Have At You! The Full Nine Yards of Phrases of Mysterious Origin

Here are some old expressions, and some explanations for how they came to mean what they mean.

Note that in many cases, I doubt the explanation offered. I think in many cases, these are more stories than histories.

But some of them are true. Some of them seem true, and even some of the ones that don't seem likely to be true are interesting.

three sheets to the wind -- drunk in an out-of-control way. If a ship with three sails had all three sheets -- lines which control the sails -- in the wind, that is, loose, it was out of control. (Thanks to Jim for correcting me.)

the whole nine yards -- this explanation sounds so cool I don't believe it. It sounds like one of those backsplanations, where they make up a story backwards from the term. But popular myth has it that, supposedly, WWII fighter planes were equipped with nine linear yards worth of ammunition --
you can see where this is going -- so if you gave someone the whole nine yards, you exhausted every single bullet in your magazine against them and left yourself absolutely spent.

But... would they really measure ammunition by the yard? And which fighter planes had nine yards of ammunition? All of them? Seems to me this story would be more believable if it specified the particular fighter model that supposedly was loaded with nine yards of ammunition.

I want to believe but... I have questions. I have questions.

Wikipedia pours cold water on this cool explanation, and says there is no explanation for it: " Its origin is unknown and has been described by Yale University librarian Fred R. Shapiro as 'the most prominent etymological riddle of our time'."

Interestingly, early on in the use of the phrase, in the 1900-1920 period, the phrase was often rendered as "the whole six yards."

Another claim about its origin concerns the Vickers machine gun, whose belt of ammunition measured six yards. Well, not really -- six and 2/3rds yards, which is really closer to seven yards. So the claim is that the phrase started off as "giving them the whole six yards," all the ammo of one belt of the Vickers, and that later was inflated, due to Putin's Tax.

And also because the Vickers, when mounted in a plane as the plane's gun, actually was fed by nine yards of ammo:

However, the Vickers gun as fitted to aircraft during the First World War usually had ammunition containers capable of accommodating linked belts of 350-400 rounds, the average length of such a belt being about nine yards, and it was thought that this may be the origin of the phrase.

Unfortunately, as tasty as this is, there are references in print to people promising or giving "the full nine yards" before World War One.

Although this is not a settled explanation, it might be the answer:

The Oxford English Dictionary places the earliest published non-idiomatic use of the phrase in the New Albany Daily Ledger (New Albany, Indiana, January 30, 1855) in an article called "The Judge's Big Shirt." "What a silly, stupid woman! I told her to get just enough to make three shirts; instead of making three, she has put the whole nine yards into one shirt!"
...
Many of the popular candidates [for explaining the origins of the phrase] relate to the length of pieces of fabric, or various garments, including Indian saris, Scottish kilts, burial shrouds, or bolts of cloth. No single source verifies that any one of those suggestions was the actual origin. However, an article published in Comments on Etymology demonstrates that fabric was routinely sold in standard lengths of nine yards (and other multiples of three yards) during the 1800s and early 1900s. This may explain why so many different types of cloth or garments have been said to have been nine yards long. The phrase "...she has put the whole nine yards into one shirt" appears in 1855.

That's kind of interesting, because, putting this together, I saw claims that the expression dressed to the nines derived from the fact that cloth was sold in a measure of nine yards, so if you were dressed to the nines, you were dressed, as it were, with the full nine yards.

But that doesn't work either. That explanation for "to the nines" is a false etymology.

to the nines -- Because "to the nines" goes back quite a ways, and seems to suggest something more mystical than a tailor's shop.

Also, while in modern days we almost always use "to the nines" when talking about dress -- in fact, the expression is pretty much "dressed to the nines" now -- in earlier days "to the nines" could apply to anything, and meant perfection or fullness in many things.

The phrase is said to be Scots in origin. The earliest written example of the phrase is from the 1719 Epistle to Ramsay by the Scottish poet William Hamilton:
The bonny Lines therein thou sent me,
How to the nines they did content me.
Robert Burns' "Poem on Pastoral Poetry", published in 1791, also uses the phrase:
Thou paints auld nature to the nines,
In thy sweet Caledonian lines.
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (New and Revised edition. 1981) states that the phrase is 'perhaps a corruption of 'then eyne' (to the eyes)"
The phrase may have originally been associated with the Nine Worthies or the nine Muses. A poem from a 17th century collection of works by John Rawlet contains the following lines:

The learned tribe whose works the World do bless,
Finish those works in some recess;
Both the Philosopher and Divine,
And Poets most who still make their address
In private to the Nine.

I guess the "nine yards of cloth" might still be the explanation.

the whole kit and caboodle -- everything, the lot. There are two different claims about this.

First, Grammarist.com says it's an American expression, made up of "kit," as in a soldier's kit, his gear, plus his boodle, a collection of things, which I guess would be all of his stuff that wasn't officially part of his kit, maybe? Boodle got turned into "caboodle" just to alliterate better as "kit and caboodle" and then people wrote "kit and kaboodle."

English-Grammar-Lessons.com, on the other hand, claims it's an English phrase that comes first from kith, an old English word meaning "estate." "The entire kith" means everything on your estate, your land. They then say that "caboodle" means a "kitbag." But here's the thing, I can't find any citations to back these claims up.

So this seems like a dead-end. Let's go with the first claim.

As far as I can tell, "kith" means "country," so that "kith and kin" means "homeland and clan" or "country and family." Interestingly, "kith" derives from old roots meaning "known" (as in, lands known to you) and "kin" derives from roots meaning "To give birth to".

"Boodle" may be related to "bundle" and "bundle" may be how we get "bindle," the sack on the end of a stick that hobos carry on their shoulders.

turn a blind eye to -- speaking of backsplanations, this is one I don't buy, but it is cool, so I'll relate it. The story goes that Admiral Nelson, who was blind in one eye, intended to attack a group of Danish ships. He was signaled to stop attacking by his allied British ships, but put the telescope up to his blind eye, and told his first made, "I saw no signal to cease." And he continued attacking.

I knew Italian had the same phrase, chiudere un occhio (close an eye (to)), and I thought "Well why would the Italians use a phrase based on what Admiral Nelson said?," but, apparently, they tell the same story about the phrase.

I'm still skeptical. I think the real story here is far less interesting: I think it just means, basically, "pretend not to see what you don't want to see." No additional elaboration necessary. And all this business about Admiral Nelson is a backsplanation for the rubes.

You can believe it if you want. I'm tired of these Zionist Lies.

short shrift -- a shrift is a confession, especially to a priest. I've heard this three different ways. First, if you give your priest the "short shrift," you're giving him an abbreviated, cursory list of your sins. I've also heard that this applies to the priest's instructions for penance, so if he gives you the "short shrift," he's not thinking about it very much and is blowing you off with a formulaic "say five Hail Marys and take two aspirin" and isn't properly absolving you.

I've also heard it claimed that an executioner will cut a condemned man's allowance of time to confess his sins short to keep to a schedule or to stop him from delaying, hence, "giving him the short shrift." I don't believe this latter explanation. I think it's a backsplanation. I mean, how often would this come up? Would it come up enough times to generate an expression that lasts throughout time? Doubtful. Sounds cool, though.

I think the first explanation is the correct one and the other two are More Zionist Lies.

The walls have ears -- I wouldn't have thought this one needed an explanation -- I mean, the walls listen so be careful when speaking, what more explanation is needed? -- but this explanation of Italian sayings claims that the Louvre ( a palace before it was a museum) had a system of hidden tubes in its walls permitting someone to listen in on conversations throughout the palace. Catherine de Medici, Queen of France in the 1500's, used the tubes to learn political secrets.

hair of the dog -- supposedly this comes from a medieval cure for rabies -- applying the hair of the rabid dog that bit you would cure the disease. I guess having a bit of alcohol is supposed to take the bite out of a hangover.

show your true colors -- refers to a ship flying its true colors, that is, its true flag. A pirate would usually fly a false flag to get close to its prey and, only when within combat range, fly its true colors.

This video has a bunch of old expressions, including pass with flying colors -- when ships won a battle, they would sail past port proudly flying their flags, or colors -- and nail your colors to the mast, which means nailing your flag to the mast, giving up any possibility of lowering your flag in case you have to surrender. Thus, announcing your are making your final stand.

Another one he notes is dyed in the wool. Apparently when you dyed the actual wool, it kept its color better. When you knitted the wool into a garment and then dyed it, that was "dyed in the piece," and that wouldn't produce such great colors. So you'd rather something be dyed in the wool.

He's the guy that provided that executioner-cuts-off-your-confession explanation for short shrift. I see that one popping up on the internet a lot... probably just because it makes for a grabbier story.

A wing and a prayer -- the phrase refers to Ralph Hinkley's ungainly mode of flight.

Just kidding, obviously. It refers to a situation in which there is almost no hope of success. It comes from a WWII song about a badly-damaged bomber attempting to fly home. The bomber has lost one wing, so it is "Comin' In On a Wing and a Prayer." A wing on one side, and just a prayer holding it up on the other side.

The song doesn't seem to be based on any particular incident, but may be "inspired"
by any number of incidents of heavily damaged bombers trying to get home.

Different incidents have been credited as the inspiration for the song. It is sometimes said to be based on the events of February 26, 1943, when "Southern Comfort", a B-17 Flying Fortress piloted by Hugh G. Ashcraft Jr. of Charlotte, North Carolina, was badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire on a bombing mission over mainland Europe. As it approached the British coast, Ashcraft told his crew over the radio: "Those who want to, please pray." The aircraft made it home safely. The song has also been associated with the similar survival against the odds, despite extensive damage, of another B-17, "Thunderbird", piloted by Lt. John Cronkhite, on a mission from Biskra, Algeria, over Tripoli on January 12, 1943.

The song title was used in a subsequent movie:

The movie was also not based on any particular incident.

scuttlebutt -- meaning gossip, the term is nautical in origin. It refers to a butt, or cask, which has been scuttled, that is, pierced by a hole to allow water to drain out.

In other words, the cask has been turned into a wooden water fountain, and the scuttled butt became a natural gathering place where bored crewmen could trade gossip.

blue blood -- nobles did not see a lot of sun, and their pale skin allowed the blue of their veins to show through. Thus, they were literally "blue bloods."

This doesn't have anything to do with anything, but in this article," I found these old-time euphemisms for "penis:"

"Master John Goodfellow,"

"the gentleman usher,"

"the staff of life,"

"the maypole," and, impressively,

"the Cyprian scepter."

For women's daintybits, terms once used included:

"The Phoenix nest,"

"The Netherlands,"

"Mount Pleasant," and,

amazingly,

"Mrs. Fubbs' Parlor." I don't know why anyone ever stopped saying that.

The article also mentions some old-time expressions for saying you're hot, hot as in overheated, not randy, but one expression included is a definitely sexual one:

"hot as a half-f*cked fox in a forest fire."

Which is amazing. Again, I don't know why we stopped saying that.

From personal reconnaissance, a good word to try to reintroduce is swive, to copulate with, to fornicate with.

Finally, to the entire reason for this post:

have at you -- meaning, "I'm going to attack you now."

I recently watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

So in the Black Knight scene, the Knight repeatedly says "Have at you!" as he attacks Arthur. And I'm sure you've read that line in book or heard it in movies set in swords-and-cilice times.

From context, it obviously means, "I'm attacking, en garde!"

But is that what it actually means?

And if that is what it means, how do you get "I'm going to attack you now" from "Have at you!" ?

Answering the questions in order:

Yes, all "Have at you!" means is Imma rock your wig back, cuz.

have at you
(dated) An exclamation indicating that one is about to strike the person addressed, typically with a sword or other hand-held weapon.
1904, J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Dark and sinister man, have at thee.

stackexchange.com also notes that Shakespeare was a big fan of characters having at other characters:

"Have at you now!" -- Hamlet
"Have at you with a proverb [...] Have at you with another;" -- Comedy of Errors
"Have at you!" -- Henry VIII
"Have at you, then, affection's men at arms." -- Love's Labour's Lost
"Then have at you with my wit!" -- Romeo and Juliet
"since you have begun, / Have at you for a bitter jest or two." -- Taming of the Shrew
"Come, both you cogging Greeks; have at you both!" -- Troilus and Cressida.

Okay so it means what we thought it meant.

But: Why does it mean that? Why does "have at you" mean "I'm attacking you"? What is being had, exactly? The attack? Blood? Satisfaction?

Unfortunately, there's not really an answer to this question. The expression is old enough that people were saying it before people were writing things down.

No one has any idea why "Have at you/Have at thee" means "I'm attacking you." They don't even seem to have any good guesses.

The phrase has been around since Middle English. The OED notes the expression, but can't explain it.

The explanations note that the expression is an ellipsis -- that words are being left out of what would be considered the full expression, the full grammatical sentence.

But what words?

"May I have at thee, if you wouldn't mind?"

Is the full statement a prayer to God, like, "If God will it, let me have my fury at thee!" ?

Is the full expression "Let me have a go at thee"?

That sounds like it makes sense, but it really just really just replaces one idiom we can't explain -- "have at thee" -- with another idiom we also can't explain -- "have a go at thee."

The latter just sounds better to us because "have a go at" is in current usage, whereas "have at" is not. But we still don't have an explanation as to what "have at" means -- what is being had? -- or, if we "have a go at" it, then what, exactly, is being gotten?

Yes we "get" it, in an idiomatic way, but how did this idiom come about? What was the literal idea they had in mind that led to this idiomatic usage?

In any event, I don't think the "Have a go at thee" explanation works, because the "have a go" expression is not attested until 1825, and of course our old friend "have at thee" is much older than that.

Now that I've wasted your time, I'll just conclude that I've overthought this. "Have" is one of the most basic words in the English language, and therefore also one of the most malleable and adaptable; it can mean a whole bunch of things, from "possess" to physically "hold" to "have sex with" or "swindle" or "beat/defeat" ("I had him!").

It also has very vague meanings like the verbs "do" or "make" have, where you really can't say what, exactly, the words mean, beyond "do the things necessary to perform an action which is suggested by the context of a sentence." For example, when you say "make a cake," it's really the word "cake" doing the work of the verb there -- "make" is filled with the meaning of "cake," and "make" takes on the meaning of "perform all steps necessary to create a cake." If the word "cake" was absent, the word "make," by itself, would be a bit of a blank.

What do "do" and "make" mean, on their own, with no nouns following them to clarify and specify their meaning? "Do homework" means something; "do" means nothing. "Make breakfast" means something; "make" means nothing.

"Have" is likewise a verb which sometimes takes on whatever meaning it needs to in context. When you say, "Can I have a look a that?", "look" is really doing the verb part of the sentence. "Have" is just along for the ride.

"Are we having a party?" "Have" turns out to mean "throwing" or "hosting" there. The word "party" gives "have" a meaning it usually doesn't, well, have.

So I guess it really shouldn't be such a mystery why a very adaptable silly-putty sort of verb like "have" can take on whatever meaning it needs to in the context of a sentence. "Have at you" -- I'm having at you. I'm going to have at you with this sword. The sword in my hand. I'm swinging it at you. You see what's going on here, I don't need to be more precise in my terminology. I'll have this sword in your stupid head in a minute if I have my way.

I guess it's pretty simple. I shouldn't have got so hung up on complicating it.

