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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
My mother-in-law used to say that when she first went out on a date, her mother told her to keep her legs crossed and her mind on God.
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347 |
Hope I don't kill your thread stone dead, Helen, but the scope's pretty wide. I got to 60 sayings pretty quickly before deciding to try a Google search for a list. It took me to the excellent Phrase Finder site, where I found more than 400 body-part-related phrases using the query (anyone who wants to keep playing don't click on this link!): http://www.shu.ac.uk/cgi-bin/tp_post2.cgi?w=body(although at least 10 of mine weren't on the list.) For anyone wanting general phrase searches in the future, just use: http://www.shu.ac.uk/web-admin/phrases/p.s. added later - eg try "rat"
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 130
member
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member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 130 |
Here's a pet-peeve of mine...
When (and why) did the term buck-naked devolve into butt-naked?
And also the same might be asked of boat-load to butt-load.
Butt-naked is actually pretty funny, but(t), butt-load?
Curious.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
You should check out the mondegreen thread in the archives to see a whole pile of expressions that have been skewed.
One thing though...I know the expression "buck-naked" is the correct one but why does that expression make more sense? At least in the wrong "butt-naked" the expression is pretty self-explanatory.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
the AHD has this for 'bare-naked' - The chiefly Northern U.S. expression bare-naked illustrates the linguistic process of redundancy, not always acceptable in Standard English but productive in regional dialect speech. A redundant expression combines two words that mean the same thing, thereby intensifying the effect. The expression buck-naked, used chiefly in the South Atlantic and Gulf states, is not as clear as bare-naked with respect to its origin; buck is possibly an alteration of butt, “buttocks.” If so, bum-naked, heard in various parts of the country, and bare-ass(ed), attested especially in the Northeastern U.S., represent the same idea. if this supposition of buck-naked being a euphemism for butt is correct, then we've come full circle. here's one professor's viewpoint on pc-ness: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/butt.html
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 5
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 5 |
According to my dad, some people have their heads screwed on right ... and some don't.
Debbi Richard
Assistant Professor, Library Science
Dallas Baptist University
Debbi Richard
Assistant Professor, Library Science
Dallas Baptist University
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
some people have their heads screwed on right ... and some don't.I tried to think of a subject header but the various combinations of "head" and "screws" gave me the vapours! Mercy !  You have to be careful when screwing on your head not to cross the threads! There's the old one about keeping an eye on the goal, a shoulder to the wheel, an ear to the ground, a hand to the wheel and then trying to work in that position. wow
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
How about something costing "your eye teeth" to mean that it is too expensive. In French we also say "ça coûte les yeux de la tête" - it costs the eyes out of your head.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Well i an not sure its not a bad idea to have your head screwed on--in our house it was just tied on-- when ever we carelessly misplaced something, the responce was, "You'd loose your head if it wasn't tied on".
Which reminds me: Of all the things i have lost, i miss my mind the most...
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