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#150782 11/21/05 11:38 PM
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When someone extols, or talks highly about something, but it turns out to be nothing; is there a phrase to that?

In Hebrew we say "no bears and no woods" ("lo dubim ve lo yahar"), for instance.

#150783 11/21/05 11:40 PM
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bullshit.



formerly known as etaoin...
#150784 11/21/05 11:42 PM
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heh.

I forget this is a forum for words, not phrases

#150785 11/22/05 12:32 AM
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perhaps the phrase,'much ado about nothing' or 'make a mountain out of a molehill' is close to what you're looking for

#150786 11/22/05 05:30 PM
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All smoke and no fire - though it refers primarily to boasting, I believe.

make a mountain out of a molehill is more like crying wolf, isn't it? That is, making a minor problem sound like a major emergency.

You can also say, "You're just bullshitting", though it's not the most polite of language.

There's also "painting castles in the air," but I think that it refers more to day-dreaming and wish-fulfillment.

#150787 11/22/05 05:35 PM
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One of my coworkers just told me his mother used to say, "You can't make chicken salad out of chickenshit." (There's that s*** word again!) She's at least a fifth-generation Vermonter (or maybe New Hampshire-ite), which gives the phrase an interesting pedigree.

#150788 11/22/05 05:38 PM
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Heh. These are not bad, thanks!

#150789 11/22/05 06:19 PM
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Oops this is getting confusing: PF is a site for phrases only; AWAD for words only; WW for either words or phrases, making it difficult for the poor old non-geek who can't cope with the complexity of the Web World. For what it's worth, which evidently isn't much, the multi-purpose function like WW's is much more useful, obviating the embarrassment continual surfing from site to site

I even know of one such site---for phrases only--believe this or not--that actually banned a contributor when he tried to sneak a word in the guise of a phrase

When actually he had some justification because a Googling revealed 14 instances of its usage as phrase

So let's not let AWAD also become a center of contentious infighting

In all other respects AWAD remains one of my favorites and long may it survive

Last edited by dalehileman; 11/22/05 06:29 PM.

dalehileman
#150790 11/22/05 06:52 PM
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phrases, words. we take 'em all here.

and that's no bullshit.


formerly known as etaoin...
#150791 11/22/05 09:58 PM
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PF? WW? I never heard of those. Any links?

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