Popular "sayings" that make no sense

[MonsteroftheId]

All idioms have their origins so I'd be hard pressed to come up with one that didn't "make sense" logically, even if the literal meaning is no longer clear (e.g. 'the whole nine yards'.) It's only at the point where two ideas meet metaphorically to represent a single concept that language seems strange to me: how does under+stand = comprehension?

[Hairy]

Originally Posted by MonsteroftheId

All idioms have their origins so I'd be hard pressed to come up with one that didn't "make sense" logically, even if the literal meaning is no longer clear (e.g. 'the whole nine yards'.)

That one was apparently down to the fact that US belt-fed aircraft machine guns had nine yards of ammo - giving someone the whole nine yards means you put quite a bit of effort in. You also, presumably, reduced them to a fine grain of pate.

[Bebe]

Originally Posted by MonsteroftheId

It's only at the point where two ideas meet metaphorically to represent a single concept that language seems strange to me: how does under+stand = comprehension?

It's just a matter of finding out the etymology of the word...

"under" in this sense (old english) means the same as "amongst"

"to stand amongst" something is to understand it

[Alexandra]

Originally Posted by Hairy

That one was apparently down to the fact that US belt-fed aircraft machine guns had nine yards of ammo - giving someone the whole nine yards means you put quite a bit of effort in. You also, presumably, reduced them to a fine grain of pate.

Funny, I thought the saying dated back to pre-airtravel days and refered to the length of a bolt of cloth (the whole 9 yards). I like your answer better though. I think I'll annoy my liberal friends with it.

[Rock 'n' Rye]

most annoying saying ever.

"That's off tap, mate"

[Alexandra]

Originally Posted by Bebe

Umm, is Boondock Saints a movie? I learned that in school.

Not a fabulous movie in the Casablanca sense, but I love it. It includes a fabulous turn as a flamboyantly homosexual FBI agent by Willem Defoe. The movie is worth watching just for that. Fair warning though, the theme of the movie is very American - that the best way to clean up the crime rate in urban areas does not include waiting for the government to do it for you. It's true vigilantism in it's most basic sense. Oh yes, and the soundtrack includes plenty of Mychael Danna.

A little taste for you:

Connor: Now you will receive us.
Murphy: We do not ask for your poor, or your hungry.
Connor: We do not want your tired and sick.
Murphy: It is your corrupt we claim.
Connor: It is your evil that will be sought by us.
Murphy: With every breath, we shall hunt them down.
Connor: Each day we will spill their blood, 'til it rains down from the skies.
Murphy: Do not kill. Do not rape. Do not steal. These are principles which every man of every faith can embrace.
Connor: These are not polite suggestions, these are codes of behavior, and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost.
Murphy: There are varying degrees of evil. We urge you lesser forms of filth, not to push the bounds and cross over, in to true corruption, into our domain.
Connor: For if you do, one day you will look behind you and you will see we three, and on that day you will reap it.
Murphy: And we will send you to whatever god you wish

[orion549]

Boondock Saints is an amazing movie, I knew the meaning of "rule of thumb" well before that though, and I just found out "the whole nine yards" around christmas. Although in the explanation I got it was just belt-fed machine guns in general, not nessessarily aircraft guns.

[hellbent]

Originally Posted by Bebe

The rule of thumb is English common law - it states that you can beat your wife with a stick no thicker than your thumb.

Originally Posted by madeyeshawn

Thanks boondock saints.

Unless you learned that in a non movie context

i heard of this before seeing boondock saints.

Originally Posted by Hairy

That one was apparently down to the fact that US belt-fed aircraft machine guns had nine yards of ammo - giving someone the whole nine yards means you put quite a bit of effort in. You also, presumably, reduced them to a fine grain of pate.

i never learnt the history of this one, i always thought it came from football. theres a website that has the meanings of these phrases, but i cant remember where its at.

[witty]

Maybe some of you southern folks may have heard this one... "more *blank* than carter has liver pills..."

My grandmother says it. Makes no sense.

[mkl]

Originally Posted by Bebe

Umm, is Boondock Saints a movie? I learned that in school.

You were lied to. That isn't the origin of "rule of thumb". There has never been anything in english common law saying that. It is however, a common misconception that this is where that saying came from. It is thought that rule of thumb just refers to the practice of estimating distance using something common to measure with, a thumb.