Posted by: Ace at 04:37 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Gallagher is dead, fjb

Posted by: Indignacio Vindacatorem at November 11, 2022 04:37 PM (oWBc3)

2 Good afternoon good people.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 04:38 PM (LsEU/)

3
I would've bet my left nut that "heard it through the grapevine" originated from Shakespeare. But no.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 04:38 PM (myK0K)

4 Holy crap! Ace has had this post in an open tab for over a year now, amirite?

Posted by: ShainS -- The Humiliation is Part of The Kink at November 11, 2022 04:38 PM (K3TEc)

5 We Were Soldiers is a solid flick.

Posted by: Indignacio Vindacatorem at November 11, 2022 04:39 PM (oWBc3)

6 Ace started this post in 2015.

Posted by: SH (No more Roe) at November 11, 2022 04:39 PM (sX1BW)

7 But what is the origin of "but first, you will blow me"?

Posted by: Dr. T at November 11, 2022 04:39 PM (tp+tP)

8 But what is the origin of "but first, you will blow me"?

--------------

It has something to do with me, doesn't it?

- Kamala

Posted by: SH (No more Roe) at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (sX1BW)

9 The whole nine yards I have heard like ten explanations, all sound plausible, but nobody seems to know where it came from.

Most odd sayings we have now came from British Navy, like "knowing the ropes", "the devil to pay", or "clean slate". Its fascinating how deeply the Navy embedded its self into English language.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (Ivdso)

10 I've always wondered about "tit for tat". And where does one obtain "tat"?

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (Nd9N3)

11 how did you guys know this is an old post?

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (C1Zwz)

12 >>>But popular myth has it that, supposedly, WWII fighter planes were equipped with nine linear yards worth of ammunition --
you can see where this is going -- so if you gave someone the whole nine yards, you exhausted every single bullet in your magazine against them and left yourself absolutely spent.

Forgotten Weapons had a show on WW1 machine guns. The Maxim used a 27 foot belt, 250 rounds, IIRC, in the Brit Vickers form. Ian described the origin story attributing Whole Nine Yards to the Vickers as apocryphal.

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 04:41 PM (yHsuS)

13 Ace started this post in 2015.

Posted by: SH (No more Roe) at November 11, 2022 04:39 PM (sX1BW)

--------

LOL

Posted by: ShainS -- The Humiliation is Part of The Kink at November 11, 2022 04:41 PM (K3TEc)

14 This is a true Friday thread. Now have at ‘e Horde

Posted by: Corona exile-back_in_exile at November 11, 2022 04:41 PM (3wNhr)

15 How about 'tit in a wringer'?

Wait! I know this one. Nonna had a old fashioned wringer on top of the washing machine.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 04:41 PM (LsEU/)

16 Such etymology...

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, drinking whiskey and getting into fights with Sam Peckinpah at November 11, 2022 04:42 PM (LvTSG)

17 Most odd sayings we have now came from British Navy, like "knowing the ropes", "the devil to pay", or "clean slate".

------------

Fuck off, matey!

Posted by: SH (No more Roe) at November 11, 2022 04:42 PM (sX1BW)

18 how did you guys know this is an old post?

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (C1Zwz)

-------

LOL. You said you were taking it easy today ...

Posted by: ShainS -- The Humiliation is Part of The Kink at November 11, 2022 04:42 PM (K3TEc)

19 this post actually HAS been in the queue for like five months. It was a Friday post that never got published because I always wind up having a lot of posts on friday (and never take friday off, as I plan).

but how did you know that?

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:42 PM (C1Zwz)

20
nood - pharisees

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars at November 11, 2022 04:42 PM (pNxlR)

21 Sheets are lines used to control sails, not the sails themselves. If the sheets (don't know why there are three) are lost in the wind you can't trim the sails.

Posted by: Jim at November 11, 2022 04:42 PM (2subk)

22 how did you guys know this is an old post?
Posted by: ace

////

Somebody's got a good memory. Or else, they're keeping tabs on you, Chuy

Posted by: Prime Sister at November 11, 2022 04:42 PM (tQL7r)

23 * checks inventory in crawlspace*

Damn! I am a yard short.

Posted by: Sock Monkey * Ungovernable at November 11, 2022 04:42 PM (T8CQX)

24 Canterbury Tales are mostly sex and fart jokes that your English teacher insists are super important.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, drinking whiskey and getting into fights with Sam Peckinpah at November 11, 2022 04:43 PM (LvTSG)

25 show your true colors -- refers to a ship flying its true colors, that is, its true flag. A pirate would usually fly a false flag to get close to its prey and, only when within combat range, fly its true colors.
-----
Not just pirates but navy ships as well back in the day. A legit ruse de guerre but you couldn't open fire until you'd hoisted your true colors. (Such was the code.)

Posted by: Zombie Robbo the Llama Butcher at November 11, 2022 04:43 PM (906pl)

26 Here's another example: "rule of thumb" does not come from the idea that a husband was allowed to beat his wife with a stick as long as the stick was no wider than his thumb. See O'Conner and Kellerman, Origins of the Specious, 123-26.

Posted by: Jim S. at November 11, 2022 04:43 PM (ynUnH)

27 whole nine yards (n.)

by 1970, of unknown origin; perhaps arbitrary (see cloud nine). Among the guesses that have been made without real evidence: concrete mixer trucks were said to have dispensed in this amount. Or the yard might be the word used in the slang sense of "one hundred dollars." Several similar phrases meaning "everything" arose in the 1940s (whole ball of wax, which is likewise of obscure origin, whole schmear); older examples include whole hog (see hog (n.)) and whole shooting match (1896); whole shebang (1895).

https://is.gd/62d5RA

++++

I like the concrete one, since poured concrete is measured by the yard.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at November 11, 2022 04:43 PM (gv7Yb)

28 Another weird one is "my bad". I could swear that at some point people said "my bag". This was in the 80s I think.

Does anyone else remember that or was I mandella effectified?

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 04:43 PM (Nd9N3)

29 I like the ammo one, but I lean towards the clothing one.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 04:43 PM (F9ExA)

30 I've always wondered about "tit for tat". And where does one obtain "tat"?

I'll show you my tit if you'll show me your tattoo?

Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 04:43 PM (nxdel)

31 Canterbury Tales are mostly sex and fart jokes that your English teacher insists are super important.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison

"Oh, milady has a beard!"

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 04:44 PM (LsEU/)

32 Holy cow
Did ace like the movie?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at November 11, 2022 04:44 PM (2xlV3)

33 I read an explanation for "short end of the stick" once, but can't remember it now. This one will have to do instead:
The exact origin of the idiom remains unclear. However, a few ideas of the first use cases of the expression date back to the Middle Ages.

Some language experts suggest that the “Short end of the stick” originates from the 1500s. During the middle ages, the rich would clean themselves with fabrics after relieving themselves, while the poor would use leaves or a stick with a slight curve, known as a “Gompf stick.”

You would clean your backside with the curved part of the stick. Therefore, anyone grabbing the “short end of the stick” would be grabbing feces, ending in a very unpleasant experience.

The phrase comes from the earlier mention of “get the short end of the staff,” where masters would beat their servants using the staff, and if you got the wrong end of the staff, it meant you get a beating.]

Posted by: Archimedes at November 11, 2022 04:44 PM (eOEVl)

34 Taken Aback, Slush Fund, Groggy, Pipe Down, Scupper, and Close to the Wind (obviously) are all naval sayings in origin. So is Show a leg (get out of your hammock), Freeze the balls off a brass monkey (A monkey was a brass tray where cannon balls stored. In cold weather brass contracted and balls fell over. That's right, it was not rude or blue in origin), Let the cat out of the bag/swing a cat (cat-o-nine tails), Over a barrel (Sailors were often strapped over a barrel before being flogged), Long Shot (at maximum range and unlikely to hit), etc.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:44 PM (Ivdso)

35 Yikes. Ace spent some time and energy on this one.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (Xrfse)

36 English is just a weird language.

Though not any weirder than others, I suppose. I once read something about how foreign-language subtitles translated the line "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" from The Shining, and while they used existing idioms from their own languages, I remember having no idea what those were supposed to mean.

Posted by: Dr. T at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (tp+tP)

37 Sfb
Sheets are never called sheets
A sheet is a line used to control the boom on a fore and aft rigged sail
3sheets to the wind means no one is controlling any of the sails

Posted by: Paul at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (E2Rzh)

38 >>>Sheets are lines used to control sails, not the sails themselves. If the sheets (don't know why there are three) are lost in the wind you can't trim the sails.

oh, okay. thank you.

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (C1Zwz)

39
"Bob's your uncle" is thought to refer to Prime Minister Lord Salisbury (Robert Gascoyne-Cecil) appointing his nephew Arthur Balfour to be Irish Minister in the 1880's. Liberal Party MPs supposedly barracked Balfour with the expression. Except the first documented usage was in 1924.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (JxUmb)

40 Carrier X, I did a 9 month deployment on Carrier X back in the day.

I do not remember seeing Don Amichee......

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (bVYXr)

41 I've always wondered about "tit for tat". And where does one obtain "tat"?

--

I always sort of assumed that was some drunken Cockney silliness for "this for that"

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (F9ExA)

42 drunk as a skunk
So when have you ever seen a skunk drunk?

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (v0R5T)

43 >>>For women's daintybits, terms once used included: "The Netherlands,"

I've always wanted to see The Netherlands. But I wouldn't want to live there.

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (yHsuS)

44 I'll show you my tit if you'll show me your tattoo?
Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer

Wow, that line formed in record time!

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 04:46 PM (LsEU/)

45 Fuck off, matey!

Well, that one too

A lot of profanity is Naval in origin, they were quite creative after months or years at sea and not much else to think about

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:46 PM (Ivdso)

46 Holy cow
Did ace like the movie?

LOL!! I was thinking the same.

Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 04:46 PM (nxdel)

47 how did you guys know this is an old post?
Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (C1Zwz)

Just a lucky guess!

Posted by: Bob at the NSA at November 11, 2022 04:46 PM (h5TKJ)

48 A little off on "three sheets to the wind"...

In nautical terms the "sheets" are ropes/lines that are attached to the sails, and used to control the trim of that sail. If those sheets come loose, or break in high wind, you have lost control of those sails and are then fully at the mercy of the wind. Hence, when you are "three sheets to the wind", you have lost control of yourself.

Posted by: DaveK at November 11, 2022 04:46 PM (DKC4O)

49
but how did you know that?

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:42 PM

Might just be the post # in the url. It seems old to me. Last thread was # 401849, this is # 399652.

Some of are just OCD about stuff.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at November 11, 2022 04:46 PM (y3pKJ)

50 I think I'll go get my Cecil Adams books off the shelf.

He was the Internet before the Internet. He did a bunch of these.

brass tacks, nine yards, etc etc

Posted by: sockamster, Aos ShowRunner at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (MLrvz)

51 >Sheets are lines used to control sails, not the sails themselves. If the sheets (don't know why there are three) are lost in the wind you can't trim the sails.

--

See, now THAT'S fantastic. The lines to control the sails are untied and flailing about, which causes the ship to be out of control. I like that very much. Thanks.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (F9ExA)

52 1904, J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
"Dark and sinister man, have at thee."

That line was uttered by Robin Williams's Peter Pan in Stephen Spielberg's "Hook". I didn't know he snagged it directly from the original book.

Posted by: Thrawn at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (Rl7KJ)

53 hiya

Posted by: JT at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (T4tVD)

54 high as a tick on flea dust
Originated when Fleetwood Mac went on a camping trip

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (v0R5T)

55 Yeah, the sheets thing is one of the more bizarre naval things that is tough to get used to when reading novels. All the jargon can be baffling to begin with, then they call a rope a sheet because... well f you, Navy.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (Ivdso)

56
Batten?

batten the hatches??

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (myK0K)

57 I'll show you my tit if you'll show me your tattoo?
Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer

I'm a bit of a bird enthusiast myself...

Posted by: tryhardneckbeard at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (OLVeZ)

58 thanks, i fixed three sheets to the wind.

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (C1Zwz)

59 Balls to the wall… but only after giving the whole nine yards.

Posted by: Rex B at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (Pr3nO)

60
how did you guys know this is an old post?
Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (C1Zwz)

_________

Well, damn. I guess we're all going to be banhammered.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (JxUmb)

61 Back in the 90's Cecil Adam's never mentioned the yards of ammo but it was allegedly the way folks bought fabrics?

Posted by: sockamster, Aos ShowRunner at November 11, 2022 04:48 PM (MLrvz)

62 I don't know where the phase "give them the whole 9 yards" came from, but I can tell you where the phrase "give him the whole 9 inches" comes from. And next time Mike comes home early you shut your whore mouth Reggie

Posted by: Barack Obama at November 11, 2022 04:48 PM (ESjRY)

63 Taken Aback, Slush Fund, Groggy, Pipe Down, Scupper, and Close to the Wind (obviously) are all naval sayings in origin. So is Show a leg (get out of your hammock), Freeze the balls off a brass monkey (A monkey was a brass tray where cannon balls stored. In cold weather brass contracted and balls fell over. That's right, it was not rude or blue in origin), Let the cat out of the bag/swing a cat (cat-o-nine tails), Over a barrel (Sailors were often strapped over a barrel before being flogged), Long Shot (at maximum range and unlikely to hit), etc.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:44 PM (Ivdso)

We should use "brought by the lee" more often (basically, "in a bad place," I take it to mean). I picked that up from reading O'Brian and thought it sounded cool.

Posted by: Dr. T at November 11, 2022 04:48 PM (tp+tP)

64 thanks, i fixed three sheets to the wind.

-------------

I'm definitely planning on 2 and a half tonight.

May get to 3.

Posted by: SH (No more Roe) at November 11, 2022 04:48 PM (sX1BW)

65 >>>For women's daintybits, terms once used included: "The Netherlands,"

I've always wanted to see The Netherlands. But I wouldn't want to live there.
Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (yHsuS)
........

just stick your finger in a dyke for a bit?

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 04:48 PM (v0R5T)

66 Related, there's a great book called

I Hear America Talking

that discusses the origins of American words and phrases. It's wonderful, too, and written before 1980 so there's not a lot of tip-toeing around topics.

There's a second book called Listening to America that's nowhere near as good, so start with the first. You can find them both for under $5 on Amazon or ebay.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 04:49 PM (F9ExA)

67 Gallagher dead. Mr. Majestyk can finally rest in peace.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at November 11, 2022 04:49 PM (KbCG3)

68 I knew the scuttlebutt one, they still call water spigots/fountains that in the Navy.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at November 11, 2022 04:49 PM (Y5qcH)

69 Epic, Ace, epic.

I'm got have at some bourbon

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards (Logan Tiberius 2012-2021) at November 11, 2022 04:49 PM (xcxpd)

70 >>Sheets are lines used to control sails, not the sails themselves. If the sheets (don't know why there are three) are lost in the wind you can't trim the sails.

A simple sloop rig has 3 sheets, 2 for the jib and a mainsheet for the main.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 04:49 PM (ZLI7S)

71 >>> I've always wondered about "tit for tat". And where does one obtain "tat"?

I'll show you my tit if you'll show me your tattoo?
Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 04:43 PM (nxdel)

My experience is that this would have a nothing point nothing % chance of working unless the titee was already predisposed to the tattoee. Dorky lines only work for a guy when you're already about rounding second base.

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 04:49 PM (Nd9N3)

72 just stick your finger in a dyke for a bit?

The last guy that tried that on me killed himself twice.

Posted by: Hillary Clinton at November 11, 2022 04:49 PM (ESjRY)

73 7 But what is the origin of "but first, you will blow me"?
Posted by: Dr. T at November 11, 2022 04:39 PM (tp+tP)

The origin is from that sea shanty "Blow the Man Down"?

