Play it by?

[Schumi]

I remember reading an interview with Liam Howlett of the Prodigy and he said he knew a Punk in his school that had customised his jacket with the legend "Excercise the Demons" on the back.

When the Prodigy brought out Poison, a guy in my school wrote, in very large letters, Poisson on his schoolbag.

[paul_oshea]

as if someone is getting ice cream or chocolate mousse or something but the 'correct' phrase is

LOL, legend jerry. class

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.

[BohsPartisan]

I thought 'swing a cat' referred to a cat o' nine tails, a whip with nine strands that was used at sea.

This is what I thought too.

BTW LR, Cats are lovely animals!

[Wolfie]

All the "swingin cats" hang out at Renards according to Eamon Dunphy.

[OwlsFan]

It's definately play it by year. How could you possibly play any musical instrument with your ear? It's just too soft. Play it by year means so see how things pan out over time.
The figs are grown inside the rolls. It's a bit like a ship in a bottle.

Never heard of "play it by year"

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/284550.html

It's play it by ear.

[Aberdonian Stu]

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.

[GavinZac]

Why aren't Alaska and Hawaii considered states, just out of interest?

I suppose you could throw Puerto Rico into that question too.

[noby]

Why aren't Alaska and Hawaii considered states, just out of interest?

They are. There are 50 including Hawaii and Alaska.

[pineapple stu]

The proof is in the pudding refers to using alcohol in a cake for example in brandy pudding the alcohol is 40% proof.

It's definately play it by year.

Wow - how to remove any shred of your credibility in two successive posts!

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.

Why aren't Alaska and Hawaii considered states, just out of interest?

There's no way that's a serious post!!

[GavinZac]

There's no way that's a serious post!!

i read you wrong, sorry. it was a long bus ride

[Jerry The Saint]

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.

I've even read that in a reference book It's either 50 + Alaska/Hawaii 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.

[Wolfie]

Wow - how to remove any shred of your credibility in two successive posts!

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.




There's no way that's a serious post!!

It's "Play it by ear" without any shred of doubt.

"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".

[paul_oshea]

i read you wrong, sorry. it was a long bus ride

no you didn't there was no way to read that wrong, you just didnt know.

[strangeirish]

Speaking of Americans, a lot will say 'pacific' instead of 'specific'. Must be the accent.

[paul_oshea]

strangeone, i remember that before was this on a thread here sometime ago? someone has definately mentioned that before.

[tricky_colour]

Speaking of Americans, a lot will say 'pacific' instead of 'specific'. Must be the accent.

They are just being adlantic.

[osarusan]

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!

[finlma]

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.

[Schumi]

'one of the only' is another good one. "He's one of the only people who could do that."

[BohsPartisan]

Often heard on the train in the mornings - "We are now arriving at Dublin Connolly. This is the LAST and FINAL stop"!