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12/05/2005 09:55:01 PM · #51
Originally posted by nova:

Where in the world those came from I have no idea. And the discussion of water over the dam/under the bridge reminded me of two versions of another saying that I have noticed. "Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise" is just a more polite way of saying, "Come Hell or high water".


We have the last phrase here in central NY State! My grandmother had several phrases that must have been reminants of the Appalachian mountain chain. I read Denise Giardina's novel about coal mines in Tennesee and just about died to hear my dead grandmother's voice in the characters she created---and I grew up far, far, away from the "south" as it were.
12/05/2005 10:12:56 PM · #52
Cheapskates are
So tight they squeak when they walk

Unethical
So crooked they had to screw him into the ground when he died

Hot
Hotter than a 2 dollar pistol

Cold
As cold as a wet Christmas

Ugly
Had to tie a porkchop around his neck so the dog would play with him
Rain goes over her back to avoid her face
Can't be photographed because they break the camera

Tight
Tighter than Dick's hatband (I Have no idea?)
12/05/2005 10:16:52 PM · #53
Ooooh! Who's heard this one?

In retail, when someone's just a "looker" and not a "buyer" it's often said:
Deep pockets...short arms.
12/05/2005 10:49:08 PM · #54
My uncle used to tell my mother
"You're so skinny, you have to run around in the shower to get wet."
12/05/2005 11:19:39 PM · #55
Stick with me and you'll be wearing silk underwear.
12/05/2005 11:22:49 PM · #56
My family frequently ran late for almost everything ... when we'd finally get going, my dad (a science teacher and later travelling herpetologist) would say "we're off, like a herd of turtles."
12/05/2005 11:49:39 PM · #57
From www.word-detective.com
You don't say where you grew up, but I'd hazard a guess that it was somewhere in the South, for "tight as Dick's hatband" is primarily a Southern expression here in the U.S. I say "here in the U.S." because, according to Robert Hendrickson's "Whistling Dixie, A Dictionary of Southern Expressions" (Pocket Books, $12.95), the phrase actually originated in Great Britain. The "Dick" in question was probably Oliver Cromwell's son Richard (1626-1712), who succeeded his father as ruler of England. Richard's brief reign, a matter of only seven months ending in his abdication, made him the object of popular contempt and the butt of many jokes. The unfortunate Dick's "hatband" was his crown, and the "tightness" was the discomfort and apprehension he was presumed to have felt. Variants on the joke at the time included another phrase sometimes still heard, "queer as Dick's hatband," referring to the preposterous course of Richard's reign.
12/06/2005 12:03:13 AM · #58
Whoa! Just noticed the thread' name has been changed! Won't that confuse people?
12/06/2005 12:13:54 AM · #59
Originally posted by KaDi:

Whoa! Just noticed the thread' name has been changed! Won't that confuse people?


It confused me for a second KaDi but I caught on :o)

Another one of Mom's unique sayings: "Oh for crying in the bucket"
12/06/2005 12:47:07 AM · #60
Originally posted by greatandsmall:

Originally posted by KaDi:



Now that you've brought it up, these are more appropriately "aphorisms"...but comments like that only feed the educational content of the site. =)


Thanks KaDi,
That's the word that eluded me when I started this thread!
SC, is it possible to change the title to "Aphorisms"?
Much thanks,
Roxanne


Pity... (putting on literary-critic hat)... an aphorism is actually a pithy, wise saying. It may be humorous or not, but it's defined by that it contains a kernel of wisdom, that it bears returning to. Most of these sayings, at least the earlier ones, are in fact colluquialisms, not aphorisms.

Aphorisms are a recognized literary device that extends all the way back to Greek times. Hippocrates was famous for his aphorisms.

Here are some examples of aphorisms:

• Love your mistakes but don't marry one.--Leonid Sukhorukov, book 'All About Everything'
• Marry in haste: Repent at leisure.--Scottish Proverb
• Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. --Chinese Proverb, often misattributed to Eleanor Roosevelt
• Lost time is never found again. --Benjamin Franklin
• People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
• Greed is a permanent slavery. --Ali
• Death with dignity is better than life with humiliation. --Husayn ibn Ali

Back to our regular programming now :-)

R.

Message edited by author 2005-12-06 00:47:46.
12/06/2005 12:47:15 AM · #61
Originally posted by KaDi:

Whoa! Just noticed the thread' name has been changed! Won't that confuse people?

There's nothing new under the sun.

A rose by any other name ...
12/06/2005 12:48:31 AM · #62
Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by KaDi:

Whoa! Just noticed the thread' name has been changed! Won't that confuse people?