Posted by: Thrawn at November 11, 2022 04:50 PM (Rl7KJ)

74 drunk as a skunk
So when have you ever seen a skunk drunk?
Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (v0R5T)

Once.

I don't want to talk about it.

Posted by: Dr. T at November 11, 2022 04:50 PM (tp+tP)

75 Balls to the wall… but only after giving the whole nine yards.
Posted by: Rex B

Balls to the wall, iirc, refers to the centrifugal balls on the speed governor of old steam engines.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 04:50 PM (LsEU/)

76 The phrase "my bad" started in the 2000's. "I know, right?" became just "right?"

Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 04:50 PM (nxdel)

77 52 That line was uttered by Robin Williams's Peter Pan in Stephen Spielberg's "Hook". I didn't know he snagged it directly from the original book.

Posted by: Thrawn at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (Rl7KJ)

=======

Play.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, drinking whiskey and getting into fights with Sam Peckinpah at November 11, 2022 04:50 PM (LvTSG)

78 We Were Soldiers is a solid flick.

Posted by: Indignacio Vindacatorem at November 11, 2022 04:39 PM (oWBc3)

Better after the first watch if you skip over all the feely, drama stuff.

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 04:50 PM (yHsuS)

79 Above board (refers to things on the top deck of the ship and therefore open to inspection)

Close to the wind (sailing as close to the intended direction as the wind will allow, making it more likely you'll be taken aback -- another one meaning lose your sail power or have the wind blow against your intended motion -- if the wind shifts)

Piping hot (The bo'sun would blow on a pipe to tell mess masters food was ready and to go and collect it while still hot)

There are dozens of these, and its really fun once you start reading Naval fiction to discover them all.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:50 PM (Ivdso)

80 Ok where did the word "taint" come from?

I never thought I needed a term for that area until Ace introduced us to "taint tanners"

Posted by: 18-1 at November 11, 2022 04:50 PM (ESjRY)

81 I'm got have at some bourbon

You sure you haven't cheated already? Heh.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at November 11, 2022 04:51 PM (Xrfse)

82 Who is Gallagher

Posted by: That NLurker guy at November 11, 2022 04:51 PM (VdGjU)

83 what about the incoherent, brain damaged ne'er do well, rich boy from Pennsylvania? And Fetterman too?

Posted by: sockamster, Aos ShowRunner at November 11, 2022 04:51 PM (MLrvz)

84 I've been preparing my class for next Tuesday...We're working on "wordiness."

TBH, many of my students' writing could probably benefit by sprinkling in some of the words/phrases above...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 11, 2022 04:51 PM (YIVH2)

85 old time euphemisms for penis

Chubby check hers

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 04:51 PM (v0R5T)

86 70 >>Sheets are lines used to control sails, not the sails themselves. If the sheets (don't know why there are three) are lost in the wind you can't trim the sails.

A simple sloop rig has 3 sheets, 2 for the jib and a mainsheet for the main.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 04:49 PM (ZLI7S)

Which one is the John B Sail?

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards (Logan Tiberius 2012-2021) at November 11, 2022 04:51 PM (xcxpd)

87 you've got mail is phrase that started in the mid-90's from people getting a vocal notification from their computer that they have chlamydia

Posted by: sockamster, Aos ShowRunner at November 11, 2022 04:52 PM (MLrvz)

88 One of my favorites (and the sort of thing you'll learn in those books) is the origin of the name for Dixie cups. They chose that name specifically because they wanted customers to understand that the cups were disposable and not worth anything, and the memory of the Civil War and Southern currency was close enough in peoples memory ("top of mind" if you will) that they thought it would help get the point across.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 04:52 PM (F9ExA)

89

Where does "sleep tight" come from?

*I heard it has "naval" origins, but it sounded dubious to me.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 04:52 PM (myK0K)

90 We should use "brought by the lee" more often (basically, "in a bad place," I take it to mean).

That and "a lee shore" referring to a very bad place that you are drifting toward, yeah.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:52 PM (Ivdso)

91 77 52 That line was uttered by Robin Williams's Peter Pan in Stephen Spielberg's "Hook". I didn't know he snagged it directly from the original book.

Posted by: Thrawn at November 11, 2022 04:47 PM (Rl7KJ)
=======
Play.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, drinking whiskey and getting into fights with Sam Peckinpah at November 11, 2022 04:50 PM (LvTSG)

Let's not discuss albums by Moby.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards (Logan Tiberius 2012-2021) at November 11, 2022 04:52 PM (xcxpd)

92 Shoot the breeze.

Posted by: dantesed at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (193FS)

93 Ok where did the word "taint" come from?

--

It
ain't

T'aint

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (F9ExA)

94 91 Let's not discuss albums by Moby.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards (Logan Tiberius 2012-2021) at November 11, 2022 04:52 PM (xcxpd)

========

Can I if I take extreme ways?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, drinking whiskey and getting into fights with Sam Peckinpah at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (LvTSG)

95 Who is Gallagher
Posted by: That NLurker guy

Founding member of Smashing Pumpkins.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (LsEU/)

96 why is a lee shore bad? doesn't that mean a shore protected from the wind? So wouldn't that be good?

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (C1Zwz)

97 >>Which one is the John B Sail?

See how the mainsail sets.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (ZLI7S)

98 how did you guys know this is an old post?
Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (C1Zwz)

—————-

Because you said you were only doing short posts today and this is...not.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (u73oe)

99 Ok where did the word "taint" come from?

--

addendum: think about where the perineum is

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (F9ExA)

100 Scuttlebutt in reading Patrick OBrian series it's the water barrel everyone used for water

Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2022 04:54 PM (xhxe8)

101 >>> The phrase "my bad" started in the 2000's. "I know, right?" became just "right?"
Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 04:50 PM (nxdel)

I could swear that in high school we were all saying "my bag" and then just 3-4 years later in college, I used that term and people thought I was brain damaged.

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 04:54 PM (Nd9N3)

102 Where does "sleep tight" come from?

Mattresses used to be placed on ropes that had to be tightened or the sleeper would fall to the floor.

Posted by: goddessoftheclassroom at November 11, 2022 04:54 PM (goJt/)

103 The thing is, younger generations than our 29 years do not use very many of these phrases any longer. They use what they saw on a streaming show or meme, not even knowing where these phrases came from or what they are supposed to mean.

They use a lot of gaming or gaming-related terms like "level up" and "-energy" as in "granddad energy" but few literary or historical ones, at least in my experience.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:54 PM (Ivdso)

104 Can I if I take extreme ways?

What's a moby? Also can we all agree 18 is too old even if she is your granddaughter?

Posted by: Pedo Joe Biden at November 11, 2022 04:54 PM (ESjRY)

105 But what is the origin of "but first, you will blow me"?
Posted by: Dr. T at November 11, 2022 04:39 PM (tp+tP)
.......

Easy, it's what was usually said after enquiring: "Dinner and a movie?"

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 04:54 PM (v0R5T)

106 IGN @IGN · 5h
Kevin Conroy, the legendary voice of Batman in Batman The Animated Series, the Arkham trilogy, and much more, has died at the age of 66.

https://twitter.com/IGN/status/
1591118136581181440

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) cancel your NY Post at November 11, 2022 04:54 PM (yikp0)

107 Who is Gallagher
Posted by: That NLurker guy at November 11, 2022 04:51 PM (VdGjU)

The guy that Carrot Top stole his act from.

Posted by: Emmett Milbarge at November 11, 2022 04:54 PM (VbI7r)

108
Where does "sleep tight" come from?

*I heard it has "naval" origins, but it sounded dubious to me.
Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales

It refers to tightening the ropes laid crosswise in the bed frames that preceded springs as the means to support what passed as the mattresses at that time.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars at November 11, 2022 04:55 PM (pNxlR)

109 why is a lee shore bad? doesn't that mean a shore protected from the wind? So wouldn't that be good
---
No wind to sail out?

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at November 11, 2022 04:55 PM (5EnGD)

110 See how the mainsail sets.
Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (ZLI7S)

————-

Call the captain ashore.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at November 11, 2022 04:55 PM (u73oe)

111 I love etymology, Ace! Keep this stuff coming!

Posted by: Paco at November 11, 2022 04:55 PM (njExo)

112 The story of the Battle of Copenhagen is itself true. Adm Hyde Parker's flagship drew too much water to enter the harbor. Parker apparently thought Nelson was in a dangerous spot. So he ordered him to withdraw.

At least one source says he told his flag captain that it would give Nelson cover to break off, but if he thought he could win, he'd ignore it. Nelson was in a 74. And yes, he did put the telescope to his blind eye. That's pretty well attested.

Incidentally, though not in the movie, in the historical context when Patton said a message was garbled, he referred to this.

Nelson spent most of his career in the Med, and actually had a higher title in Naples than in England. The Brits just made him Viscount of the Nile; in Italy he was Duke of Bronte. Sir William Hamilton was the British Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. And you know to whom Sir William was married.

And one more thing: a sheet on a sailboat isn't the sail, it's the rope you use to trim the sail.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 04:55 PM (TgBWG)

113 Where does "sleep tight" come from?

Mattresses used to be placed on ropes that had to be tightened or the sleeper would fall to the floor.
Posted by: goddessoftheclassroom

Yep - Grammi had a rope bed at the farmhouse.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 04:55 PM (LsEU/)

114 Kevin Conroy, the legendary voice of Batman in Batman The Animated Series, the Arkham trilogy, and much more, has died at the age of 66.

Yeah, he was great, its sad he won't be around to do any more work.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:56 PM (Ivdso)

115 >>>Because you said you were only doing short posts today and this is...not.

gotcha, but... I could have written in days ago. a lot of friday posts are written on weds or thurs.

this was written back in june or something.

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:56 PM (C1Zwz)

116 >>why is a lee shore bad? doesn't that mean a shore protected from the wind? So wouldn't that be good?

Because the wind is blowing toward the lee shore making it more dangerous. If you screw up the wind will blow you toward and eventually onto the lee shore. It's much easier to sail away from the windward shore.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 04:56 PM (ZLI7S)

117 "Turkey in the straw" = roll in the hay.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at November 11, 2022 04:56 PM (DhOHl)

118 We should use "brought by the lee" more often (basically, "in a bad place," I take it to mean). I picked that up from reading O'Brian and thought it sounded cool.
Posted by: Dr. T at November 11, 2022 04:48 PM (tp+tP)

The lee is the side of a ship the wind is blowing to, so in a combat the enemy at the lee lets you engage or not as you like, but a lee shore is dangerous because the wind is blowing you into it. The amount of distance you went with the wind is your "leeway".

Taking the wrong tack. Tacking was a procedure to make progress against the wind. If you screwed up it could cost you or take you aback.

I heard "cat out of the bag" paired with "don't buy a pig in a poke". Sellers would sell piglets in a bag to rubes, then swap it for a cat and keep the pig. The sharper didn't want to "let the cat out of the bag" to reveal the scam.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 04:56 PM (eoQWY)

119 Because you said you were only doing short posts today and this is...not.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (u73oe)

Short is relative?

Posted by: Thrawn at November 11, 2022 04:56 PM (Rl7KJ)

120 109 why is a lee shore bad? doesn't that mean a shore protected from the wind? So wouldn't that be good
---
No wind to sail out?
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at November 11, 2022 04:55 PM (5EnGD)

It means the shore is to the lee of the ship and the wind is therefore blowing from ship to shore. Not a good place to be.

Posted by: Zombie Robbo the Llama Butcher at November 11, 2022 04:56 PM (906pl)

121 why is a lee shore bad? doesn't that mean a shore protected from the wind?

Its the shore the wind is pushing you toward. Its dangerous because sailing ships need quite a bit of room to maneuver against the wind.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:56 PM (Ivdso)

122 119 Because you said you were only doing short posts today and this is...not.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (u73oe)

Short is relative?
Posted by: Thrawn at November 11, 2022 04:56 PM (Rl7KJ)

=========

It's no Moby Dick.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, drinking whiskey and getting into fights with Sam Peckinpah at November 11, 2022 04:57 PM (LvTSG)

123
Okay, I heard "sleep tight" refers to sailors tucking themselves in tightly in their bunks so they wouldn't get tossed around in rough seas.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 04:57 PM (myK0K)

124 Tight post, Ace.

Posted by: Dick's Hatband at November 11, 2022 04:57 PM (1dzqn)

125 103 The thing is, younger generations than our 29 years do not use very many of these phrases any longer. They use what they saw on a streaming show or meme, not even knowing where these phrases came from or what they are supposed to mean.

They use a lot of gaming or gaming-related terms like "level up" and "-energy" as in "granddad energy" but few literary or historical ones, at least in my experience.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:54 PM (Ivdso)

Terms I've been introduced to by people who are always on social media:

Keeping it 100
That's the tea
Fire

I hate all of them.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at November 11, 2022 04:57 PM (KbCG3)

126 Had a high school coach who referred to a kid as "hornier than a 3 balled cat"
Was that a thing? Or a coach I should have avoided?

Posted by: Wally at November 11, 2022 04:57 PM (FJYfm)

127 Hey, you ever tried to half-f_ck a fox? You're gonna be in a world of hurt, believe me.

Posted by: Dark Force Thirsting For Power at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (QY+6a)

128
Mattresses used to be placed on ropes that had to be tightened or the sleeper would fall to the floor.
Posted by: goddessoftheclassroom

Yep - Grammi had a rope bed at the farmhouse.
Posted by: Tonypete

We used to call them...

nooses.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (myK0K)

129 They use a lot of gaming or gaming-related terms like "level up" and "-energy" as in "granddad energy" but few literary or historical ones, at least in my experience.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor

--

"hack" is the one I despise.

No, that's just a tip or hint, dumbass. That's what they've always been.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (F9ExA)

130 Math in the last thread and now verbal phrases in the other. This place is like the Costco of blogs. It has everything, sometimes even bewbs!

Posted by: Minnfidel Looking For Jackie at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (yb11p)

131 There are two types of verbs: action and linking.

Linking verbs link an adjective or a noun to the subject. If you can substitute a form to "to be" for the verb, it's a linking verb.

There are 23 verb forms that are called auxiliary verbs; they create tense or condition.

Verbs are transitive (have a direct object) or intransitive (no object). Some verbs can be either depending on the context.

I love English.

Posted by: goddessoftheclassroom at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (goJt/)

132 Colder than a well diggers ass

Posted by: Hatari Somewhere on Ventura Highway at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (WF/xn)

133 Short is relative?

Agreed. And 4 inches is more then enough really if you thing about it.

Posted by: Sen Kelly at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (ESjRY)

134 Ace forgot his meds today.

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (BdMk6)

135 re: kit and caboodle

******

At West Point, 'oodle' was generally used to refer to goodies sent from home to cadets. My mom used to put together elaborate packages of boodle consisting of cookies, Rice Krispie treats, popcorn and such. Cadets were allowed one container (usually one of those tin Christmas cookiie type tins) for boodle in their barracks (dorm) rooms.

So maybe "kit" is your official military gear (uniform, weapon, rucksack, etc) and 'boodle' is your perssonal items. Makes sense that the whole kit and caboodle would be everything the soldier had.

Posted by: Muldoon at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (kXYt5)

136 Took up all of my grits.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (Xrfse)

137 I've always used "have at it", but never noticed "have at you". That first fight in the Black Knight was great fun, by the way. I'd forgotten that part.

Posted by: t-bird at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (CaJIi)

138 why is a lee shore bad? doesn't that mean a shore protected from the wind? So wouldn't that be good?

