When the Prodigy brought out Poison, a guy in my school wrote, in very large letters, Poisson on his schoolbag.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
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When the Prodigy brought out Poison, a guy in my school wrote, in very large letters, Poisson on his schoolbag.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
LOL, legend jerry. class :DQuote:
as if someone is getting ice cream or chocolate mousse or something but the 'correct' phrase is
i knew it was deserts, but i never actually thought about it being de-serts as oppossed ( that doesnt look right on screen?! ) to des-erts a lá sahara et al - thats french btw ;)
you can see, not just from the arguments here, but there aren't that many well educated or versed people ( on english phrases at least )on this forum. :D
This is what I thought too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Schumi
BTW LR, Cats are lovely animals! ;)
All the "swingin cats" hang out at Renards according to Eamon Dunphy.
Never heard of "play it by year":eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by tricky_colour
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/284550.html
It's play it by ear.
Most annoying one for me was when I was working in a Gaeltacht when I was 17 as an assistant. All the other assistants were a year or two older and we were putting together a quiz for the pupils.
We wanted to include some easy questions so we decided to include "How many states are in the United States of America?"
Then all of these eejits started saying there were 52 because of Alaska and Hawaii. I pointed out that they were wrong and that the correct answer is 50.
We kept this up and I even said I'd get an atlas that was only a few rooms away and they said no.
Thankfully we had to cancel the quiz for an unrelated reason.
Why aren't Alaska and Hawaii considered states, just out of interest?
I suppose you could throw Puerto Rico into that question too.
They are. There are 50 including Hawaii and Alaska.Quote:
Why aren't Alaska and Hawaii considered states, just out of interest?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tricky_colour
Wow - how to remove any shred of your credibility in two successive posts!Quote:
Originally Posted by tricky_colour
It's "play by ear", end of story. And "proof" in that context means to test - i.e. the test of how good the pudding is comes when you eat it and find out (and by extension, the test of how good anything is comes when you try it). Just as "the exception that proves the rule" means the exception that tests the rule - if a rule stands up to even strange anomolies, it's probably accurate.
:DQuote:
Originally Posted by GavinZac
There's no way that's a serious post!!
:o i read you wrong, sorry. it was a long bus ride :(Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
I've even read that in a reference book:rolleyes: It's either 50 + Alaska/Hawaii :eek: or they've bypassed the US constitution and all judicial/legislative bodies and made DC and Puerto Rico states just for the hell of it.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Aberdonian Stu
It's "Play it by ear" without any shred of doubt.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
"Play it by year" - that's just para-phrasing a Johnny Logan Eurovision song isn't it?
I know of an alternative version that I hear from time to time - "Play it by Beer".
As in Q "What boozers are we headin to later?"
A: "Lets just Play it by Beer". :)
no you didn't there was no way to read that wrong, you just didnt know.Quote:
i read you wrong, sorry. it was a long bus ride
Speaking of Americans, a lot will say 'pacific' instead of 'specific'.:rolleyes: Must be the accent.
strangeone, i remember that before was this on a thread here sometime ago? someone has definately mentioned that before.
They are just being adlantic.Quote:
Originally Posted by strangeirish
my own favourites..............."literally"
I was literally starving.
She literally cried her eyes out.
and of course...........very unique.
this is a very unique opportunity.
oh dear!
People who say "pacific" instead of "specific" or people who say "patren" instead of "pattern" bug me no end. Learn the language properly.
I have a friend who calls a bannister a balister and insists that he is right.
'one of the only' is another good one. "He's one of the only people who could do that." :rolleyes:
Often heard on the train in the mornings - "We are now arriving at Dublin Connolly. This is the LAST and FINAL stop"!
Are you calling me a liar then? He said something about "50 states plus Alaska and Hawaii" which i half read, which I'd have thought would be understandable having been awake around 30 hours to and from Belfast. Obviously though, you've decided you of know my propensity to lie and my lack of geographical pointless info... which given your obvious gift for spotting these sort of things, you should really tell "micls" because shes under the impression that i'm a sad git who knows far too much useless information... speaking of which...Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
The phrase comes from music, with the reasoning I explained. You don't usually "play" a judgment. I know what the phrase is used for in everyday English, thank you. Phrases usually have specialised meanings which catch on in general use until eventually people don't even question them any more, e.g.:Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
"Cut to the chase" - film (chase scenes were, and are, favoured moments of action movies. in the days before speech when a child-packed audience didn't care about plot scenes and was getting restless, hosts would swap in the chase reel of the film.)