There's nothing new under the sun.

A rose by any other name ...


THOSE are aphorisms, yup!

R.
12/06/2005 12:49:26 AM · #63
How does colloquialism differ from idiom?
12/06/2005 12:58:19 AM · #64
Originally posted by GeneralE:

How does colloquialism differ from idiom?


"An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not compositional—that is, whose meaning does not follow from the meaning of the individual words of which it is composed. For example, the English phrase to kick the bucket means to die. A listener knowing the meaning of kick and bucket will not thereby be able to predict that the expression can mean to die. Idioms are often, though perhaps not universally, classified as figures of speech."

Some people use "idiom" more widely, but properly it would be something like the above, from wikipedia. All idioms are colloquial by definition, but not all colloquialisms are idiomatic. For example, "Busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest" is a colloquialism that's not in the least idiomatic because it's easily decipherable.

Robt.
12/06/2005 01:31:26 AM · #65
Thanks -- good examples.
12/06/2005 01:41:01 AM · #66
Are 'dummer than a box of rocks' and 'had to drop the kids off at the pool' aphorisms? Anyway, they're funny sayings at least.
12/06/2005 06:14:21 AM · #67
I rather like ...

"Oh he's running around rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic"
or
"About as effective as a power serve into quicksand"

Brett

Message edited by author 2005-12-06 06:15:31.
12/06/2005 06:25:18 AM · #68
Originally posted by greatandsmall:

Here's a couple more scatalogical ones.

You can't polish a turd.


To which the reply is, 'no, but you can tie a ribbon round it.'
12/06/2005 08:55:31 AM · #69
Robert,
Thanks for clearing up the definition issue.
I feel really silly 'cuz I had the thread title changed, and it was right in the first place.

SC, perhaps we could change it one last time and call it "Colloquialisms & Aphorisms"? Then we can "Have our cake, and eat it too."
12/06/2005 09:21:47 AM · #70
We're not quite cleared up...
I'll agree with Robert that "Aphorism" isn't quite what's being offered up here on the whole--and Colloquialism can include aphorisms.

Examples of aphorisms in this thread:
A fartin’ horse will never tire and a fartin man is the man to hire.
"The only time a whale gets harpooned, is when its up blowin".
"You can never trust someone that don't trust their own pants."

Examples of colloquialisms which are not aphorisms:
If something something is dead or broke we say, "It's tits up"
"Don't let the screendoor hit ya' in the ass on yer way out."
"If it was a snake, it woulda bit me!"
Water under the bridge!

But most of what has been offered here is *hyperbole*!
Examples of hyperbole in this thread (just a few of the many, many):
"I'm foxier than a fresh f*#@ed fox in a forest fire".
"Busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest"
Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.

I wonder if these are euphemistic hyperbole:
"She gives me a pain in the ankle ... two joints higher!"
"I'd like to cut that dog's tail off...right behind his ears."

To summarize, it's a colloquialism if it's what they say around your neck of the woods. It's an aphorism if it's said in order to instruct or advise--a short, pithy saying that means a whole lot more. It's hyperbole if it's an exaggeration--most of what we've been reading here--often contains the word "than"--faster than a speeding bullet. And its euphemism if it says it without saying "it"---but that's another thread.
<>


12/06/2005 09:34:17 AM · #71
SC,
Let's change the title to "Splitting Hairs" J/K ;)

I'm glad for the education. It's nice to have so many literary experts on this site.

Personally, I don't care what it's called, as long as people find it. I'm having a great time collecting a bunch of new sayings, and variations on my current ones.

When my screenplay is finished, I'll hire Robert & KaDi to edit it.

Keep 'em comin'!

12/06/2005 09:40:29 AM · #72
Well, regardless of definition, these have been amusing. Some I have known all my life, in one variation or another.

Here's my contribution:

On someone's mental state-
"His oatmeal aint quite done."

Appearance-
"She'd make a freight train take a dirt road"
Common: "I wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole"
Less common: "She's been touched by too many ten foot poles"
12/06/2005 09:44:04 AM · #73
She's Attractive: "She's built like a brick shithouse."

She's Unattractive: "She fell out of the ugly tree; and hit every branch on the way down."
12/06/2005 10:16:41 AM · #74
Originally posted by greatandsmall:

I feel really silly 'cuz I had the thread title changed, and it was right in the first place.

SC, perhaps we could change it one last time and call it "Colloquialisms & Aphorisms"? Then we can "Have our cake, and eat it too."

Here you go ...
12/06/2005 10:18:26 AM · #75
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!
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