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (C1Zwz)

From Wiki: What is the windward shore to someone on land is termed the lee shore on a vessel, as it lies to its lee.

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (yHsuS)

139 Happier than a who're with a new pussy

Posted by: Hatari Somewhere on Ventura Highway at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (WF/xn)

140 That line was uttered by Robin Williams's Peter Pan in Stephen Spielberg's "Hook". I didn't know he snagged it directly from the original book.

I actually enjoy that movie, as a fan of original. While the writer obviously had to play around with the canon to get to a responsible Pan, they were also very clearly familiar with the source material and hove to it closely.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (EXyHK)

141 Verbs are transitive

----------

Everything is woke these days.

Posted by: SH (No more Roe) at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (sX1BW)

142 I was talking to a teenager and used the word 'alacrity'. He had no idea what that meant.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (yQpMk)

143 At West Point, 'oodle'

crap! Dropped the 'b'. boodle not oodle

Posted by: Muldoon at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (kXYt5)

144 I could swear that in high school we were all saying "my bag" and then just 3-4 years later in college, I used that term and people thought I was brain damaged.
Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 04:54 PM (Nd9N3)

I've heard my bag as in "that's not my bag" as in something I don't care about. Never as a fault.

My bad was just a morphing from my fault/error to my bad (thing).

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (eoQWY)

145 I haven't seen a post this long since Ace defended his competitive Gurning career.

Posted by: Dr Spank at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (lm3XL)

146 Heh.

Boss men were called "Big Wigs" because the most important had the biggest wigs.

Posted by: nurse ratched at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (4PLHt)

147 Shakespeare: Richard III, Act 3, Scene 4, the condemned man is told "Make a short shrift, he longs to see your head." I don't believe there is any known earlier use of this phrase in English.

Posted by: matthew49 at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (8aDmE)

148 show your true colors -- refers to a ship flying its true colors, that is, its true flag. A pirate would usually fly a false flag to get close to its prey and, only when within combat range, fly its true colors.
_________

Warships did that too, and it was considered dishonorable not to. The practice actually continued into WWII. (Kormoran vs Sydney). It's shown in the movie Master and Commander, though in that it's stated that it's a new idea of Jack's to go in under false colors. It wasn't; had been done for ages. (In the books, O'Brien gets it right.)

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (TgBWG)

149
I remember my 80+ year old Uncle Stan used the phrase on a weak car engine "That think couldn't pull a sick woman out of bed".

He'd say stuff like "don't take any wooden nickels!" when you were leaving.

I miss that guy. He's been gone for 25 years and I still chuckle at the terms from his era.

Posted by: portlandon at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM (+oR7L)

150 Colder than a well diggers ass

Or a witches tit.

Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 05:00 PM (nxdel)

151 One of my favorites is "Crazier than a shithouse rat"
I always understood that as meaning that the rat could have just hung out in the cook tent, but instead lives in the loo.

Posted by: Dark Force Thirsting For Power at November 11, 2022 05:00 PM (QY+6a)

152 Where I come from. The whole nine yards refers to coal deliveries because the trucks had three three cubic yard compartments. In the city they would put a shoot down your basement window if you got the whole truck load you got. " the whole nine yards"

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damnit! at November 11, 2022 05:00 PM (+Hs6W)

153 E

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damnit! at November 11, 2022 05:00 PM (+Hs6W)

154 I like the discussion on how several of our common phrases are cut off.

Like, it's "the blood of the alter is thicker than the water of the womb." Not, "blood is thicker than water."

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at November 11, 2022 05:00 PM (5EnGD)

155 Cold as a brass monkey's butt.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at November 11, 2022 05:00 PM (DhOHl)

156 Or a coach I should have avoided?

Probably. Hope it all turned out in the end.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at November 11, 2022 05:00 PM (Xrfse)

157 Agreed. And 4 inches is more then enough really if you thing about it.
Posted by: Sen Kelly

HA! Except if you have your foul weather gear on. Trying to get 4 inches of pene past 6 inches of clothing makes for a long watch.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 05:01 PM (LsEU/)

158 why is a lee shore bad? doesn't that mean a shore protected from the wind? So wouldn't that be good?
Posted by: a

///////

because your dumbass ship will be blown into land if you're not careful

Posted by: sockamster, Aos ShowRunner at November 11, 2022 05:01 PM (MLrvz)

159 One would be in less danger From the wiles of the stranger
If one's own kin and kith Were more fun to be with.
— Ogden Nash

Posted by: Iamfelix at November 11, 2022 05:01 PM (KY+I0)

160 94 91 Let's not discuss albums by Moby.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards (Logan Tiberius 2012-2021) at November 11, 2022 04:52 PM (xcxpd)

========

Can I if I take extreme ways?
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, drinking whiskey and getting into fights with Sam Peckinpah at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (LvTSG)

Please do, especially since you're reviewing Peckinpah

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards (Logan Tiberius 2012-2021) at November 11, 2022 05:01 PM (xcxpd)

161
Right as rain?

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:01 PM (myK0K)

162
Oh, and the first time I bought a girlfriend over to meet him, after she left the rooms he said "nice gams".

I had to ask around what it meant. It's legs.

Posted by: portlandon at November 11, 2022 05:01 PM (+oR7L)

163 I got one. Lickity Split. Heh heh

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damnit! at November 11, 2022 05:01 PM (+Hs6W)

164 "hack" is the one I despise.

No, that's just a tip or hint, dumbass. That's what they've always been.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (F9ExA)

Or lifehack. The kids watch some youtuber who shows them some "lifehack," then they bring it to me. I have been goofing on then describing ordinary, mundane things such as picking up after your meal and cleaning up after yourself as a lifehack. Their expressions are priceless.

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM (yHsuS)

165 Recently discovered what was meant by "86 that guy."

Didn't know that the standard coffin was eight feet in length.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM (KbCG3)

166 Colder than a well diggers ass

Or a witches tit.
Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 05:00 PM (nxdel)

A brass witch's tit.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM (yQpMk)

167 Okay, I heard "sleep tight" refers to sailors tucking themselves in tightly in their bunks so they wouldn't get tossed around in rough seas.
Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 04:57 PM (myK0K)

Usually sailors had hammocks esp. on military vessels. Not enough room for bunks for all. Could be tying your hammock close

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM (eoQWY)

168 160 Can I if I take extreme ways?
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, drinking whiskey and getting into fights with Sam Peckinpah at November 11, 2022 04:53 PM (LvTSG)

Please do, especially since you're reviewing Peckinpah
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards (Logan Tiberius 2012-2021) at November 11, 2022 05:01 PM (xcxpd)

==========

*finishes bottle of cheap whiskey*
*opens another*
*starts throwing punches as a form of bonding*
*knows favorite prostitute will be faithful to me in some deep, emotional way*

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, drinking whiskey and getting into fights with Sam Peckinpah at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM (LvTSG)

169
Incidentally, it was just the anniversary for the wreck of the Edward Fitzgerald..

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM (myK0K)

170 Colder than a well diggers ass
Posted by: Hatari Somewhere on Ventura Highway at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (WF/xn)
........

colder than a witches tit in brass bra

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM (v0R5T)

171 If you’re burning a bridge, wouldn’t it be better to have the water come over the bridge to put it out instead of going under it?

Posted by: Rex B at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM (VTZ1R)

172 No, that's just a tip or hint, dumbass.

-----

Just the tip?

Posted by: Dick's Hatband at November 11, 2022 05:03 PM (1dzqn)

173 No, that's just a tip or hint, dumbass. That's what they've always been.

Yeah its like using AI for any program that does something or gives information. Its not Artificial Intelligence you imbecile, its just a program.

One of my favorites is "Crazier than a shithouse rat"

I always thought that meant the thing is trapped in a small space and is freaking out trying to get to safety or hidden away.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:03 PM (Ivdso)

174 Recently discovered what was meant by "86 that guy."

Didn't know that the standard coffin was eight feet in length.
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM (KbCG3)

86 was copyeditors shorthand IIRC, saying to cut this part.

just like 30 meant "the end"

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:03 PM (eoQWY)

175 >>>Incidentally, it was just the anniversary for the wreck of the Edward Fitzgerald..

it's in my book, Astonishing Tales of the Sea.

Posted by: C. Kramer, Author at November 11, 2022 05:03 PM (C1Zwz)

176 I’d high tail it out of Pa.

Posted by: 7man at November 11, 2022 05:03 PM (qwO6y)

177 One of the funniest expressions I've heard was one I heard in the series Peaky Blinders when one of the wives admitted she was "up the duff" (pregnant).

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at November 11, 2022 05:03 PM (BdMk6)

178 Okay, the one that bugs me is "trip the light fantastic".

It's supposed to be "trip the light fantastic TOE", and means to dance nimbly.

Comes from Milton's poem "L'Allegro"

Posted by: Zombie Robbo the Llama Butcher at November 11, 2022 05:03 PM (906pl)

179 Short is relative?

--

Speaking of, there's a really funny meme making fun of cross dressers floating around

https://tinyurl.com/228kr7zk

Spoilers: There's nothing wrong with a tiny penis

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:03 PM (F9ExA)

180 busier than a three-peckered billy goat.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at November 11, 2022 05:03 PM (yFgCz)

181 Freeze the balls off a brass monkey.

Not associated with, "brass monkey, that funky monkey"

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (5EnGD)

182 Or lifehack. The kids watch some youtuber who shows them some "lifehack," then they bring it to me. I have been goofing on then describing ordinary, mundane things such as picking up after your meal and cleaning up after yourself as a lifehack. Their expressions are priceless.
Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM (yHsuS)

I recall that it wasn't long ago that the news reported a groundbreaking lifehack many young professionals were using to save money on living expenses.

Co-habitating with friends!

Yes, they thought they had invented roommates.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (KbCG3)

183 Sheets are lines used to control sails, not the sails themselves. If the sheets (don't know why there are three) are lost in the wind you can't trim the sails.

Main sheet
Gib sheet
Lazy sheet.

If they are all flapping, your ship is floundering.

Posted by: nurse ratched at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (1JnfY)

184 I've learned recently while looking up the word penultimate that the British use the phrase "last but one" instead of what we use, "next to last".

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (Nd9N3)

185 Damn. Five o'clock here and it's still raining cats and dogs and is dark as hell out there. Don't much like it.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (Xrfse)

186 Such etymology...
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, drinking whiskey and getting into fights with Sam Peckinpah at November 11, 2022 04:42 PM (LvTSG)

----------

Roaches all the way down!

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (Qzn2/)

187 No holes barred.

- the porn version of no holds barred which came from ...wrestling?

Posted by: LASue at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (Ed8Zd)

188 I watched that Monty Python clip and it wasn't nearly as funny as I remembered it.

Posted by: SH (No more Roe) at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (sX1BW)

189 I have been goofing on then describing ordinary, mundane things such as picking up after your meal and cleaning up after yourself as a lifehack. Their expressions are priceless.

Yeah I try to have some patience, because everyone has to learn something for the first time, but a lot of these "life hacks" are just obvious crap anyone with common sense knows or are just absurd and false.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (Ivdso)

190 One of my favorites is "Crazier than a shithouse rat"
I always understood that as meaning that the rat could have just hung out in the cook tent, but instead lives in the loo.

--

Yep.

A rat can live anywhere.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (F9ExA)

191 Another one from my neighborhood.
8 to 80
Blind crippled or crazy...
refers to your preference of womem some crazy bastards came back from Nam with that one

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damnit! at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (+Hs6W)

192
We are way overdue for a massive plane crash (here, not in some foreign country).

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (myK0K)

193 why is a lee shore bad? doesn't that mean a shore protected from the wind? So wouldn't that be good?
Posted by: ace

Here is an explanation I found:

https://is.gd/OUhHBP

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (1ngKI)

194 To have and to hold.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (TgBWG)

195 *jib

Phucking phone

Posted by: nurse ratched at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (1JnfY)

196 137 I've always used "have at it", but never noticed "have at you". That first fight in the Black Knight was great fun, by the way. I'd forgotten that part.
Posted by: t-bird at November 11, 2022 04:59 PM

I've always used have at it too.

Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (VkEIW)

197 I'm puzzled by the origins of donnybrook and brouhaha.

Posted by: That NLurker guy at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (VdGjU)

198 178 Okay, the one that bugs me is "trip the light fantastic".
It's supposed to be "trip the light fantastic TOE", and means to dance nimbly.
Comes from Milton's poem "L'Allegro"

huh

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (C1Zwz)

199 Like, it's "the blood of the alter is thicker than the water of the womb." Not, "blood is thicker than water."

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at November 11, 2022 05:00 PM (5EnGD)
---------------

I was just headed here to recount that in Tech School, I had an instructor who was a former Seminary graduate. He said the phrase "blood is thicker than water" referred to the old timey habit of people to bind a contract in blood (cutting of the hand/forearm and mixing your blood with another).

That contract was supposed to mean more than "the water you shared with your sibling in the womb". So, today this phrase has taken the reverse meaning of its original intent.

Posted by: insurgens ad opus at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (coCgA)

200 "The Whole 9 Yards" is from hoover dam. The bucket pours were 9 cubic yards. The initial pours were full buckets, and then had to be tempered to maintain volume as they would agitate the concrete. So it was a gauge of the pour.

Posted by: Wickedpinto at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (ON+MG)

201 >>> They use a lot of gaming or gaming-related terms like "level up" and "-energy" as in "granddad energy" but few literary or historical ones, at least in my experience.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 04:54 PM (Ivdso)
----------------------

In another generation, even if books survive, they won't be able to read them.

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (xcd1u)

202 This is Ace taking a light day.

Only he knows how long he's spent in research and writing this piece.

Ace, I so appreciate you.

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (lUZGx)

203 What's the rumpus?

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (yQpMk)

204 bun in the oven

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (v0R5T)

205 jottle and tit.. Hmm., that's not right.

Posted by: LASue at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (Ed8Zd)

206 "To The Hub"...

The hub of what?

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 11, 2022 05:06 PM (R/m4+)

207 Usually sailors had hammocks esp. on military vessels. Not enough room for bunks for all. Could be tying your hammock close
Posted by: Oldcat

Reveille reveille heave out and trice up!!

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 05:06 PM (LsEU/)

208 Down here in South Jersey we have a saying
When the frost is on the pumpkin
That's the time for Dicky Dunkin

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damnit! at November 11, 2022 05:06 PM (+Hs6W)

209 Busier than a one-armed paper hanger.

Posted by: That NLurker guy at November 11, 2022 05:06 PM (VdGjU)

210 Ok where did the word "taint" come from?

********

Taint is not an anatomic part, it's a physiologic attribute,

Posted by: Muldoon at November 11, 2022 05:06 PM (kXYt5)

211 The Whole NINE Yards!

Posted by: NC Ref at November 11, 2022 05:06 PM (Yh3xC)

212 Meep Meep???

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:07 PM (qdYPY)

213 Milton said a lot of weird shit.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:07 PM (Qzn2/)

214 What's the rumpus?

Works best with an Irish accent.

Jot and Tittle is from the Bible, referring to tiny marks used in Hebrew writing to change the letter's pronunciation.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:07 PM (Ivdso)

215 Obama launched his political career in Mr. Ayers' living room.

Kamala Harris launched hers in Mrs. Fubbs' parlor.

Posted by: The Mantastic Tor at November 11, 2022 05:07 PM (dwzrA)

216
I recall that it wasn't long ago that the news reported a groundbreaking lifehack many young professionals were using to save money on living expenses.

Co-habitating with friends!

