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Joined: Jan 2001
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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One of the many Pennsylvania Dutch expressions in use here in Berks County is "the root beer [or whatever] is all." This means, of course, that the root beer is all GONE, but we just don't bother with the last word. We get all kinds of flack from non-PA Dutchies over this-- my brother has had to endure countless talkings-to from his fiancée, a New Jersey native.  I have to admit that this expression never struck me as incorrect or odd until Vicki (aforementioned fiancée) pointed it out. It was just something we said, and everyone understood it.
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
In Indonesian keras kepala literally hard head means stubborn rather than what we would mean by hard-headed.
The expression ada udang di balik batu means there's a prawn behind the stone. Anyone care to guess what that means?
Bingley
Bingley
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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i liked Max's idea-- but my first thought was
there is more (to it) than meets the eye.
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609
addict
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addict
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 609 |
prawn behind the stone"Love is blind"?  "Faith moves mountains" if the stone is moving. "You can't tell a book by its cover" but that is the delight of proverbs first time, many are ambiguous. Rod
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Joined: Nov 2000
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
Rapunzel, thanks for mentioning the use of "all". I'm so used to it that it never occurred to me. I'll never forget being in a diner on Rte. 30 outside Lancaster (near Intercourse) when the couple at the next table asked the waitress (in a Southern accent) for shoo-fly pie, and she said, "The shoo-fly is all." The expression of bafflement on their faces was hilarious and I'm afraid I made a spectacle of myself.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I don't know how local this is, but it always cracks me up when someone announces that so and so is "getting on my last nerve."
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In case anyone wants to think about it first: there's a prawn behind the stone means he/she has an ulterior motive. Helen was pretty near so perhaps its less opaque than I thought.
Bingley
Bingley
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Joined: Aug 2000
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
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Around these parts (Lancashire, UK), there are many odd dialect expressions, but my favourite has to be the phrase used when people give the exact right money for something and tell the cashier, "It's nobut just." (pronounced "knob-but joost".)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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