Okay, this might sound weird, but this is what I'm thinking of today. I'm assuming most of you know the idiom, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." I know it's about looking at the horse's teeth to check it's age and health, but in my heart I have an alternate history where it's about The Trojan Horse, which doesn't really even make much sense, but it's still living there rent free.
So, does anyone else do this, make up alternate histories for words or phrases? If you do, I'd love examples!
@RickiTarr these tasty cakes are popular in Britain and Ireland- slices of pastry with a filling of currants or raisins. For years, I assumed that my family's name for them was a dark joke. I was well into adulthood before I saw a label in a shop and discovered that such a cake is, in fact, commonly known as a fly cemetery
@RickiTarr when I was little, my mum would always say 'I believe you; thousands've wouldn't', but it took a long time to realise she wasn't saying 'thousands of woodent'.
I always imagined a big pile of wood chippings, and as I couldn't see any connection with being believed, thought it might be a catchphrase from a TV show that was on before I was born.
@RickiTarr
People who live in glass houses stow no thrones.
You can lead a horse to a fountain, but you cannot call him Sherbet.
Okay, so I'm just feeling silly 😏
@RickiTarr We have a saying around here for when someone asks if they can go ahead and do something (and you are otherwise indifferent to it), you say "fill yur boots" like "go ahead, whatever."
I can only imagine that you're either peeing your pants while wearing rubber galoshes, or you're about to fill The Boot for a drinking game.
@RickiTarr We also have one for when you say something embarrassing and it comes back to bite you, instead of putting your foot in your mouth you "eat crow". And I can only imagine it means something Mr. Jones says was really awkward, you have offended Sheryl Crow, or you are a cannibal and you are eating Russel Crowe.
@tezoatlipoca@RickiTarr
"Putting one's foot in one's mouth" is a fairly modern phrase. Originally, the saying was "Put one's foot in it", implying that the foot gets placed into a cow pat or other undesirable substance.
Someone in my lifetime (it may have been the punchline of a joke) once said "Every time he opens his mouth he puts is foot in it"
@RickiTarr
If you say “dogs and cats” one way, it means fighting, but another way it means weird shit is happening. If you say “cats and dogs”, it’s about rain. This must drive non-native speakers nuts.
@sollat@RickiTarr I've always heard is as "cats and dogs" but with a modifier like "raining like cats and dogs", "coming down like cats and dogs", or "fighting like cats and dogs". I don't know that I've ever heard "dogs and cats" except in Ghostbusters "Dogs and Cats living together..."
I wonder if it's an east coast vs west coast thing?
There's a old-timey Southern expression: "You don't believe cow horns will hook, do you?" My grandmother (b. 1909) used it if she told us (kids) to do something and we didn't hop to. It implied consequences. 1960s. I thought, "Cows don't have horns. WTF is she talking about?" but knew instinctually it was a warning to do the thing or else.
@DemocracySpot@RickiTarr She meant a male cow which I know is not a cow but a bull but COME ON MAN this is a Southern expression it isn't supposed to be logically correct. If it was it wouldn't be an old-timey Southern expression!
@RickiTarr there's quite a few baseball derived idioms which British people commonly use, but few know of their derivation (out of left field, thrown a curve ball, touch base, out of the ballpark)
@RickiTarr On the topic of idioms and misinterpretation, I give you one of my favourite websites:
ithinkispider.com
It's a collection of German sayings and idioms (wrongly) translated word-for-word into English. Some of them are not too far off from what you'd expect...but some of them are delightfully UNHINGED.
@RickiTarr Sometimes I make up stories about etymology or phrase origins. The other day I had a thought that the word Shyster originated from the German word for shit (Schiesse). Turns out it might actually be correct.
@RickiTarr This immediately made me think of the term headcanon (a canonical idea that only lives in your own head) that’s been going around recently.
It seems like a fairly new phrase, and I get it- but I also just picture an iron cannon stuck out of people’s foreheads, blasting out a little cannon ball! 🤯
@RickiTarr I've been socialized out of several sayings that were common in the Midwest of a couple generations ago, and/or in my Navy service.
"Not enough room to swing a cat" is an example of the latter. We never thought it was about actual cats, but rather about the cat-o'-nine-tails of eld. You can't explain that to animal lovers nowadays so I just don't say it.
@RickiTarr The fediverse is all about these moments! I just went to my bookshelf to confirm I'm not creating false memories. It's on pp. 83-84 of this:
@RickiTarr I have recently been wondering about the phrase "hold down the fort" and have been looking for examples in media (I heard recently it in Star Trek:Voyager of all places!).
My autistic brain asks: why would I have to hold anything down in a fort, or have to hold down the fort itself? Aren't forts usually of a sturdy construction? Is this really a euphemism for don't let the tents blow away? What am I defending the fort from, anyway?
Yet it is rare that I have ever heard anyone say simply, "hold the fort".
The whole "gift horse in the mouth" turn of phrase has always confused me, too. But why? Is the gift horse hiding something in its mouth? I love your Trojan horse approach. That makes much more sense.
@RickiTarr well- it's a malaphor, but "we'll burn that bridge when we come to it."
I use that phrase when triaging problems, where I usually imagine myself on a spit of land surrounded by a river, city on fire, with invaders preparing to cross bridges to add to my troubles.
It's basically saying "we still won't be able to fix the problem (fight them off) later, but at least we'll be able to use our current crisis to forestall a future one.
"Boss, x prob is keeping us from doing y right now."
"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" (Robert Browning)
it always bothered me
your reach is as far as your arm extends, and that is all that you can grasp
i feel like it would be better if he had said "your vision should exceed your reach" or "your grasp can exceed your reach with a novelty mini grabber arm," i don' know
c'mon dude, i know you're a poet but let's not forget basic anatomy here! 🤭
@RickiTarr no, I don't but I like your Trojan horse thing. Although looking in the mouth of the TH might be a good idea. Would certainly have saved Laocoon some grief.
@RickiTarr
I grew up in the country so I have a theory that "when the crap hits the fan" came from dairy farms. I have no evidence for this except that dairy barns do indeed have giant fans and animals who poop pretty indiscriminately. My imagination considers this pretty strong evidence.
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