Misforstå meg rett: "Misunderstand me correctly". Funny once; not funny when it becomes the standard preface to any clarification.
Hudflette: "Skin-braid". Used in newspapers where an English speaker might use "flay"; it means to criticise dramatically, to say "Well this is really beyond silliness". I came across it today in the context of some European air CEO skin-braiding American 'security' routines, which is fair enough. But really, how do you braid someone's skin? It sounds like one of those inventive punishments from saga, like the blood eagle or making people listen to skaldic poetry. Come to think of it, 'flay' for 'criticise' is not very sensible either. What is with journalists and wanting to take people's skin off?
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
I think flaying is the same metaphor at play in "tongue lashing". I even think skin-braid is related - first you cut them to ribbons, then you have ribbons you can braid together.
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
My favorite is "below par." I'm sorry, KoM. You're post is below par.
The only other place I know of that uses par is golf, where the goal is to get as far below par as possible.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
You've never head the phrase "up to par?" I hear it pretty often.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
par is average. sub par below average.
Getting below par in golf is actually above par as a result.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
"Misunderstand me correctly" reminds of the expression "I could care less" -- which means the opposite of what it says.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
"Easy as falling off a log."
Have you ever fallen off a log, say perhaps while crossing a stream? Why in the world would some one trying to convey how easy something is, pick an example that's you would try hard to avoid and likely to lead to personal injury?
Posted by Sean Monahan (Member # 9334) on :
"Head over heels."
My head's over my heels right now, and I'm just sitting in a chair.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
"Come here and come here". Derived from "You think you can come here and [unreasonable demand/request/whatever]?" Many variants, all of them funny when they were first coined. Not very funny as idioms.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
"Eg gir fanden", "I give the devil". What do you give him? Not his due, apparently. The expression means "I don't care", but it doesn't make any sense.
Posted by Raventhief (Member # 9002) on :
quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: "Misunderstand me correctly" reminds of the expression "I could care less" -- which means the opposite of what it says.
This one bothers me, because the actual phrase is "I couldn't care less" but people have actually gotten so lazy they don't say the "-n't". Take the extra millisecond, people!
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Come now. It's at least a tenth of a second. Speaking of lazy habits, how about the habit of using 'millisecond', which is a precise term meaning "one one-thousandth of a second", to indicate "a short period"? Take the extra decisecond of thought and use an accurate prefix!
Posted by Raventhief (Member # 9002) on :
Err, millisecond means "one one-thousandth of a second." Synonyms...
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by The Rabbit: "Easy as falling off a log."
Have you ever fallen off a log, say perhaps while crossing a stream? Why in the world would some one trying to convey how easy something is, pick an example that's you would try hard to avoid and likely to lead to personal injury?
That one makes perfect sense. It's so easy to do, you don't even have to try.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
quote:Originally posted by Raventhief: Err, millisecond means "one one-thousandth of a second." Synonyms...
Yes, that's what I said. Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
My favorites in French are "poser un lapin" and "ne pas avoir sa langue dans sa poche"
Which mean: to ask a rabbit (i.e. to be stood up) and don't have your tongue in your pocket (to speak frankly).
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
"Easy as Pie" doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Is making a pie presumably from scratch really that easy? Or only pretty easy?
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Compared to making other meals from scratch, perhaps it is? It is presumably a leftover from before there was a lot of cheap partly-processed stuff.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by King of Men: Compared to making other meals from scratch, perhaps it is? It is presumably a leftover from before there was a lot of cheap partly-processed stuff.
Ah, that might be true. A meat pie is definitely easy to put together.
Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
I can make an apple tart in 5 minutes.
Posted by Tinros (Member # 8328) on :
In English, we might say "I have other fish to fry." In French, however, the phrase is "avoir des autres chats a fouetter" ...to have other cats to whip. At least frying fish is useful...
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
"More than one way to skin a cat." That's always struck me as pretty odd.
Posted by adenam (Member # 11902) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: "Easy as Pie" doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Is making a pie presumably from scratch really that easy? Or only pretty easy?
I thought it meant eating a pie, not making one. Eating a pie is very easy to do.
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