Yes, they thought they had invented roommates.
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at November

My pet peeve is when the kids say we're adulting because they bought a sofa. It's stupid.

Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:07 PM (VkEIW)

217 It taint this and it taint that.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:07 PM (ZLI7S)

218 Interesting fact:

The phrase "And if your Aunt had nuts, she'd be your Uncle" owes its origins to a 17th century Scandinavian tradition in which uncles were expected to bring a sack of hazelnuts to family gatherings.

Originating from the Danish din tante har nodder, hun er din onkel.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at November 11, 2022 05:07 PM (I6K4Z)

219 ---------------

I was just headed here to recount that in Tech School, I had an instructor who was a former Seminary graduate. He said the phrase "blood is thicker than water" referred to the old timey habit of people to bind a contract in blood (cutting of the hand/forearm and mixing your blood with another).

That contract was supposed to mean more than "the water you shared with your sibling in the womb". So, today this phrase has taken the reverse meaning of its original intent.
Posted by: insurgens ad opus at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (coCgA)
----------------------

The only way to become blood brothers.
in the movies

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:07 PM (xcd1u)

220 Usually sailors had hammocks esp. on military vessels. Not enough room for bunks for all. Could be tying your hammock close
Posted by: Oldcat

That reminds me of a burning question that came to mind at 5am this morning - how do astronauts sleep on the space station?
What do they sleep in?
Followed by - do ever fishes get separated from their schools by currents while they sleep?
How about dolphins?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (2xlV3)

221 Watch your phrasology!

Posted by: Mayor Shin at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (GwbMJ)

222 I can never hear The Whole Nine Yards without thinking of Amanda Peet.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (qdYPY)

223 11 how did you guys know this is an old post?
Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (C1Zwz)
____________

You may think you're alone, but the walls have ears.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (TgBWG)

224 What's the rumpus?
Posted by: G'rump928(c) at November 11, 2022 05:05 PM (yQpMk)

disorderly activity, playing, possibly fighting.

thus you shut the kids in the rumpus room so they don't break the china and nice furniture.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (eoQWY)

225 Yes, they thought they had invented roommates.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (KbCG3)

lol

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (yHsuS)

226 183 Sheets are lines used to control sails, not the sails themselves. If the sheets (don't know why there are three) are lost in the wind you can't trim the sails.

Main sheet
Gib sheet
Lazy sheet.

If they are all flapping, your ship is floundering.
Posted by: nurse ratched at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (1JnfY)
---------

Or when your tacking and straight up wind, all kinds of flopping sheets.

Posted by: WisRich at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (G0vdT)

227 My dad was fond of telling dip shits to "go piss up a rope."
Also...
"pissing and moaning" Which has some connection to VD I presume.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (Q4IgG)

228 The saying cats have nine lives, in some parts of Mexico they say cats have seven lives.

Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (VkEIW)

229 222 I can never hear The Whole Nine Yards without thinking of Amanda Peet.
Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (qdYPY)

Glad I'm not the only one.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (KbCG3)

230 When the frost is on the pumpkin
That's the time for Dicky Dunkin

And when it's hot and sticky
It's time for dunkin' dicky

Posted by: That guy who always says... at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (Xrfse)

231 My pet peeve is when the kids say we're adulting because they bought a sofa. It's stupid.

--

It's made it's way into professional commercials and it's very jarring.

I heard two separate radio advertisements about "healthcaring" and "insurancing" recently

I hate this timeline.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (F9ExA)

232
I remember the first time an old lady told me to set it on the davenport, I didn't know what the hell she was talking about.

Posted by: portlandon at November 11, 2022 05:09 PM (+oR7L)

233 That reminds me of a burning question that came to mind at 5am this morning - how do astronauts sleep on the space station?
What do they sleep in?
Followed by - do ever fishes get separated from their schools by currents while they sleep?
How about dolphins?
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (2xlV3)

I believe they have bags anchored on a wall to keep them from floating about.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:09 PM (eoQWY)

234 Not to steal Muldoon's thunder but:

There was a young girl who begat
Three babies named Nat, Pat and Tat.
T'was fun in the breeding
But hell in the feeding
When she found there was no tit for Tat

Posted by: Darles Chickens at November 11, 2022 05:09 PM (sev8q)

235 Rumpus Room was an old little kids show right? No wait, that was Romper Room. Might have been regional.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:09 PM (Ivdso)

236
A sheet bend is a joining knot used to tie two lines together. In a pinch, it can be used to tie a line (the sheet) to the sail's fabric itself.

A taut line hitch -- and not "taught" line hitch -- is a knot used to tighten or loosen a line that fastens something to a stake or pole.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars at November 11, 2022 05:09 PM (pNxlR)

237 >>> Or lifehack. The kids watch some youtuber who shows them some "lifehack," then they bring it to me. I have been goofing on then describing ordinary, mundane things such as picking up after your meal and cleaning up after yourself as a lifehack. Their expressions are priceless.
Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM (yHsuS)

I recall that it wasn't long ago that the news reported a groundbreaking lifehack many young professionals were using to save money on living expenses.

Co-habitating with friends!

Yes, they thought they had invented roommates.
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at November 11, 2022 05:04 PM (KbCG3)

There's a hilarious African guy that makes fun of them. Here's some of his tiktoks from some texas news website:

https://tinyurl.com/lifhckguy

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 05:09 PM (Nd9N3)

238 Apologies if somebody has already linked to/posted this, but here is a link regarding "the whole nine yards."

https://

www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2012/09/whole-nine-yards.html

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:09 PM (atmen)

239 If you are a good gardener we say you have a green thumb. In Mexico/part of Mexico they say you have a hot hand.

Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:09 PM (VkEIW)

240 Very interesting, Ace, and a different kind of post. I knew the origin of some of those phrases but not all, and the posters had a lot of interesting questions and comments too. Thanks.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 11, 2022 05:09 PM (2DRG2)

241 Madder than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at November 11, 2022 05:09 PM (u73oe)

242 134 Ace forgot his meds today.
Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons
------------------------

Man!

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (xcd1u)

243 I use to row and expressions like “balls out” and “balls to the wall” were exhortations to row harder. I learned later that it was riverboat slang used to signal the engine room to full speed. I think it’s a hattip to Twain.

Posted by: 7man at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (qwO6y)

244 Ass, grass or cash was supposedly started during the Civil War as a response to deadbeat Democrats jumping on the back of wagons to get a free ride somewhere, usually to the local child brothel.

Posted by: Dr Spank at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (lm3XL)

245 Interesting fact:

The phrase "And if your Aunt had nuts, she'd be your Uncle" owes its origins to a 17th century Scandinavian tradition in which uncles were expected to bring a sack of hazelnuts to family gatherings.

Originating from the Danish din tante har nodder, hun er din onkel.
Posted by: Bitter Clinger

--

If true, the knowledge of these sorts of incredible coincidences tying into modern slang are made even better.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (F9ExA)

246 It's made it's way into professional commercials and it's very jarring.

I heard two separate radio advertisements about "healthcaring" and "insurancing" recently

I hate this timeline.
Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (F9ExA)

"low key"

Like, I low key want to punch this kid for talking that way.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (UuD2k)

247 but first snu snu!

Posted by: gnats local 678 at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (kFrCu)

248 Amanda Peet “ Trips My Trigger”.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (qdYPY)

249 Where did the terms port and starboard come from?

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (ZLI7S)

250 What is the origin of 'War to the Knife'. I know it got used in Bloody Kansas but it seemed have already been an established phrase at that time.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (yQpMk)

251 >>> I've always wanted to see The Netherlands. But I wouldn't want to live there.
Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (yHsuS)
----------------------------

I've thought about dying there.

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:11 PM (xcd1u)

252 I remember the first time an old lady told me to set it on the davenport, I didn't know what the hell she was talking about.

Yeah I love old terms like that. Mom always calls margarine "oleo" because that was the original name: oleomargarine. Its a vanishing set of terms and cultural references, which makes me kind of sad, but its inevitable.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:11 PM (Ivdso)

253 Where did the terms port and starboard come from?
Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (ZLI7S)

Larboard and Starboard.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at November 11, 2022 05:11 PM (yQpMk)

254 I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:11 PM (NpAcC)

255 Jumpy as a buckboard full of acorns.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:11 PM (qdYPY)

256 >>Larboard and Starboard.

You're halfway home.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:12 PM (ZLI7S)

257 There's a hilarious African guy that makes fun of them.

Yeah his stuff is great, especially mocking "life hacks"

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:12 PM (Ivdso)

258 Pulling out all the Stops, refers to pulling the stops on the Pipe Organ

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 11, 2022 05:12 PM (dKiJG)

259 "Dig a hole and watch it fly!"

Think about it...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 11, 2022 05:12 PM (YIVH2)

260 243 I use to row and expressions like “balls out” and “balls to the wall” were exhortations to row harder. I learned later that it was riverboat slang used to signal the engine room to full speed. I think it’s a hattip to Twain.
Posted by: 7man at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (qwO6y)

I wonder if that had something to do with steam engine regulators that used rotating weights that were often just metal balls.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at November 11, 2022 05:12 PM (UuD2k)

261 "Individual dolphins ...enter a deeper form of sleep, mostly at night. It is called logging because in this state, a dolphin resembles a log floating at the water's surface."

Posted by: runner at November 11, 2022 05:12 PM (V13WU)

262 The Hershey Highway!
It runs thru Scranton.

Posted by: Joe Biden at November 11, 2022 05:12 PM (3fE+V)

263 "low key"

Like, I low key want to punch this kid for talking that way.
Posted by: sniffybigtoe

--

I wanted to pull over for a minute when I heard "insurancing." That's not my field but "insuring" is a word that exists, and it's not a dumbass word.

I guess it doesn't look cool with an octothorpe next to it on Facebook, though.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:12 PM (F9ExA)

264 Davenport Man> Ottoman Man?

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:12 PM (qdYPY)

265 Nine yards? This one goes to eleven. It's two more.

Posted by: Nigel Tufnel at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (4I/2K)

266 I had a 17 year old part timer at work today tell me he didn't know what a time card was when I asked how many were still in the slots.

Posted by: weirdflunky at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (cknjq)

267 Dr. Eli David @DrEliDavid · Nov 10
Amazing how quickly the new booster works:

1. Justin Trudeau is masked
2. Gets the booster
3. Removes the mask because the booster immediately protects him

Isn't science™ amazing? 🤡

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) cancel your NY Post at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (yikp0)

268 "mad as a box of frogs". The Brits on the springer list like to use that one.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - move forward at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (5HBd1)

269 52!=8.065817x10•67

Posted by: Jamaica NYC at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (b+v9B)

270 Where did the terms port and starboard come from?

Yeah as people have noted it actually used to be Larboard and Starboard.

My GUESS is that starboard refers to the side away from the port, toward the stars and empty sea. Port is kinda obvious.

But its probably more complicated than that.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (Ivdso)

271 What is the origin of 'War to the Knife'. I know it got used in Bloody Kansas but it seemed have already been an established phrase at that time.
Posted by: G'rump928(c) at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (yQpMk)

you shoot your cannons and guns till out of ammo
you fight with swords and shields till they break
then when all else fails you fight with the knife.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (eoQWY)

272 Shop till you drop.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (NpAcC)

273 I’d high tail it out of Pa.

Very appropriate for PA, that would refer to the actions of white-tail deer.

Posted by: t-bird at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (CaJIi)

274 My dad was fond of telling dip shits to "go piss up a rope."
Also...
"pissing and moaning" Which has some connection to VD I presume.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (Q4IgG)

The one that always got me was "You'd complain, if you were hung with a new rope."

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (yHsuS)

275 249 Where did the terms port and starboard come from?
Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:10 PM (ZLI7S)

IIRC, starboard used to be "stearboard" and was some reference to the position of the helmsman's steering oar.

Port used to be "larboard".

Summat like that.

Posted by: Zombie Robbo the Llama Butcher at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (906pl)

276 Where did the terms port and starboard come from?

==

The navy !

Posted by: runner at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (V13WU)

277 11 how did you guys know this is an old post?
Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (C1Zwz)

Sometimes, the autists on 4Chan have nothing on The Horde.

Posted by: Darrell Harris at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (Zqchx)

278 My folks always called a couch a davenport.

When I heard Brian Doyle Murray use that term in Wayne's World I was kind of surprised.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Gen X Ne'er-Do-Well at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (xPJvm)

279 Larboard and Starboard.
Posted by: G'rump928(c) at November 11, 2022 05:11 PM (yQpMk)

And that comes from old ships that had the rudder on the right side.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at November 11, 2022 05:14 PM (UuD2k)

280 Who here remembers William Safire?

I think he was the first semi-conservative columnist I would read, and he covered a lot of these.

Posted by: Gentlemen, this is junta manifest at November 11, 2022 05:14 PM (GwbMJ)

281 What did you call the shelf between the back seat of a car and the back window?

When I was little (in SW Michigan), we called it a “crow’s nest.”

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:14 PM (atmen)

282 When I was little (in SW Michigan), we called it a “crow’s nest.”
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:14 PM (atmen)

I think we called it the back deck

Posted by: Waraiotoko at November 11, 2022 05:14 PM (6FeV1)

283 I have been thinking back Chapelle on SNL tomorrow.

Anyone have a line on the over and under of audience interruptions? I say two, then they clear the audience.

I hope Chapelle's security is good, because someone is going to try to go hands on. If he/she/it gets their ass beat by Chapelle's posse like last time? So much the better.

Posted by: rd at November 11, 2022 05:14 PM (Z32m1)

284 IIRC, starboard used to be "stearboard" and was some reference to the position of the helmsman's steering oar.

That makes sense and is a better explanation than my guess. Many terms corrupted over time like that like Boatswain becoming Bo'sun.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:14 PM (Ivdso)

285 This makes me think maybe it's time to run through the Aubreyad again. Highly recommended for any who haven't. There is also a companion volume "A Sea of Words" that is mostly a glossary for the nautical and medical terminology.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:14 PM (TgBWG)

286 sweater puppies

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (v0R5T)

287 There are two types of verbs: action and linking.

Linking verbs link an adjective or a noun to the subject. If you can substitute a form to "to be" for the verb, it's a linking verb.

There are 23 verb forms that are called auxiliary verbs; they create tense or condition.

Verbs are transitive (have a direct object) or intransitive (no object). Some verbs can be either depending on the context.

I love English.
Posted by: goddessoftheclassroom at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (goJt/)

You are very smart.
But I am having a hard time understanding.
I love English too and would appreciate some examples.

Posted by: LASue at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (Ed8Zd)

288 Boot and Bonnet - had to open for someone.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (qdYPY)

289
Bob's yer uncle.

Posted by: Bob's nephew at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (21vDQ)

290 52!=8.065817x10•67

Posted by: Jamaica NYC at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (b+v9B)

Had a HS math teacher that called 52!, "FIFTY TWO!"

That woke people up and got them listening.

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (yHsuS)

291 Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (NpAcC)

292 Also, we called an “ottoman” a “hassock.”

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (atmen)

293 >>>In the city they would put a shoot down your basement window if you got the whole truck load you got. " the whole nine yards"
Posted by: I'm Gumby Damnit
--------------------

Interesting how many different things we did and still do base on multiples of three yards and especially nine yards.

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (xcd1u)

294 What did you call the shelf between the back seat of a car and the back window?

--

I always heard it called the hat shelf down here in the South. I spent many a mile up there when I was small enough to fit.

Heritage America was awesome.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (F9ExA)

295 292 Also, we called an “ottoman” a “hassock.”
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (atmen)

The Father was wearing a hassock.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (qdYPY)

296
Well, I coined, 'Everything but the kitchen sink'.

Posted by: Elon Musk at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (xFD/0)

297 when I was a kid, all the women told me they were "6s and 7s"

means confused

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (us2H3)

298 I'm disagreeing with "dyed in the wool", sort of.
It sound logical, but there are these things called "sock blanks, which are flat knitted shapes containing enough yarn for a sock.
You dye the yarn, usually with several colors, unravel it and then knit the sock.

"Spun in the grease" refers to spinning with unwashed wool, still containing its lanolin, so "grease". But not germane to this discussion.

Posted by: sal at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (y40tE)

299 The "whole nine yards" refers to the Denver Broncos offensive game plan when they have first and goal from the 10-yard-line.

Posted by: Muldoon at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (kXYt5)

300 There are two types of verbs: action and linking.

Linking verbs link an adjective or a noun to the subject. If you can substitute a form to "to be" for the verb, it's a linking verb.

There are 23 verb forms that are called auxiliary verbs; they create tense or condition.

Verbs are transitive (have a direct object) or intransitive (no object). Some verbs can be either depending on the context.

I love English.
Posted by: goddessoftheclassroom at November 11, 2022 04:58 PM (goJt/)

You are very smart.
But I am having a hard time understanding.
I love English too and would appreciate some examples.

Posted by: LASue at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (Ed8Zd)

This stuff is in my kids homeschool curriculum. I am learning more about English than I ever did in school.

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (yHsuS)

301 sorry, London women

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (us2H3)

302 Wow, William Safire, I haven't thought about him in awhile.

Posted by: Dr Spank at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (lm3XL)

303 Interesting how many different things we did and still do base on multiples of three yards and especially nine yards.

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (xcd1u)

lucky numbers along with seven.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (eoQWY)

304 What asshole decided that every freaking sentence anyone ever says anymore has to begin with the word

SO?

Wth is this "So, blah blah blah" way of talking that suddenly appeared?

You can't get away from this sht.

Posted by: weirdflunky at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (cknjq)

305 He might have been misusing it but its most famous use is...

||[Josiah] Tattnall remained in the navy and saw varied service around the world. He fought against Algerian pirates under Commodore Stephen Decatur, and he was wounded in action during the Mexican War (1846-4

. Following duty on the Great Lakes, he became flag officer (before the grade of admiral was authorized) and commander of the East India Squadron at Hong Kong in 1858. In violation of U.S. neutrality Tattnall assisted British warships attacking Chinese forts in 1859. He defended his action by quoting the proverb “blood is thicker than water.” He conveyed the first Japanese embassy to the United States to San Francisco, California, in 1860.
Brown, Russell. "Josiah Tattnall." New Georgia Encyclopedia, last modified Sep 15, 2014.||

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) cancel your NY Post at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (yikp0)

306
Finally, back to the smart military blog we all fell in love with.

God bless Ace, and us all, it's been Lot's own week.

Posted by: Auspex at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (j4U/Z)

307 We also had davenports but some even called them davenos (?); others called them couches. Ours only had an arm rest on one end so maybe a davenport is a cross between a chaise and a couch?

Posted by: LASue at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (Ed8Zd)

308 Watch your phrasology!
Posted by: Mayor Shin at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (GwbMJ)

Ye Gods!!

Posted by: Zaneeta Shin at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (4I/2K)

309 Interesting how many different things we did and still do base on multiples of three yards and especially nine yards.

--

Something something and countries that put a man on the moon.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (F9ExA)

310 Speaking of car parts, does anyone know what a heckblende is, without looking it up?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (Qzn2/)

311 re 219: there's a 'family guy' episode where stewie (the 2 year old) and brian (their talking dog) do the blood brothers thing.
then stewie find out that brian has herpes. hilarity ensues

Posted by: gnats local 678 at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (kFrCu)

312 I always thought the"whole nine yards" was a complete load of a dump truck

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (us2H3)

313 BTW: I just realized it was a bit over a year ago I announced that I was quitting smoking. Last cigarette was 11/8/2021. I've made it a year. (I did end up being diagnosed for lung cancer last spring, but they got it all.)

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (TgBWG)

314
Incidentally, it was just the anniversary for the wreck of the Edward Fitzgerald..

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM

And yet Gordon Lightfoot still walks a free man.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (y3pKJ)

315 didn't read comments yet, but
I thought the "3 sheets to the wind" theory was that when a sail was "to the wind," it meant the lines broke or came loose and it was flopping in the wind - something that was not too uncommon on a voyage and was quickly corrected.

But if more than one sheet was to the wind, it meant the crew was having a problem.

Posted by: Gentlemen, this is junta manifest at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (GwbMJ)

316 Flirting with disaster.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (qdYPY)

317 when I was a kid, all the women told me they were "6s and 7s"

means confused
Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (us2H3)

it is "at sixes and sevens", don't know the deriviation

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (eoQWY)

318 P-47 Thunderbolts had eight 50 caliber Browning machine guns, each with a 27-foot ammo belt. Do the math. If you want to quibble, it's actually 72 yards.

Posted by: Alec Rawls at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (wh9C3)

319 One funny guy George Carlin right on this subject
https://tinyurl.com/2p9cadn7

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damnit! at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (+Hs6W)

320 "So" is only just barely marginally better than "Ummm".

Posted by: Waraiotoko at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (6FeV1)

321 The one that always got me was "You'd complain, if you were hung with a new rope."
Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (yHsuS)
-------
I heard that was because new ropes "snap" more than old ropes, which tend to stretch. If you want a clean death, you want the rope to jerk your head and cleanly snap your neck.

Posted by: rd at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (Z32m1)

322 What asshole decided that every freaking sentence anyone ever says anymore has to begin with the word

SO?

Wth is this "So, blah blah blah" way of talking that suddenly appeared?

You can't get away from this sht.
Posted by: weirdflunky

That and uptalking. I just want to choke the living shit out of them.

Heh - 'choke living shit'. . .

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (LsEU/)

323 What asshole decided that every freaking sentence anyone ever says anymore has to begin with the word

SO?

Wth is this "So, blah blah blah" way of talking that suddenly appeared?

You can't get away from this sht.
Posted by: weirdflunky at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (cknjq)
......

So sue me.

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:19 PM (v0R5T)

324 307 We also had davenports but some even called them davenos (?); others called them couches. Ours only had an arm rest on one end so maybe a davenport is a cross between a chaise and a couch?
Posted by: LASue at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (Ed8Zd)

a davenport is also a small gentleman's desk

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:19 PM (us2H3)

325 310 Speaking of car parts, does anyone know what a heckblende is, without looking it up?
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (Qzn2/)

I should know this, but all I remember is that it has something to do with BMWs.

Posted by: sniffybigtoe at November 11, 2022 05:19 PM (UuD2k)

326 297 when I was a kid, all the women told me they were "6s and 7s"

means confused
Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (us2H3)

There's a line in Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore where Captain Corcoran complains about "things always be[ing] either at sixes or at sevens" meaning confused and complicated.

Posted by: Zombie Robbo the Llama Butcher at November 11, 2022 05:19 PM (906pl)

327 223 11 how did you guys know this is an old post?
Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (C1Zwz)

Heh. Who cares? This is fun.

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at November 11, 2022 05:19 PM (BdMk6)

328 Where did Pope's nose come from? It was one of.my dad's.favorites.

Posted by: Jamaica NYC at November 11, 2022 05:19 PM (b+v9B)

329 The Divan was the Ottoman version of the Prime Minister's Cabinet.

I have no clue how it became a couch.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:19 PM (Qzn2/)

330 I thought the "3 sheets to the wind" theory was that when a sail was "to the wind," it meant the lines broke or came loose and it was flopping in the wind - something that was not too uncommon on a voyage and was quickly corrected.

But if more than one sheet was to the wind, it meant the crew was having a problem.
Posted by: Gentlemen, this is junta manifest at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (GwbMJ)

If the sheets were loose, the wind would take them and blow them off the deck in the direction of the wind - to the wind. It would then be a bitch to get hold of them to correct the situation

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:19 PM (eoQWY)

331 he Father was wearing a hassock.

Isn't that a cassock? We used hassock for a little embroidered foot stool we had.

Posted by: t-bird at November 11, 2022 05:19 PM (CaJIi)

332 re 302: he once referred to hillary as a 'congenital liar' and bill c replied 'she doesn't have any'. or something like that.

Posted by: gnats local 678 at November 11, 2022 05:19 PM (kFrCu)

333 312 Coal truck

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damnit! at November 11, 2022 05:20 PM (+Hs6W)

334 Speaking of car parts, does anyone know what a heckblende is, without looking it up?
Posted by: Cicero

--

What year Porsche?

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:20 PM (F9ExA)

335 >>> I had a 17 year old part timer at work today tell me he didn't know what a time card was when I asked how many were still in the slots.

Posted by: weirdflunky at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (cknjq)

I had some young engineer ask be once why I called the lines of a NASTRAN file cards once. Um... Because they were cards.

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 05:20 PM (Nd9N3)

336 Incidentally, it was just the anniversary for the wreck of the Edward Fitzgerald..

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:02 PM

And yet Gordon Lightfoot still walks a free man.

////

I just heard the old Casey Kasim top 40 from this week 1985 and they did a whole thing about ... feeling old ... how the Edmund sank "10 years ago".

anyhoo...every coule of 11-11;s the lake seems to sink a few hundred ships.

Posted by: sockamster, Aos ShowRunner at November 11, 2022 05:20 PM (MLrvz)

337

Posh - Port side out (to India), starboard side home.

Desirable, because nothing but ocean to be seen otherwise

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:20 PM (xFD/0)

338 "Hung like a horse" owes its origins to Catherine the Great, who purportedly would suspend her horse in the air in an attempt to have intercourse with it.

17th century Ukrainian women would often say "I would like him to be suspended (or hanged), as a horse", in reference to their desire to have intercourse with well endowed males of the era.

The modern term eventually morphed into the phrase more commonly known now, and it's use refers generally to a man with an excessively large penis that women desire.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at November 11, 2022 05:20 PM (vwMFL)

339 Since Hector was a pup

Like a duck on a junebug
(Used by Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind)

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:20 PM (atmen)

340 Speaking of car parts, does anyone know what a heckblende is, without looking it up?
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (Qzn2/)

It means the schnook in the front office at the paint shop got the color code wrong.

Posted by: Waraiotoko at November 11, 2022 05:20 PM (6FeV1)

341 You're as blind as a bat.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:20 PM (NpAcC)

342 it is "at sixes and sevens", don't know the deriviation
Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (eoQWY)

some girls would say in London, "I'm all 6's and 7s"

refers to dice game where 6 and 7 are bad

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:21 PM (us2H3)

343 I've always wanted to see The Netherlands. But I wouldn't want to live there.
Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 04:45 PM (yHsuS)

Me and My Father when we went on a Pilgrimage to Lourdes we included a Trip to there, the Wheelchair accessible hotel was outside Amsterdam and one of the workers owned a Canal boat that was docked next to the Hotel and she gave me a tour of it and it was really cool, You can also rent them and travel around, Same goes for the UK

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 11, 2022 05:21 PM (dKiJG)

344 >>IIRC, starboard used to be "stearboard" and was some reference to the position of the helmsman's steering oar.

>>Port used to be "larboard".

>>Summat like that.

Close enough for government work. Early ships had a board called something like a steorboard that was used to steer the boat and it was located on the right side of the boat. I was told larboard had something to do with loading which was done on the opposite side of the steering side or port.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:21 PM (ZLI7S)

345
Trivia for Catlicks:

What is this "table" called?

-- a small side table, shelf, or niche in a church for holding the elements of the Eucharist before they are consecrated

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:21 PM (myK0K)

346 BTW: I just realized it was a bit over a year ago I announced that I was quitting smoking. Last cigarette was 11/8/2021. I've made it a year. (I did end up being diagnosed for lung cancer last spring, but they got it all.)
Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (TgBWG)

Happy Anniversary! Here is to many, many more!

Posted by: rd at November 11, 2022 05:21 PM (Z32m1)

347 Pig ignorant.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:21 PM (qdYPY)

348 Keep in mind that earlier sailing ships couldn't point as high into the wind as modern racing sailboats. 45 degrees was impossible. So a lee shore, with heavy wind - and don't forget the waves that often go with them - can be deadly. You get driven onto it.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:21 PM (TgBWG)

349 What asshole decided that every freaking sentence anyone ever says anymore has to begin with the word

SO?

Wth is this "So, blah blah blah" way of talking that suddenly appeared?

You can't get away from this sht.
Posted by: weirdflunky at November 11, 2022 05:16 PM (cknjq)

So what?

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at November 11, 2022 05:21 PM (BdMk6)

350 The one that always got me was "You'd complain, if you were hung with a new rope."
Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (yHsuS)
-------
I heard that was because new ropes "snap" more than old ropes, which tend to stretch. If you want a clean death, you want the rope to jerk your head and cleanly snap your neck.
Posted by: rd at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (Z32m1)

I've heard that as "golden rope" so I thought it was just an ironic phrase rather than functional.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:21 PM (eoQWY)

351 341 You're as blind as a bat.
Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:20 PM (NpAcC)

Val Kilmer's Batman: "Exactly!"

Posted by: Thrawn at November 11, 2022 05:22 PM (Rl7KJ)

352 334 Speaking of car parts, does anyone know what a heckblende is, without looking it up?
Posted by: Cicero

how about a poodle clip

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:22 PM (us2H3)

353 I heard that was because new ropes "snap" more than old ropes, which tend to stretch. If you want a clean death, you want the rope to jerk your head and cleanly snap your neck.

Posted by: rd at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (Z32m1)

That makes sense. But wouldn't I be complaining anyway, since I was being hanged?

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:22 PM (yHsuS)

354 Originating from the Danish din tante har nodder, hun er din onkel.
Posted by: Bitter Clinger

Tak.

Posted by: LASue at November 11, 2022 05:22 PM (Ed8Zd)

355 Speaking of car parts, does anyone know what a heckblende is, without looking it up?
Posted by: Cicero
-----
We've already covered gudgeon pins.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:22 PM (21vDQ)

356 Gave her a good Rodgering! I am guessing some guy named Rodger came up with that.

Posted by: Minnfidel Looking For Jackie at November 11, 2022 05:22 PM (yb11p)

357 how did you guys know this is an old post?
Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 04:40 PM (C1Zwz)
........

just because we're 29 doesn't mean we're suffering from severe memory loss, dementia and loss of sphincter control.

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:22 PM (v0R5T)

358 how did you guys know this is an old post?
Posted by: ace

Just look at the number. This one is 2200 posts earlier than today's posts.

Posted by: t-bird at November 11, 2022 05:22 PM (CaJIi)

359 Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:23 PM (NpAcC)

360 BTW: I just realized it was a bit over a year ago I announced that I was quitting smoking. Last cigarette was 11/8/2021. I've made it a year. (I did end up being diagnosed for lung cancer last spring, but they got it all.)
Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (TgBWG)

Huzzah!

Posted by: Count de Monet at November 11, 2022 05:23 PM (4I/2K)

361 I have a theory that "shit the bed" comes from the British phrase "blot your copybook."

I think I heard it came about during WWII, and although I haven't looked it up, my totally imagined explanation involves UK and US troops during WWII, and a Brit uses their version and the American, unfamiliar with copybooks or fountain pens, asks what the F the at means. An obliging Brit translates using the closest analogy he can think up for something clean and pure being sullied.

