I've never heard "bless his heart" used in a positive way in Alabama. It's always used because the person you're talking about doesn't have the sense God gave a gnat, or the looks to not scare small children.
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Idioms, Phrases, and Acronyms of the English Language
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I've never heard "bless his heart" used in a positive way in Alabama. It's always used because the person you're talking about doesn't have the sense God gave a gnat, or the looks to not scare small children.
That's one of my favorite phrases. I routinely said that to a very dim person on another board I used over a decade ago. In all fairness, he was a very dumb individual. No critical thinking skills, no social filter, off the handle reactions, etc. I think he was banned while I took a break from the site. Though he continued to live on as a meme.
- 8Jun- Added sick (#35), Bless Your Heart (#36), The Whole Nine Yards (#36), Since Moses wore short pants (#36)
- 3Jun- Added Your mother's a whore (#31), wet (#33)
- The Whole Nine Yards (AustinIllini #36)- a colloquial American English phrase refers to everything, the whole lot, all the way. Other words can be and are substituted, fill in the blank, the whole _________ (ball of wax, first recorded in the 1880s, enchilada, shooting match, shebang or hog. The choice of the number nine may be related to the expression "To the nines" (to perfection) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_whole_nine_yards
- Since Moses Wore Short Pants (AustinIllini #36)- References something that happened a long time ago, referencing the early 20th century, when the phrase originated, boys wore short pants (knickers), so when Moses wore short pants, that was a very long time ago.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091013074448AAPtn19
I can't dispute your experience. Let's say your car broke down and you had to walk 2 miles into town, in the rain. Someone could say "bless you heart" and not mean you are stupid, but that you suffered.
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Just a small correction: Sie ist meine Freundin. "(Er ist) Mein Freund" would be used when talking about a male subject.
I agree with you on the interesting similarities between the languages!
Thanks ! But isn't Freundin reserved only for girlfriends ? What if she's just a friend ?
And yes, I did know about the difference between Er ist and Sie ist and mein vs meine
Thanks ! But isn't Freundin reserved only for girlfriends ? What if she's just a friend ?
And yes, I did know about the difference between Er ist and Sie ist and mein vs meine
Yeah, the friend / girl- or boyfriend situation can be a bit tricky. Usually, when talking about the same sex Freund / Freundin means friend (gay couples would be an exception), but when talking about the opposite sex it's more girl-/boyfriend. It's not a rule, and at least in slang there are other terms used to make the situation more clear, f. ex. "Kumpel" would be buddy, or the "Freund/-in" is clarified by "Sie ist eine Gute Freundin (von mir)", meaning she is a good friend, not a girlfriend.
There may be a myriad of grammatical things at play here, but as I learned the language by listening, and not so much studying, I hesitate to delve deeper into the subject.
To describe what, exactly? What he did, or how he fell from grace and a position of cultural power?
Anyway, I doubt it.
I can't dispute your experience. Let's say your car broke down and you had to walk 2 miles into town, in the rain. Someone could say "bless you heart" and not mean you are stupid, but that you suffered.
They could. But not in the deep South.
I'm not 100% sure on this, but I suspect that, like French, this is a culturally linguistic experience. In French you use the indefinite article to identify a friend, but the possessive to indicate a romantic relationship. She's a friend, vs she's my friend. But dating doesn't work in other countries the way it does in the US, so the concept of girl or boyfriend hasn't always existed in the way we think of it, so the words also don't exist.
They could. But not in the deep South.
I'm not 100% sure on this, but I suspect that, like French, this is a culturally linguistic experience. In French you use the indefinite article to identify a friend, but the possessive to indicate a romantic relationship. She's a friend, vs she's my friend. But dating doesn't work in other countries the way it does in the US, so the concept of girl or boyfriend hasn't always existed in the way we think of it, so the words also don't exist.
This is true, and, in most European languages nouns are gendered which they are not (although, historically, several centuries ago, they used to be) in English which also has an effect on how such nouns are used to describe friendships, close friendships and intimate, or romantic, relationships.
