The way I was taught was that the word doesn't even have to actually start with a vowel, but the wovel sound has to be at the beginning of the pronunciation. For example an x-ray, as opposed to a x-ray, an hour vs. a hour and so on.
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Idioms, Phrases, and Acronyms of the English Language
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The way I was taught was that the word doesn't even have to actually start with a vowel, but the wovel sound has to be at the beginning of the pronunciation. For example an x-ray, as opposed to a x-ray, an hour vs. a hour and so on.
More importantly it means that as bad things/news/policies come down from the top, they roll over the rest of the organization in effect bathing everyone, or everyone has to deal with it as it rolls down though the organization.
Mostly. Sometimes there are words that start with a vowel, but the sound warrants an a. Need to think on what some examples are...bingo I thought of one. uniform
Right, but in the case of "u" it depends if it's the uhh sound or the yuu sound: An umbrella, a unicorn.
There are a lot of variations on that phrase. It's similar to the various forms of a few eggs short of a dozen or not playing with a full deck.The lights are on but no one’s home- A humorous expression used to say that someone is stupid, unthinking, or inattentive. I known this phrase for decades, bTU heard this today in a song by Robert Palmer and had to post. Link.
I like "Not the sharpest tool in the shed" or it's variant "Not the sharpest knife in the drawer", the latter variant can be word for word translated into Norwegian for the same meaning.
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Or, "your elevator doesn't go to the top floor". Or, "his elevator goes to the top floor but the doors don't open". I found this list of just sayings for "not smart". https://dan.hersam.com/lists/not_bright.php.I like "Not the sharpest tool in the shed" or it's variant "Not the sharpest knife in the drawer", the latter variant can be word for wor translated into Norwegian for the same meaning.
They are funny, but not nice.
Once in a blue moon- a rare occurrence. I grew up thinking this just meant that, not that there was really a rare blue moon, literally or figuratively. However blue moons are defined.
www.phrases.org.uk
'Once in a blue moon' - the meaning and origin of this phrase
The meaning and origin of the phrase 'Once in a blue moon'.
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I just saw this thread for the first time. While I work my way through it, I thought I would leave three comments:
ETA: I just remembered William Safire of the New York Times. He wrote a great column, On Language, that I think people here will dig: https://www.nytimes.com/search?drop...913d1fb-3cdf-556b-9a81-f0b996a1a202&sort=best
- If nobody has posted this yet, https://greensdictofslang.com/ is a great resource for slang and vulgarisms.
- My favorite saying comes from Polish: masło maślany ("buttery butter", said when someone is using too many words or is being redundant–language geeks call that a pleonasm).
- I also really like how Indian English has a lot of formulations that are logical but have not been widely adopted outside of India, such as needful and prepone (another fun language resource: http://www.samosapedia.com/ )
ETA: I just remembered William Safire of the New York Times. He wrote a great column, On Language, that I think people here will dig: https://www.nytimes.com/search?drop...913d1fb-3cdf-556b-9a81-f0b996a1a202&sort=best
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Speaking of using too many words...
If somebody tends to use ten-dollar words when one-dollar words would do, in order to impress you, just say "If your copious vocabulary is too voluminous for my diminutive comprehension, we will bring this abbreviated discourse to an immediate termination!"
If somebody tends to use ten-dollar words when one-dollar words would do, in order to impress you, just say "If your copious vocabulary is too voluminous for my diminutive comprehension, we will bring this abbreviated discourse to an immediate termination!"
Actually, I had always thought it was the Brits who seem to be the ones who use the word "needful" -- at least British people I know use it casually and frequently -- and I always had the impression that this usage was originated in the British Isles, but of course could be wrong about that. The whole British Empire/India thing made for a lot of cultural exchanging which benefitted everyone on both sides.
Benjamin Franklin - It's a Republic lady if you can keep it - IMHO the retort to reporter in History at the first signing of the new Republic after the dangerous Articles of Confederation failed!
