35 pm

rowan_nichol wrote:
Up and Down occur on the railway. The Up line is the track towards the major city, usually London, Edinburgh in Scotland, also Derby on the old Midland railway routes, and Down being the line in the opposite direction.


"Up" means toward the hub of the city.

But that doesn't translate to right and left.

In the American south it might conceivably be a holdover from the paddle wheel river boat days on the Tennesee and Mississippi rivers. "With the current" is "down" stream, and against the current is upstream. So to a 20th Century pedestrian trying to cross a road right would downstream with the traffic (americans drive on the right), and left would be upstream with the traffic . That's the only explanation I can dream up for that lingo.



soloha
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24 Jul 2017, 10:39 am

I just had this hammered home in a conversation with my mother this morning. She told me she wanted to buy a fire stick and would like my opinion. I totally thought she was talking about a stick that had something to do with fire. Something to light a grill with I wondered? After a few moments of confusion I realized she meant the Amazon Fire Stick. Then I felt, as I always do, really stupid...



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24 Jul 2017, 10:52 am

I'd be really tempted to gift wrap this and give it to her , then watch the puzzlement on her face when she opens it and you explain :lol:


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Keladry
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24 Jul 2017, 11:22 am

soloha wrote:
I just had this hammered home in a conversation with my mother this morning. She told me she wanted to buy a fire stick and would like my opinion. I totally thought she was talking about a stick that had something to do with fire. Something to light a grill with I wondered? After a few moments of confusion I realized she meant the Amazon Fire Stick. Then I felt, as I always do, really stupid...


Don't feel really stupid...I had the exact same thought/conclusion/confusion as you while I was reading this until I got to the end. It's perfectly logical :)



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24 Jul 2017, 11:46 am

Keladry wrote:
soloha wrote:
I just had this hammered home in a conversation with my mother this morning. She told me she wanted to buy a fire stick and would like my opinion. I totally thought she was talking about a stick that had something to do with fire. Something to light a grill with I wondered? After a few moments of confusion I realized she meant the Amazon Fire Stick. Then I felt, as I always do, really stupid...


Don't feel really stupid...I had the exact same thought/conclusion/confusion as you while I was reading this until I got to the end. It's perfectly logical :)


Me too :D What image did your mind conjure up for a fire stick , originally I saw a medieval torch.


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Trueno
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24 Jul 2017, 11:47 am

Keladry wrote:
soloha wrote:
I just had this hammered home in a conversation with my mother this morning. She told me she wanted to buy a fire stick and would like my opinion. I totally thought she was talking about a stick that had something to do with fire. Something to light a grill with I wondered? After a few moments of confusion I realized she meant the Amazon Fire Stick. Then I felt, as I always do, really stupid...


Don't feel really stupid...I had the exact same thought/conclusion/confusion as you while I was reading this until I got to the end. It's perfectly logical :)


... and so did I!

... and I saw some sort of stick, the fire bit didn't even make any sense.


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24 Jul 2017, 11:49 am

I am one of those people who ANSWERS rhetorical questions.



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24 Jul 2017, 12:35 pm

I can be fairly literal, I think my most memorable moment of this was when someone asked me if I wanted to go out with them, so I asked them "Where?". Haha. Turns out they meant they wanted to date me, not go outside. Whoops.


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