"on the fly" - flight (pilots have given us plenty of phrases and this is one - it is deviating from the planned flight path, "on the fly(ight)")
"cut the mustar(d)" - military (at muster, troops are inspected by commanders. not making the cut in a muster is a mark of disgrace for an unfit soldier.)
"the third degree" - masonic (masons are quizzed before achieving the third degree)
"bottom line" - accounting (the last figure is usually denoted by being underlined three times)
"p*ss like a racehorse" - horse training (racehorses are sometimes given diuretics to force them to become dehydrated and lose weight)
"look a gift horse in the mouth" - horse trading (the older a horse is, the further its gums shrink back from its teeth)
"He's a young twenty-year old"
Kind of like 'How do you catch a unique rabbit?'.Quote:
Originally Posted by osarusan
Unique up on him.:D
The bannister is the hand rail. The baluster is the vertical support. Your friend may not be that wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by finlma
does anyone know where sideburns came from? well ill tell ye, the term is a corruption of Ae Burnside, a union general in the US Civil War. He was more famed for his distinguishing whiskers than his abillities on the battlefield. the term burnsides was originally used but 10 years later it inexplicably reversed and was then known as sideburns. :D
you are more than welcome. However, I wasn't telling you, I was just making a point. I am pretty confident you knew what context it was used in.Quote:
I know what the phrase is used for in everyday English, thank you
Oh and I was joking saying no you didnt, it was meant in reference to the younger years where one person would say something and then everyone else would say "no you didnt!". I thought from the general stuff I had been saying earlier that would have come across pretty clearly :)
well use one of these :p dammit! :mad: :pQuote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
I have also met people who say "pass mustard" instead of "pass muster" :D
Ad on the radio at the moment about some newspaper that is more refreshing than an
The coffee is called espresso - there's no 'X'! :eek:Quote:
expresso
Although this is a mistake that occurs so often it's probably come to be accepted as a valid pronunciation/spelling of the beverage.
Like with 'nucular' instead of 'nuclear' - if the President of the United States AND Jack Bauer pronounce a word the same way you have to wonder if everyone else should just fall in line. :)
You'd somtimes hear Alex Ferguson referred to as Alec Ferguson, actually.
thats how the scots say it stu ( well the Scots-Scots ;) ).
having said that you often hear alec baldwin.
Misinterpreted lyrics of songs can also cause havoc.
Jimi Hendrix famous tune "Purple Haze" has a line:
"Scuse me - while I kiss the sky" .....cue riff.
I read of someone who thought it was "Scuse me - while I kiss this guy" ....cue laughter !!! :D
Was watching University Challenge one time - the question was something like "Complete the following phrase - Oh what a tangled web we weave..." I always thought that was "When first we practice to conceive", until the teams corrected me and gave the answer as "When first we practice to deceive"
Prefer my version though. :)
In that case, you often hear Alec Ferguson referred to as Alex Ferguson.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul-oshea
In fairness, even Hendrix played this up, to keep the confusion going.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
But that is what he abbreviates his name to.Quote:
having said that you often hear alec baldwin.
Quote:
Originally Posted by noby
Bet it's not what his daughter abbreviates his name to. :)
Well, that went over my head anyway.
http://www.kissthisguy.com/Quote:
Originally Posted by noby
I've heard Brake tubes instead of brake shoes,
Karachi instead of Karcher (power washers),
Laxadaisy instead of laxadasical
and Water Lube instead of Auto Lube:D
Well spotted Jerry - that add is very annoying. Its for the Clare People - they're a bit slow down there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry The Saint
Loads of people say expresso.
[QUOTE=finlma;677726]Well spotted Jerry - that add is very annoying. Its for the Clare People - they're a bit slow down there.
As oppose to the speed of thought that prevails in Galway.
Baby wipe anyone:eek: