Idioms, sayings, etc. and what they mean

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

uch

I'd drag me balls over broken Glass for a sniff of her knickers - She's beautiful

GerB40

uch wrote: »

I'd drag me balls over broken Glass for a sniff of her knickers - She's beautiful

I'd drink her dirty bath water - similar

mrsdewinter

pilly wrote: »

I often use "job's oxo" to mean "job's done" but not a lot of people know what I mean.

I think it came from an old Oxo ad but I'm not sure. Could be a Dublin thing as more Dublin people tend to say it.

I used this in an email to a UK-born colleague and they crossed the office to ask me what it meant. It's not a phrase I grew up with (in the west of Ireland) but I was sure it was an English thing (I mean, what's more English than Oxo, right?) but maybe it is a Dublin thing.

Any Dubs familiar with it??

mrsdewinter

LexieOnRale wrote: »

We used to have a battle axe neighbour who would say "and the bastard still sh1tting green" when she was talking about someone young in a position of authority

So coarse and visceral (I guess it's from the horrible, sticky, green-tinged stool that is baby's first bowel movement??)... but I love it.

HellSquirrel

In the same vein "Not as green as (you're) cabbage-looking" - i.e. you're smarter than you look.

Armchair Andy

trout wrote:

see also "I'd ate the balls off a low flying duck"

Or " I'd ate a whore's knickers out through a letterbox ".

fatknacker

fatknacker wrote: »

I always thought it meant you're young because your mam just gave you the "spit-shine" on the cloth behind the ears

I thought something similarish. The old "don't forget to wash behind your ears"

Mr. FoggPatches

As happy as a pig in sh1t.
Meaning: very happy.
Etymology: one day someone noticed that pigs in a cleaned sty seemed suicidal, but the ones in the neighbouring sty, which had yet to be cleaned, were having the time of their piggy lives.

Lone Stone

I seen a guy with "john gunning" on his t shirt once some one asked him why was that name on his shirt he said it was a idiom or some sort of thing which i never heard of before anyone know what it means ?

Hammer89

When the ratings on Happy Days were plummeting, the producers apparently decided to make Fonze even cooler than he already was in an effort to attract viewers. As a result, they made him go water skiing, but they needed a death-defying stunt to consolidate his 'coolness' so they had him jump over a shark enclosure, on water skiis, but I guess viewers decided that it had gone a little over-the-top and the series was doomed from that moment on, but that's where the 'jump the shark' phrase came from apparently.

Esel

mrsdewinter wrote: »

So coarse and visceral (I guess it's from the horrible, sticky, green-tinged stool that is baby's first bowel movement??)... but I love it.

"... when he was still crapping yellow."

Cortina_MK_IV

GerB40 wrote: »

<snip> Dogs Bollox is a bastardisation if box deluxe, same with box (bog) standard.

Only ever knew the meaning that a dog's bollox must be so nice he licks them all the time.

On the hunger theme: I'd eat a nun's arse through a convent gate.

Widdershins

Never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear.

Chuchote

pilly wrote: »

I often use "job's oxo" to mean "job's done" but not a lot of people know what I mean.

I think it came from an old Oxo ad but I'm not sure. Could be a Dublin thing as more Dublin people tend to say it.

What I've always heard is that it's from the O and X marks made on forms, crates, etc back in the day to indicate that inspection had been done and the job was complete.

Winterlong

Three sheets to the wind.

It means drunk, I dont know why.

Peregrinus

Winterlong wrote: »

Three sheets to the wind.

It means drunk, I dont know why.

It's a nautical expression.

On a sailing-ship, somewhat confusingly, "sheets" are not sails, but rather ropes. Specifically, they are the ropes uses to set the trim of the sails. On a square-rigged ship - you know, big rectangular sails set one above the other, just like in Pirates of the Caribbean - sheets come in pairs, matched on each side of the sail; each of the rectangular sails will have two or four sheets to control how it is set.

Sheets are "to the wind" when the sail is set side-on to the wind direction, meaning that it won't catch any wind. This is how you set most of the the sails in a storm, because you want the ship to be as steady as possible and not to, e.g. keel over under excessively strong winds. You won't make much forward progress, but that's not the point. Your aim is not to make progress, but to stay afloat.

Right. When you've got four sheets to the wind you're good, because the sail is controlled from all points, and remains set not to catch any wind. But three sheets to the wind is not good, because one side of the sail is not properly controlled, and will catch wind and cause the ship to roll in unpredictable and uncontrollable ways. Just like, you know, a man who can't hold his drink.

pilly

mrsdewinter wrote: »

I used this in an email to a UK-born colleague and they crossed the office to ask me what it meant. It's not a phrase I grew up with (in the west of Ireland) but I was sure it was an English thing (I mean, what's more English than Oxo, right?) but maybe it is a Dublin thing.

Any Dubs familiar with it??

Thank god someone else knows it!! I was beginning to think I made it up. :D

pilly

Chuchote wrote: »

What I've always heard is that it's from the O and X marks made on forms, crates, etc back in the day to indicate that inspection had been done and the job was complete.

That sounds like a good explanation.

sligojoek

maudgonner wrote: »

There's a phrase in Irish that means 'it will drive me mad': 'cuirfidh sé soir mé'. It literally translates as 'it will send me East'.

Apparently this originates from Connemara i.e. West Galway. The psychiatric hospital in Galway is in Ballinasloe - East Galway. So anyone who was driven mad was literally sent east.

In Nenagh we used to say "Down South". Meaning the drying out place in Clonmel.

"Where's John? I haven't seen him in the pub for ages."
"He's gone down south."

Cortina_MK_IV

Chuchote wrote: »

What I've always heard is that it's from the O and X marks made on forms, crates, etc back in the day to indicate that inspection had been done and the job was complete.

I heard pretty much the same for "Kilroy was here." It was supposed to be a supervisor in a Scottish shipyard that daubed "Kilroy was here" on the ships to indicate he had inspected them. (Subject to verification and all that.)

Chuchote

Another one: toe the line. Comes from army training when a line (a rope) was put down and all soldiers had to put the tips of their toes to it to make a correct-looking row of troops, or so I've heard. Or maybe not

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/toe-the-line.html

Heroditas

"The penny dropped" comes from Thomas Edison's days. He used to find his best ideas came when he was in a deep meditation/light sleep and would have dreams of ideas. When he woke up he would always forget though so he put a penny between his knees. Whenever he was about to fall asleep, the penny would hit the floor and the noise would wake him and he'd recall the idea, hence "the penny dropped"

me_right_one

^^^Toe the line is exactly that.

The english word "smashing", which means brilliant / deadly / excellent, is really the Irish phrase "Is maith é sin" said too fast.

denismc

" One foot in the grave"
Apparently a British general had his foot blown off during the Napoleonic wars.
He had the foot buried with full military honours, hence " One foot in the grave"

kittensmittens

GerB40 wrote: »

That's actually not true. Although one judge did admonish a man for beating his wife with a stick wider than his thumb, he was pilloried for it and became a laughing stock. It's a carpentry term that I can't remember the origin of right now..

Dogs Bollox is a bastardisation if box deluxe, same with box (bog) standard.

Although not a phrase, a soldiers salute comes from the days when knights would joust. As they passed each other they would lift their face visors and that has continued to this day.

Is that not from Mechanno sets?
I remember hearing that there were 2 sets made by the company initially.
The "Box Deluxe" and the "Box Standard"
Kids all wanted the deluxe set naturally.
One was the "Dogs bollox" and the other became "Bog standard"
If you got the deluxe one, it was the Dogs bollox

Chuchote

Interesting piece on 'rule of thumb' http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1998-04-17/news/1998107056_1_rule-of-thumb-phrase-rule-false-etymology

I somehow imagine it may also have come from the way carpenters will squint and hold up a thumb to make a rough measurement on a house, and then scale it up in a rough drawing, before finally doing a more accurate measurement - but they may use that first thumb-based measure for buying timber and nails.