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Read a post today where someone was asking for an explanation in "Lehman's terms." Oh brother! (pun intended)
Anyone have any funny misunderstood expressions to share?
Anyone have any funny misunderstood expressions to share?
The "under toad", that's awesome!phinds said:One that I've always thought hilarious was reported by writer John Irving, one of whose characters is afraid to go swimming in the ocean because he was warned about what he understood to be the giant frog that lives there. The "under toad".
Drakkith said:Lol, I thought "Misunderstood expressions" meant math expressions at first.
That one kills me, we actually had people in another thread trying to defend it's use. :uhh:reenmachine said:How about the classic "I could care less" I keep reading again and again.
:rofl:Nugatory said:An ex-girlfriend once asked why the software that I was hacking on at the time was called the "eunuch's colonel".
What happens if an Under Toad encounters an escaped Pool Shark? Which one wins?phinds said:[...] afraid to go swimming in the ocean because he was warned about what he understood to be the giant frog that lives there. The "under toad".
strangerep said:What happens if an Under Toad encounters an escaped Pool Shark? Which one wins?
And why did Americans start calling main dishes entrées? Entrée means entrance, it is what you start the meal with.Evo said:Au jus - "with jus (sauce, gravy, drippings)
You can serve something with jus as in "roast beef au jus".
You cannot serve someone a "with with jus" as in "Roast beef with au jus"
You cannot make a "with jus" as in "make an au jus".
But this is becoming another American bastardization, changing "au jus" from an adjective to a noun.
Let's stake a step back
reenmachine said:How about the classic "I could care less" I keep reading again and again.
Evo said:That one kills me, we actually had people in another thread trying to defend it's use. :uhh:
Sorry Bob, I don't see how "cool" intentionally used as slang compares to people misunderstanding a grammatically correct phrase and actually thinking that "I could care less" means the same as "I couldn't care less". People actually don't realize that they misheard the original phrase and thought that what they were saying actually meant that they couldn't care less. Same goes for the expression "I should be so lucky", it, like 'cool" are not misunderstandings of a correct expression.BobG said:Does the expression "I should be so lucky!" bother you, as well?
Usually, a person is expressing the feeling that there's no way he'd ever be that lucky when they use that phrase.
Or does the expression "Cool!" bother you?
Usually, when a person uses that word to react to some interesting feat, they're obviously not referring to the temperature.
Which is correct: I could care less or I couldn't care less?
The expression I could not care less originally meant 'it would be impossible for me to care less than I do because I do not care at all'. It was originally a British saying and came to the US in the 1950s. It is senseless to transform it into the now-common I could care less. If you could care less, that means you care at least a little. The original is quite sarcastic and the other form is clearly nonsense.
What, no duck tape?lisab said:I regularly watch for interesting building materials on Craigslist (yeah it's a strange hobby ), and it's full of gems.
Wayne's coating. Rot iron. Lam-nut flooring.
http://duckbrand.com/images/products/280317_386x360.jpgBandersnatch said:What, no duck tape?
Are you saying crescent wrench is a brand name of adjustable wrench formed as a reverse eponym from misspelling of the latter?Pythagorean said:duck tape vs. duct tape
is like
crescent wrench vs. adjustable wrench
Evo said:http://duckbrand.com/images/products/280317_386x360.jpg
I can't remember how old I was when I finally realized that "duck tape" was actually "duct tape". I wasn't young.Bandersnatch said:Lol :rofl:
Evo said:I can't remember how old I was when I finally realized that "duck tape" was actually "duct tape". I wasn't young.