I'm trying to clarify "Waiting like Patience on a monument". My impression is that this refers to a character or an allegory named Patience, but looking at these quotes, I'm not sure if it means you are impatient or that you are suffering?
pined in thought,
And with a green and yellow melancholy
She sat like patience on a monument,
Smiling at grief. . . .
(II.iv.111–114)
“Patience on a monument” refers to statues of the allegorical figure of Patience, which often adorned Renaissance tombstones. By comparing her imaginary sister to this stone figure, Viola subtly contrasts her own passion with the self-indulgent and grandiose lovesickness from which Orsino claims to suffer.
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/twelfthnight/section5/page/3/
“a young woman in love always looks like patience on a monument smiling at grief”
― William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/5068-a-young-woman-in-love-always-looks-like-patience-on
Help anyone!
[doublepost=1528562344][/doublepost]
- 9Jun- Added Put out to Pasture (#36), Get a Taste of their own medicine (#36), perfect storm (#36), Wild goose chase (#36), That Ship has sailed (#36), Pee in your Cheerios (#37), Happy as a Clam (#39), Jonesing For something (#40), No Problem (#44), Dryer than a popcorn fart (#47).
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There are a bunch of what are called "reduplicative" phrases or word pairs used informally in English to provide emphasis of the meaning of the original word. Generally the word pair has a slight change in the spelling of the "duplicated" word, for example: herky-jerky, hurly-burly.
Hanky-panky.
Hokey-pokey.
Hickory dickory.
Hic jacet.
Hem-and-haw.
Hue-and-cry.
Kiss-and-tell.
Live-and-let-die.
Bon-soir.
"Hic jacet" is Latin (here lies...)
I'll add 'rumpy-pumpy' - WW2 slang - to that list.
The best thing since sliced bread.
Now we have lots of useful inventions before and after sliced bread. I'd even venture to say it's not that incredibly useful. I mean give a guy a knife and he can usually manage to slice it!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliced_bread
Now we have lots of useful inventions before and after sliced bread. I'd even venture to say it's not that incredibly useful. I mean give a guy a knife and he can usually manage to slice it!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliced_bread
My granddad was never in Texas as far as I know but still he was a "Texas toast" kinda guy anyway, in the sense that he cut his bread off home-baked loaves into breakfast slices so thick they had to be broiled, back in the day before bagel-sized slots in toasters were a thing.
However, "Texas toast" is a thing for some of us today. At a minimum it means slices cut about twice as thick as regular commercial bread slices in the USA. After that the interpretation of what you do to the Texas toast to make it "authentic" gets pretty regional and... of course is endlessly debatable because we're all right that there's only one way to make it.
I suspect similar words were uttered a few thousand years ago during the first recorded briss.
But it’s saving you the work!
[doublepost=1528895635][/doublepost]Something is Rotten in (the State of) Denmark- From a Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, when this is said, after the ghost of Hamlet’s Father is seen. A reference that something is wrong frequently used with political overtones can be applied to any situation where something out of order, or nefarious is taking place. Frequently used with “the State of” left out.
https://www.quora.com/Where-does-the-expression-something-is-rotten-in-Denmark-come-from
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Up the creek without a paddle.
Interesting. I've only come across this a few times in the last decade. Though I've always wondered if politically slanted comments such as this one were ever adopted at other points in history. Each major movement had its own similar sayings whether it was during the times of Franco, Reich or even the communists. I'm sure there's modern relevant ones but I don't pay much attention until the dust settles. There's actually some funny jokes that came about during those time periods. A lot of the recorded ones are from the communist era and most of them won't make sense to us (I don't get most of them) unless you lived through it or were a student or professor of the era's history.But it’s saving you the work!
[doublepost=1528895635][/doublepost]Something is Rotten in (the State of) Denmark- From a Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, when this is said, after the ghost of Hamlet’s Father is seen. A reference that something is wrong frequently used with political overtones can be applied to any situation where something out of order, or nefarious is taking place. Frequently used with “the State of” left out.
https://www.quora.com/Where-does-the-expression-something-is-rotten-in-Denmark-come-from
Oh, yes, undoubtedly: It would e adopted if it it was pithy, and both expressed something that was true at the time (a truth that could not otherwise be expressed), but also one that could also be considered timeless.