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)
