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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
We often talk of a person who has her/his head screwed on meaning that they are sensible. I didn't realise that this was a local idiom.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
We use 's/he has his/her head screwed on' for sensible, and 'is a screw loose' for the opposite ...
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 130
member
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member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 130 |
Musick:
I think it's derived from the thought that to actually wish someone luck causes bad luck for the recipient. Rather than say nothing, I guess you just wish them the opposite.
How about hamstrung? As in "I feel hamstrung from all my responsibilities". I'm guessing it's orignal use came from the barnyard, like pinioning.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 130
member
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member
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 130 |
Here are a few more:
Give someone a good ribbing. Poking in the ribs?
Hipster, hippie, hip, hepcat. Is this a body reference?
Ladies and gentlemen, give them a hand. Why not hands?
And a curious regional one:
An old girlfriend from Pittsburgh used to say someone was being "nebby" when she was sticking her nose in someone else's business.
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
Doug:
Hamstringing is a form of mutilation where the hamstring (a tendon in the back of the thigh above the knee) is severed. Dogs and wolves instinctively go for the hamstring when attempting to bring down large prey, since no matter how formidable the prey is when uninjured, after hamstringing they are dogmeat so to speak.
TEd
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
One body part expression I never understood was "keeping your nose to the grindstone" to mean work hard to succeed. It sounds so painful; why would that be the best means to the end? It is also so close to the “biting off your nose to spite your face” expression. I don’t understand why it is something to strive for.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
Howsabout "pin your ears back" (ie prepare to go fast).
Also - when a group of people are extremely busy, it's a case of being "all elbows and a...holes around here"
stales
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Oooo Stales...my mom would be washing your mouth out with soap right about now  . I have never heard that expression. Can I assume, by the tone of the thing, that it is used when people are extremely busy but not in a productive fashion and everybody is getting in each other's way?
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
In reply to:
pin your ears back
My grandfather used that expression, but it meant to cut someone down to size, or something like that.
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