More Cowbell
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2023
- Messages
- 845
Wysiwyg
"Pump the brakes."
This phrase triggered a humorous episode from my past. 40+ years ago DW and I were visiting London during what was her first time in the UK. She developed a urinary infection and went to a private physician who, once she described her symptoms, told her she would need to "spend a penny" so that he could run some tests. The confused look on her face was priceless!
...Strike while the iron is hot. (Ranching)...
Very important in blacksmithing. Doesn't do much good to strike a cold piece of iron with a hammer.
That would put the fear of God in a young unmarried man. Same as, I'm late, I have a craving for a pickle, I got sick this morning, and a thousand others. Heard most of them at one time or the other in my "younger days".The rabbit died.
MIL always says "For Pete's sake"
I asked her who Pete was. She didn't know.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first written instance of for Pete’s sake is from 1903, with for the love of Pete appearing around the same time. By that point, as NPR’s Michigan Radio reports, for the love of Mike had already been in the English lexicon. Since Mike is thought to have been a nod to St. Michael—and the phrases clearly have a religious connection—some have suggested that the mononymous Pete is really St. Peter.
The UK guys had a lot of funny expressions - "Well, that's looks like a doggy's dinner" (a mess), so "we will have to tart it up a bit" (that was understood, just seemed funny). And they say "Touch wood", where we would say "Knock on wood".
-ERD50
How about just stating that they need a urine sample? Followed by directions to the WC.I'm not surprised she was confused I don't suppose she'd have understood better if he told her that she needed to "skip to the loo", which is another common expression here to avoid the rather vulgar "going to the toilet"..[/I]
In 1887, British Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil appointed his nephew Arthur James Balfour as Minister for Ireland. The phrase 'Bob's your uncle' was coined when Arthur referred to the Prime Minister as 'Uncle Bob'. Apparently, it's very simple to become a minister when Bob's your uncle!
How about that's the "Real McCoy" or "Penny for your Thoughts".
I don't hear those anymore.
Carbon copy. And bcc (blind carbon copy).
At my first j*b in the early 1980s I was digging through old files and came across an actual carbon copy. Even then, it was a real anachronism.
My first "real" job in 1979 involved making actual carbon copies! So it wasn't quite the anachronism you thought