Posted by: Gentlemen, this is junta manifest at November 11, 2022 05:23 PM (GwbMJ)

362 I heard that "Starboard" is to the right because that is the side that the north star is on when navigating to the new world.

Posted by: Wickedpinto at November 11, 2022 05:23 PM (ON+MG)

363 If you’re born to drown, you can’t be hanged.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:23 PM (qdYPY)

364 another annoying practice: ending every sentence or phrase with 'you know?' (a neighbor broke me of that habit when i was much younger)

Posted by: gnats local 678 at November 11, 2022 05:23 PM (kFrCu)

365 how about a poodle clip
Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:22 PM (us2H3)

I know! I know! Me, me, me!

Posted by: Mitt Romney at November 11, 2022 05:23 PM (6FeV1)

366 1 Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Posted by: redridinghood

******

I once made a malapropism of that phrasse in a letter to the editor, saying "we shouldn't throw the baby out with the dishwater.

Oddly enough I can remember my mom giving me a sponge bath in the kitchen sink as a preschooler. She called it a bird bath.

Posted by: Muldoon at November 11, 2022 05:24 PM (kXYt5)

367 The one that always got me was "You'd complain, if you were hung with a new rope."

--

Not really related because the "new rope" explanation above, but I used to hear variations of "she'd complain about a job at a pie factory" or similar growing up for someone who griped about everything, the implication being moaning about having to sit around eating pie all day.

I always wondered if it was related to the more well-known "this is a cake job" phrase.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:24 PM (F9ExA)

368 346 BTW: I just realized it was a bit over a year ago I announced that I was quitting smoking. Last cigarette was 11/8/2021. I've made it a year. (I did end up being diagnosed for lung cancer last spring, but they got it all.)
Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (TgBWG)

Just cigars now, huh?

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at November 11, 2022 05:24 PM (BdMk6)

369 Dug in like a blue tick.

Posted by: Count de Monet at November 11, 2022 05:24 PM (4I/2K)

370 Hold my Beer!

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:24 PM (qdYPY)

371 Yeah I love old terms like that. Mom always calls margarine "oleo" because that was the original name: oleomargarine. Its a vanishing set of terms and cultural references, which makes me kind of sad, but its inevitable.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor
---------------------------------

You're going to hate this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQpcWXMUUN8

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:24 PM (xcd1u)

372 Okay, sports fans, time to go find an adult beverage....

Posted by: Zombie Robbo the Llama Butcher at November 11, 2022 05:24 PM (906pl)

373 You can also rent them and travel around, Same goes for the UK

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 11, 2022 05:21 PM (dKiJG)

IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE WE *WERE* TALKING ABOUT SLANG FOR LADYBITS.

Posted by: BEN ROETHLISBERGER at November 11, 2022 05:24 PM (yHsuS)

374 365 how about a poodle clip
Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:22 PM (us2H3)

I know! I know! Me, me, me!
Posted by: Mitt Romney at November 11, 2022 05:23 PM (6FeV1)

it is a real thing unlike you

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:24 PM (us2H3)

375 how did you guys know this is an old post?
-----------------
No shots at Trump ergo pre-2014.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) cancel your NY Post at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (yikp0)

376 Sorry to go off OT but AZ is gonna steal this. I just know it.

Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (nxdel)

377 CARTER HAS PILLS

Anybody remember that old saying, has to do with President Carter and the Liver Pills he took? My Dad use to say it all the time.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (dKiJG)

378 The proof is in the pudding.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (NpAcC)

379 Posh - Port side out (to India), starboard side home.

Desirable, because nothing but ocean to be seen otherwise
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:20 PM (xFD/0)

Your cabin is also shaded from the direct sun on both journeys.

Posted by: rd at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (Z32m1)

380 P-47 Thunderbolts had eight 50 caliber Browning machine guns, each with a 27-foot ammo belt. Do the math. If you want to quibble, it's actually 72 yards.
Posted by: Alec Rawls at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (wh9C3)

The phrase is older than WWII, and in wider usage than the army. In fact I have never read that phrase in the context of any military book in any age, and I've read a lot of them.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (eoQWY)

381 Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:17 PM (TgBWG)

Happy Anniversary! Here is to many, many more!
Posted by: rd

what he said.
(I was trying to formulate a response to your comment, but it was a challenge.)

Posted by: Gentlemen, this is junta manifest at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (GwbMJ)

382 I heard that was because new ropes "snap" more than old ropes, which tend to stretch. If you want a clean death, you want the rope to jerk your head and cleanly snap your neck.

-

Related, I read a long time ago that there was quite a bit of country science and math that went into that sort of thing, and experienced hangmen and executioners were very highly regarded.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (F9ExA)

383 I heard that "Starboard" is to the right because that is the side that the north star is on when navigating to the new world.
Posted by: Wickedpinto

*******

But wouldn't that have to refer to the left side of the ship when sailing east?

Posted by: Muldoon at November 11, 2022 05:26 PM (kXYt5)

384 >>>Just look at the number. This one is 2200 posts earlier than today's posts.

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 05:26 PM (C1Zwz)

385 Posted by: t-bird at November 11, 2022 05:22 PM (CaJIi)

Dude!

Don't give it away!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at November 11, 2022 05:26 PM (XIJ/X)

386 Where did the phrase, "a shoo-in" come from?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:26 PM (Qzn2/)

387 CARTER HAS PILLS

Anybody remember that old saying, has to do with President Carter and the Liver Pills he took? My Dad use to say it all the time.
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (dKiJG)

There was a brand Carters Little Liver Pills, long before Jimmy

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:26 PM (eoQWY)

388 378 The proof is in the pudding.
Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (NpAcC)

I’ll see that and raise you “ the proof of the pudding is in the eating”.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:26 PM (qdYPY)

389 What if there is a FULL-fucked fox in a forest fire? Is that hotter or not than if the same fox was only half fucked?

Posted by: Elric Blade at November 11, 2022 05:26 PM (GzGDf)

390 376 Sorry to go off OT but AZ is gonna steal this. I just know it.
Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (nxdel)

Dave in Fl say no

I agree with you

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:26 PM (us2H3)

391 361 I have a theory that "shit the bed" comes from the British phrase "blot your copybook.

---------

I think originated with Amber Herd.

Posted by: Pork Chops & Bacons at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (BdMk6)

392 Sorry to go off OT but AZ is gonna steal this. I just know it.
Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (nxdel)

==========

Take not counsel of your fears.

Posted by: rd at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (Z32m1)

393 I wonder about the origin of the phrase "stop that you little bastard". My dad used that one all the time. Still have no idea what it means.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (6FeV1)

394 The standard “posh” etymology, I think, is BS.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (atmen)

395 Thanks Ace. I now have half in the bag idiots walking around my house saying stuff like "I cleaned Mrs Fubbs Parlor with my maypole" and "I skewered Mount Pleasant with my staff of life".

Posted by: Marcus T at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (S1S3K)

396 Colder than a witches tit around here right now.

Posted by: Ben Had at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (kt3EL)

397 Wog...

Wise Oriental Gentleman.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (XIJ/X)

398 another annoying practice: ending every sentence or phrase with 'you know?' (a neighbor broke me of that habit when i was much younger)
Posted by: gnats
---------

Starting any sentence with, 'Actually..'

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (Khgxe)

399 Sorry to go off OT but AZ is gonna steal this. I just know it.
--

Don't be absurd. The election was Tuesday. There's no reason to think...

Wait, nevermind.

Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (F9ExA)

400 Having more fun than a flea on a fat lady

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damnit! at November 11, 2022 05:28 PM (+Hs6W)

401 That's what she told me at the picnic.

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:28 PM (v0R5T)

402 Cold enough to freeze the balls off of a brass monkey.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:28 PM (qdYPY)

403 Biden want to force us all to drive four wheel fire Boxes those E.V.s over totally made up threat this is the Deep Ecology the plans to reduce the Human Race to a handful of those Brainwashed by Big Brother to be his loyal servants

Posted by: Tamaa the Drongo Bird at November 11, 2022 05:28 PM (FLiOE)

404 I like to go swimmin' with bow-legged wimmen . . .

Posted by: Count de Monet at November 11, 2022 05:28 PM (4I/2K)

405 Take not counsel of your fears.
Posted by: rd at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (Z32m1)

Now is not the time for fear - that comes later.

Posted by: Thrawn at November 11, 2022 05:29 PM (Rl7KJ)

406 The standard “posh” etymology, I think, is BS.
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus
------

I'm open to other thoughts on it.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:29 PM (Khgxe)

407 As cold as a well diggers destination.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:29 PM (qdYPY)

408 another annoying practice: ending every sentence or phrase with 'you know?' (a neighbor broke me of that habit when i was much younger)

Posted by: gnats local 678 at November 11, 2022 05:23 PM (kFrCu)

Kids use the "like" and "um" fillers, and if it starts getting excessive I throw up a hand count. They get to five and they have to start over, think about what they have to say, and begin again. I am an asshole.

But compared to another peer who is in Scouts with them, they are extremely well-spoken. Every other word with that kid is "uh," "um," and "like." I just want to choke the life out of him after he completes his four paragraph sentence.

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:29 PM (yHsuS)

409 There's no way they would still be counting if they weren't stealing it.

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:29 PM (v0R5T)

410
Biden want to force us all to drive four wheel fire Boxes those E.V.s over totally made up threat this is the Deep Ecology the plans to reduce the Human Race to a handful of those Brainwashed by Big Brother to be his loyal servants
Posted by: Tamaa the Drongo Bird

You are the new Spurwing Plover.
It is decided.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:29 PM (myK0K)

411 starting a sentence with in fairness.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at November 11, 2022 05:29 PM (PWvcU)

412 Sorry to go off OT but AZ is gonna steal this. I just know it.
Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (nxdel)

Dave in Fl say no

I agree with you
Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:26 PM (us2H3)
*****
Mood: Stressed.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:29 PM (NpAcC)

413 Steer board

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:29 PM (xcd1u)

414 Related, I read a long time ago that there was quite a bit of country science and math that went into that sort of thing, and experienced hangmen and executioners were very highly regarded.
Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (F9ExA)

-------

Henry the VIII imported one special from France for Anne Boleyn. The guy used a sword, not a hatchet.

There are some horrific stories of English hatchetmen chasing around the victim after several partly successful whacks.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:29 PM (Qzn2/)

415 Not a snowballs chance in hell.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:30 PM (qdYPY)

416 another annoying practice: ending every sentence or phrase with 'you know?' (a neighbor broke me of that habit when i was much younger)
Posted by: gnats
---------

Starting any sentence with, 'Actually..'
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (Khgxe)

In fairness....

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:30 PM (eoQWY)

417 387 CARTER HAS PILLS

Anybody remember that old saying, has to do with President Carter and the Liver Pills he took? My Dad use to say it all the time.
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (dKiJG)

There was a brand Carters Little Liver Pills, long before Jimmy
Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:26 PM (eoQWY)

I always thought they meant Jimmy Carter LOL

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 11, 2022 05:30 PM (dKiJG)

418 I looked up the "Whole Nine Yards" and while the ammo belt was made in 9 yards. It does not show up in any print in any WWII literature.

The first time it shows up in print is in the Boston Herald when a local olympian who was a long jumper broke the world record. He jumped 27 feet 1 inch. The headline the next day was

"Edwards Goes the Whole Nine Yards"

That is the first time that slogan was in print that I found

Posted by: Picric at November 11, 2022 05:30 PM (13tTk)

419 I've also heard that this applies to the priest's instructions for penance, so if he gives you the "short shrift," he's not thinking about it very much and is blowing you off with a formulaic "say five Hail Marys and take two aspirin" and isn't properly absolving you.
_____________

Nope. Penance and absolution are two separate things.

Posted by: sal at November 11, 2022 05:30 PM (y40tE)

420 I have to have at you.

Posted by: fd at November 11, 2022 05:30 PM (sn5EN)

421 Blowing a hooley!

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (ZLI7S)

422 Up the creek without a paddle.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (NpAcC)

423 In the ancient epics of Gilgamesh, the gods planned to destroy the Earth in a great flood, but one lesser god, who swore not to reveal the secret to humanity, nevertheless came to Earth and spoke to THE WALLS OF A HOUSE (where he correctly assumed the hero would overhear:

Their words he repeats to the reed-hut:
Reed-Wall! Reed-Wall! Reed-hut, hearken!
Wall, reflect!

Man of Shuruppak, son of Ubar-Tutu,
Will tear you down (this) house, to build a ship!
To Give up possessions, to seek life.
To despise property and keep his soul alive.
He will take the seed of all living things aboard.
The ship that shalt be built

The walls had ears

Posted by: Pouncer at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (SrEiS)

424 338 "Hung like a horse" owes its origins to Catherine the Great,
...
Posted by: Bitter Clinger

I'm not buying it. If you have been around horses, you know that they shockingly large dicks. It doesn't take any long explanation as to why someone would use that as the standard for a big dick.
It's like "blind as a bat" or "big as an elephant"

Posted by: Gentlemen, this is junta manifest at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (GwbMJ)

425 There are some horrific stories of English hatchetmen chasing around the victim after several partly successful whacks.

Mary, Queen of Scots was one of them.

Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (nxdel)

426 Henry the VIII imported one special from France for Anne Boleyn. The guy used a sword, not a hatchet.

There are some horrific stories of English hatchetmen chasing around the victim after several partly successful whacks.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:29 PM (Qzn2/)

Royalty (and possibly nobility) had to be executed by the sword. Hatchets are so utilitarian.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (eoQWY)

427 My favorite expression for astonishment is
"f' a duck!".

My favorite expression for when I've injured myself is,
"f' me running sideways!".

I guess if I was ever injured in a really astonishing way I could let rip with a
"f' my duck running sideways!" but that hasn't happened yet.

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (Nd9N3)

428 You'll get sh*t and shoved in it. (Irish grandfather explaining what we'd be getting if there were grandkid demands or whining.)

Go sh*t in your hat and pull it over your ears, very popular for adults as it covered a multitude of questions kids tend to ask.

Ink pen

Himself as used mostly by grandmothers, as "Now himself is demanding coffee!"

Posted by: Lola at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (NIYa7)

429 Just got a robo-call with Ed Rollins pitching Ron DeSantis to continue Trump’s work

Posted by: SMOD at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (X5CsJ)

430 Congrats on both counts, Eeyore!

Posted by: Catherine at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (ZSsrh)

431 There was a brand Carters Little Liver Pills, long before Jimmy
Posted by: Oldcat
-------------------

Carter's farter starters

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (xcd1u)

432 When paying a substantial amount for something, my Dad would always say, “Bang goes the egg money.”

I never quite figured that one out. We’re eggs that expensive, back in the day?

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (atmen)

433 I'm not buying it. If you have been around horses, you know that they shockingly large dicks. It doesn't take any long explanation as to why someone would use that as the standard for a big dick.
It's like "blind as a bat" or "big as an elephant"
Posted by: Gentlemen, this is junta manifest at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (GwbMJ)

yeah the Cat the Great story, true or not isn't going to go to every peasant's farm much less back in the past.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (eoQWY)

434 Some terms that show up in culture baffle me. For example, when I was young, a pretty girl was a "fox" which... I mean I like how foxes look and they can be pretty but where does that come from?

"Built like a brick ****house" is baffling as well, how on earth is that complimentary??

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (Ivdso)

435 Not a snowballs chance in hell.
Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:30 PM (qdYPY)
******
I hope this isn't about AZ

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (NpAcC)

436
In DuPont's textile manufacturing plants where the spun threads were wound onto heavy cardboard tubes, the term "to doff" referred to closing out winding the thread on one tube, starting winding upon a new one, and then removing the completed tube from its winding roll (this was the actual doffing act). The spinning position's windup machinery did all this automatically.

