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veteran
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veteran
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Only a few heroes ever escaped Cerberus's guard
Just occurs to me that this is probably why Kerberos (Greek) is the name of a pretty effective computer security system.
Cerberus was the original Hellhound, but who was the original Hellcat? The Sphinx? Another jealous guardian of a pathway, as I recall, but beaten by wit rather than charm.
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dancing a merry tangentHeck, that almost never happens here, alexis  a shambles, to me, is a mess, a cock-up, close to a disaster sometimes. Yes, this is another situation where the Aussie (prob. meaning Australasian here, eh CapK?  ) meaning of old slang is almost exactly the same as the Brit meaning. The stuff about butcher's and/or fishmonger's benches was to do with supposed origins of the word. For a disaster we'd talk about an " absolute shambles", though it would still be more like a huge cock-up than a genuine disaster. Thinking about it, "shambles" rarely relates to a physical mess, it's more of an organisational/administrative mess. Does that apply elsewhere? Fisk
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newbie
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If you can't have your way, you'll interrupt to poison
any other discussion on this board. Spamming.
Ha, ha. There he goes again. This could easily be applied to you you little toad. You've been guilty of this on innumerable occasions and yet you will never admit to being wrong. Absolute denial is a mental illness, Kenny boy. Get some help. You are getting worse and worse every day.
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newbie
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and there you go again, Consuelo, repeating verbatim below what you said just above. Repetitive interruption.
How perceptive of you Kenny boy! And do you notice anything else? The content man! Read the words! What do they say? Or can you not understand them? I think people are trying to tell you something but you just don't get it. Well, it'll just have to go on like this forever, won't it Kenny babes?
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old hand
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old hand
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Geoff made me laugh out loud! "a pair of snakes in the glass" indeed!  Sighhh....I miss him. Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
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In response to FishonaBike's clarification of "Mancunian"
I see... But I still say you would have to be as mad as a hatter to say mad as toast or cheese or eggs...
Incidentally, which of these expressions is equivalent to "mad as a hatter" (crazy), and which is equivalent to "mad as a hornet" (angry)?
Robert
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I've heard "Strong as an ox" but I'm sure there must be more strength-type expressions.
How about for weakness - anybody know expressions?
Dumb as a box of hammers.
Red as a tomato
White as a ghost
Silent as a mouse
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old hand
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Dunno about weakness, bel, but one "as...as" I enjoyed when I came across it in Giovanni Guaresci's Don Camillo books was "full as an egg."
The problem, of course, is dealing with absolutes: something is either full, or it isn't - kinda like being a little bit pregnant or a little bit dead...! but I still really like "as full as an egg." In fact, maybe I'll read the Don Camillo books next - once I finish Lucy Carmichael. (That will be a sad day, indeed - I wish all books could be this good!)
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear MG: Full as an egg is not really an impressive metaphor. Have you never noticed the rather large air sac in one end of the egg? At the moment I can't remember which end for sure, but I think it is the big end.
If an egg has about thirty cc. of contents, almost two cc is in that little sac. I suppose it is necessary so that rise in temperature which cause liquid volume to increase can't cause rigid shell to break open.
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old hand
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Ah, Bill - but the rigid shell DOES break open if, for example, you boil it without puncturing it first.
I thought the air space in an egg was much smaller? and contained between the shell and the membrane? maybe the phrase should be, "as full as an egg membrane"??!!
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
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