A lot of the English spoken in India (where English is a sort of lingua franca, especially for the educated middle class, as regions and ethnicities in the country/sub-continent speak a great many different languages) has a delightfully old-fashioned (and elegantly precise) aspect, exquisite on the ear, especially when compared to the English currently spoken in the British Isles, (and the US).
To a certain extent, it is similar to what would have been the spoken language of upper middle class England of 70 or 80 years ago, when India gained its independence, in fact, the sort of English one comes across in - for example - Enid Blyton.
I remember sharing a polling station in Bosnia a quarter of a century ago with an utterly charming Sikh police officer, from India, (I was there to supervise the election, the polling process; meanwhile, he was present to keep an eye - a very close eye - on the local police or security forces), who spoke the sort of exquisite English rarely encountered outside of a book.
We were discussing the fact that both India and Pakistan had become nuclear powers, and I vividly recall the exquisite precision of his beautiful, eloquent and elegant speech: "It is a matter of deep distress to me that my government has seen fit to detonate a nuclear device..." I was almost whimpering with worshipful delight, just for the joy of listening to him, savouring his elegant, slightly anachronistic speech, both what he said and how he said it.
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The lights are on but no one’s home- A humorous expression used to say that someone is stupid, unthinking, or inattentive. I known this phrase for decades, but heard this today in a song by Robert Palmer and had to post. Link.
Not the sharpest knife... Another that comes to mind in reference to this one.
Not the sharpest marble... is another.
This use of "cats paw" was new to me today:
It is hard by now — with Mr. Putin unrelenting more than two months into the Ukraine war — to avoid the impression that Mr. Schröder is useful to the Russian leader as a cat’s paw to further his own interest in hooking Germany on cheap Russian gas.
www.nytimes.com
One definition:
www.merriam-webster.com
It is hard by now — with Mr. Putin unrelenting more than two months into the Ukraine war — to avoid the impression that Mr. Schröder is useful to the Russian leader as a cat’s paw to further his own interest in hooking Germany on cheap Russian gas.
The Former Chancellor Who Became Putin’s Man in Germany
Gerhard Schröder, who is paid almost $1 million a year by Russian-controlled energy companies, has become a pariah. But he is also a symbol of Germany’s Russia policy.
One definition:
Definition of CAT'S-PAW
a light air that ruffles the surface of the water in irregular patches during a calm; one used by another as a tool : dupe; a hitch knot formed with two eyes for attaching a line to a hook… See the full definition
Oh, Bless your heart........
Is a southern US one. And it can be said straight to their face since they probably won't realize you are calling them stupid. ?
I wondered why, when something is expected soon, people say it is coming down the pike.
So I looked it up and learned that it's a metaphor for a car coming down the turnpike. A turnpike means a major toll road. I don't know why the phrase refers to a road that you have to pay to use. It could just as well have been coming down the road.
To follow through, I looked up turnpike. It's derived from turning and from pike, which is a sharp-pointed weapon. Now I'm left wondering what a toll road has to do with a sharp weapon. I obviously need to "get the point!"
So I looked it up and learned that it's a metaphor for a car coming down the turnpike. A turnpike means a major toll road. I don't know why the phrase refers to a road that you have to pay to use. It could just as well have been coming down the road.
To follow through, I looked up turnpike. It's derived from turning and from pike, which is a sharp-pointed weapon. Now I'm left wondering what a toll road has to do with a sharp weapon. I obviously need to "get the point!"
Yes, in general, it is.
It is an expression that you will find (hear, and see written) from some Brits (your humble scribe included), and the expression is still used.
However, as I observed earlier (in this thread) to @KaliYoni:
A lot of the English spoken in India (where English is a sort of lingua franca, especially for the educated middle class, as regions and ethnicities in the country/sub-continent speak a great many different languages) has a delightfully old-fashioned (and elegantly precise) aspect, exquisite on the ear, especially when compared to the English currently spoken in the British Isles, (and the US).
To a certain extent, it is similar to what would have been the spoken language of upper middle class England of 70 or 80 years ago, when India gained its independence, in fact, the sort of English one comes across in - for example - Enid Blyton, or Dorothy L Sayers, and similar writers, or in novels and works from the interwar period.