A common phrase heard when there was a pregnant co-worker (or spouse of a co-worker) nearing her delivery date was, "Has she doffed yet?"

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (pNxlR)

437
There was a brand Carters Little Liver Pills, long before Jimmy
Posted by: Oldcat
------

At some point, 'Carter's Little Liver Pills' got called on their name, and it was changed to 'Carter's Little Pills'.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (Khgxe)

438 WW1 British Vickers machineguns had 10-yard ammo belts so that is also a false attribution.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) cancel your NY Post at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (yikp0)

439
Was Gallagher a "comedian?" I guess so.

Remember when they'd call comedians "funny man" in tv spots?

As in, "this week on Donny & Marie, funny man Buddy Hackett stops by! Friday at 9, 8 Central, 7 Mountain and Pacific!

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (myK0K)

440 Wog...

Wise Oriental Gentleman.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (XIJ/X)

---------

Those acronym explanations are nearly always bogus.

In law school a buddy of mine swore that the word FUCK derived from the fact that in days of yore the authorities would put people in stocks labeled with the phrase, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:33 PM (Qzn2/)

441 Any day above ground is a good day.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:33 PM (qdYPY)

442
I was having some fun with Pixy lately. The Aussies have an expression, 'Do the Harry!' which I had to look up. Apparently the 'man in a gray suit' got Harry.

Translated: The Aussies had some PM who decided to take a swim on a rough day, and disappeared. Forever. The 'Man in a gray suit' is a shark.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at November 11, 2022 05:33 PM (y3pKJ)

443 402 Cold enough to freeze the balls off of a brass monkey.

Thus the Brass Monkey Sidecar Rally campout in winter (well, SoCal winter).

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at November 11, 2022 05:33 PM (D+e7M)

444 Colder than a witches tit around here right now.
Posted by: Ben Had

Curious as to how cold a witch's tit gets in Texas? Twelve degrees on my porch at 430am , ten degrees yesterday morning . That's what the tamarack in my woodshed is for

Posted by: Sock Monkey * Ungovernable at November 11, 2022 05:33 PM (T8CQX)

445 When paying a substantial amount for something, my Dad would always say, “Bang goes the egg money.”

I never quite figured that one out. We’re eggs that expensive, back in the day?
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (atmen)

Women keeping household accounts would keep the balance somewhere for small purchases - egg money, pin money - so as not to have to wait for hubby to come home to get it.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:33 PM (eoQWY)

446 I've always appreciated the expression "As useless as tits on a boar" and it fits the beauty pageant story as well.

Posted by: Impudent Warwick at November 11, 2022 05:33 PM (f/6Wb)

447 >>"Built like a brick ****house" is baffling as well, how on earth is that complimentary??

She's mighty mighty, letting' it all hang out.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:33 PM (ZLI7S)

448 Nope. Penance and absolution are two separate things.

Posted by: sal

"Now get out of here you knucklehead and go and sin no more!"

Father Rod - coolest confessor ever!

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 05:33 PM (LsEU/)

449
I never quite figured that one out. We’re eggs that expensive, back in the day?
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (atmen)

__________

Cake recipes used to have "one egg" alternatives, so my guess is yes.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 11, 2022 05:34 PM (JxUmb)

450 I learned this mutant...

Colder than a witches tit in a glass bra during February.

Posted by: Levin at November 11, 2022 05:34 PM (AkPkP)

451 spill the beans

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:34 PM (v0R5T)

452 I'm not buying it.

Posted by: Gentlemen, this is junta manifest at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (GwbMJ)

Lol.

I made it up. I'm full of shit as a Christmas goose.

But it sounded good, didn't it?

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at November 11, 2022 05:34 PM (vwMFL)

453 In law school a buddy of mine swore that the word FUCK derived from the fact that in days of yore the authorities would put people in stocks labeled with the phrase, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:33 PM (Qzn2/)

nah. I think there's an old english / german word meaning "strike" that it comes from.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:34 PM (eoQWY)

454
What is this "table" called?

-- a small side table, shelf, or niche in a church for holding the elements of the Eucharist before they are consecrated

Credence Table

A Credenza is the same thing (but it's just furniture for Jews and Protestants houses, I guess).

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:34 PM (myK0K)

455 One more thing: since the helm was on the starboard side, it was a bad idea to tie up to a pier on that side, lest you damage the rudder. And since "larboard" was too easy to confuse with "starboard" in a blow, "port" came about.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:34 PM (TgBWG)

456 "park a tiger on the carpet" (puke)

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at November 11, 2022 05:34 PM (D+e7M)

457 Interesting how many different things we did and still do base on multiples of three yards and especially nine yards.
Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:15 PM (xcd1u)

Three is an incredibly important number in Western cultures and languages, and nine is three times three, making it doubly important.
Irish, celtic and English make a big deal out of three and nine, and count in twelve. (except the Romans)

figuring from dozens, which is a nice number that is more divisible than ten, can be figured on your fingers by counting the joints instead of just the fingers.

The Babylonians, who gave us the degrees in a circle, astrology and numerology, liked counting in 12, and their full mathmatics were based on 60, being 5 x 12, or 1/6 of 360.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 11, 2022 05:34 PM (xhaym)

458 Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

*My Dad, after he told you how it was going to be.*

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM (LsEU/)

459 >>> I learned this mutant...

Colder than a witches tit in a glass bra during February.
Posted by: Levin at November 11, 2022 05:34 PM (AkPkP)

Cold enough to test your frosticles.

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM (Nd9N3)

460
Incidentally, did pence take credit for any election wins?

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM (myK0K)

461 sh*t the bed sounds like an improbable feat or something only Amber Heard would do, but its not so funny or implausible if you're getting up in years and ate something you ought not to have.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM (Ivdso)

462 except the Romanized ones, I meant. They count in tens

Posted by: Kindltot at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM (xhaym)

463 429 Just got a robo-call with Ed Rollins pitching Ron DeSantis to continue Trump’s work
Posted by: SMOD
----------------------

There. It. Is.

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM (xcd1u)

464 Some funny stuff here

Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM (xhxe8)

465 Just got a robo-call with Ed Rollins pitching Ron DeSantis to continue Trump’s work

Posted by: SMOD at November 11, 2022 05:31 PM (X5CsJ)

FWIW, FiL got a robocall a couple weeks back from a supposed Trump fundraiser, saying that Trump is raising money for DeSantis.

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM (yHsuS)

466 The origin of "More surprised than an assfull of otters" is pretty well chronicled.

Posted by: Wally at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM (FJYfm)

467 "Wipe The Server"

Like, with a cloth?

Posted by: Hillary Clinton, Murderess at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM (R/m4+)

468 My Italian grandfather had some great ones:

You're talking (or acting) like you have a paper ass and a match in your hand

You're like the barber’s cat, full of wind and piss

Youre talking (or acting) like you’ve got a limp dick in your hand

Posted by: Elric Blade at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM (GzGDf)

469 Auto racing lingo:

- Understeer (back end is loose, wants to "spin out.")
- Oversteer (vehicle won't turn, aka "plowing")

Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (Q4IgG)

470 when I was a kid, I was shocked to see all the golliwogs for sale

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (us2H3)

471 Sooth, it's a credence table.

Posted by: Catherine at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (ZSsrh)

472 440 Yep

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (atmen)

473
This place looks like the wreck of the Hesperus.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (JxUmb)

474 "park a tiger on the carpet" (puke)
Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions

'Calling Buicks'
-- yaking in the toilet

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (LsEU/)

475 >>Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

>>*My Dad, after he told you how it was going to be.*

Mine too. He had a few more that were a bit more colorful.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (ZLI7S)

476 "The proof in the pudding is in the eating" is the whole phrase, like "let's wait and see how this turns out".

Posted by: sal at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (y40tE)

477 A common phrase heard when there was a pregnant co-worker (or spouse of a co-worker) nearing her delivery date was, "Has she doffed yet?"
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (pNxlR)

"doffing your cap" was taking it off / tipping it. Not sure how factory work would go there.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (eoQWY)

478 I never quite figured that one out. We’re eggs that expensive, back in the day?
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus

I'm guessing that referred to "nest egg" money = savings

Just looked it up - nest egg comes from the practice of putting an egg (sometimes fake) into a hen's nest to induce her to lay more eggs.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (2xlV3)

479 Ya'll are just spittin into the wind.

Posted by: Ben Had at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (kt3EL)

480 #438 At least that's something I read years and years ago looking for the 'whole nine yards' origin.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) cancel your NY Post at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (yikp0)

481 The phrase is older than WWII, and in wider usage than the army. In fact I have never read that phrase in the context of any military book in any age, and I've read a lot of them.
Posted by: Oldcat

IIRC, Safire traced it back to victorian times and dressmakers.
I imagine as more and more old text is digitized and searchable, we will find a lot of new early uses and undue a lot of BS etymology.

Posted by: Gentlemen, this is junta manifest at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (GwbMJ)

482 wiktionary:

Etymology
Unknown.

Most likely derived from Romani posh ("half"), either because posh-kooroona ("half a crown") (originally a substantial sum of money) was used metaphorically for anything pricey or upper-class, or because posh-houri ("half-penny") became a general term for money.

A period slang dictionary defines "posh" as a term used by thieves for "money : generic, but specifically, a halfpenny or other small coin".[1] An example is given from James Payn's The Eavesdropper (188

: "They used such funny terms: 'brads,' and 'dibbs,' and 'mopusses,' and 'posh' ... at last it was borne in upon me that they were talking about money."[2]

Evidence exists for a slang sense from the 1890s meaning dandy, which is quite possibly related.[3]

***

It says there is no evidence for the Port Out Starboard Home claim.

Those etymologies are NEVER right. No one EVER forms words by making acronyms, ever. It just doesn't happen.

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (C1Zwz)

483 Hornier than a three peckered Billy goat.

Posted by: nurse ratched at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (gVbFl)

484 Take it with a grain of salt.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (NpAcC)

485 A lion’s mouth and a hummingbird’s ass.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (qdYPY)

486 I thought egg money was money saved from selling eggs.

Posted by: fd at November 11, 2022 05:37 PM (sn5EN)

487 OT: Twitter is melting down with the new verification system to the point where they took it back out. Lefty trolls are faking accounts and trolling the platform.

If the Left successfully destroys the thing they so desperately want to control, don't feel bad for Elon's loss of $44B. Just remember that the bulk of that money came from subsidies to rich assholes to buy Musk's products.

In a big way, if Twitter crashes and burns, the Deep State will have funded its destruction via the US taxpayer. Silver linings...

Posted by: insurgens ad opus at November 11, 2022 05:37 PM (coCgA)

488 except the Romanized ones, I meant. They count in tens

Posted by: Kindltot at November 11, 2022 05:35 PM

And they gave us the 10 month calendar which had to be readjusted constantly.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at November 11, 2022 05:37 PM (bVYXr)

489 A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at November 11, 2022 05:37 PM (D+e7M)

490
it's a credence table.
Posted by: Catherine

Yep.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:37 PM (myK0K)

491 Whether old or new, I enjoyed iit! Thanks Ace

Posted by: Bruce at November 11, 2022 05:37 PM (1MQxg)

492 >>> I've always appreciated the expression "As useless as tits on a boar" and it fits the beauty pageant story as well.
Posted by: Impudent Warwick at November 11, 2022 05:33 PM (f/6Wb)

That gets transformed into tits on a bull in the lower midwest.

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 05:37 PM (Nd9N3)

493 Isn't it called a backronym when someone invents a false acronym that wasn't one to begin with?

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (6FeV1)

494 487 OT: Twitter is melting down with the new verification system to the point where they took it back out. Lefty trolls are faking accounts and trolling the platform.

If the Left successfully destroys the thing they so desperately want to control, don't feel bad for Elon's loss of $44B. Just remember that the bulk of that money came from subsidies to rich assholes to buy Musk's products.

In a big way, if Twitter crashes and burns, the Deep State will have funded its destruction via the US taxpayer. Silver linings...
Posted by: insurgens ad opus at November 11, 2022 05:37 PM (coCgA)

Musk brought in other investors so it's not like he's on the hook for $44B.

Posted by: Red Turban Someguy - The Republic is already dead! at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (eYoxG)

495 Always go full Marshal stack.

Posted by: SFGoth at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (KAi1n)

496 378 The proof is in the pudding.
Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (NpAcC)
_______

Originally "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (TgBWG)

497 463 429 Just got a robo-call with Ed Rollins pitching Ron DeSantis to continue Trump’s work
Posted by: SMOD

surrogates will stir some shit

at least Trump does his own wet work

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (us2H3)

498 “ Pissin’ in the wind
blowin’ all over over my friends”

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (qdYPY)

499 Wow shocker!
The Stand-up comedian and inventor of the Sledge O Magic Gallagher has passed
RIP funny man

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damnit! at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (+Hs6W)

500
Originally "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."
Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (TgBWG)

__________

Mmmmmm, pudding.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (JxUmb)

501 The one that always got me was "You'd complain, if you were hung with a new rope."
---
I always figured it was cause a new rope is stiff and rough thus uncomfortable against the skin
Whereas an old rope is soft and smooth.
Thus, complaining about minor discomfort as you're about to die.

Or maybe it's complaining about spending money on a new rope when any old rope will do.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (5EnGD)

502 Long pig.

Posted by: Jeffrey Dahmer at November 11, 2022 05:39 PM (M3hSG)

503 coyote omelette

leaving a steaming baby shit yellow diarrhea in the desert
TMI?

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:39 PM (v0R5T)

504 Chicagoland Kevin Matthews euphemism for masturbation:

Cuffing the governor

Quite apropo, considering how many governors went to jail in Illinois.

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 11, 2022 05:39 PM (ZSK0i)

505 "Auto racing lingo:
- Understeer (back end is loose, wants to "spin out.")
- Oversteer (vehicle won't turn, aka "plowing")"

Except you have it backwards.

Posted by: fd at November 11, 2022 05:39 PM (sn5EN)

506 378 The proof is in the pudding.
Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM

Around here, don't ask what's in the pudding.

Posted by: Minnfidel Looking For Jackie at November 11, 2022 05:39 PM (yb11p)

507 Has someone already said this? A large furniture maker in the midwest was in Davenport, Iowa. I don't know whether they had a particular style or were considered high-end, but people who had a Davenport (my grandparents) always used that term. A similar one is Chesterfield.

Posted by: Wenda at November 11, 2022 05:39 PM (5KpDr)

508 Sorry to go off OT but AZ is gonna steal this. I just know it.
Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (nxdel)

Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?

Don't hit me with them negative waves so early in the morning. Think the bridge will be there and it will be there. It's a mother, beautiful bridge, and it's gonna be there. Ok?

[planes fly and bomb the bridge] ... No it ain't. See what sending out them negative waves did, Moriarty?

Donald Sutherland got a lot of great lines.

Posted by: rd at November 11, 2022 05:39 PM (Z32m1)

509 'Egg money' was the money *earned* by the sale of eggs, i.e. not wages, strictly household money earned as an aside. Women of the day often kept this, literally, pinned together, hence 'pin money'. It was outside of the budget.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (Ga8Fv)

510 En fuego!

Posted by: That Guy who shouts "En fuego!" at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (a3Q+t)

511 Up the creek without a paddle.

At least you're not up shit crick.

Posted by: t-bird at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (CaJIi)

512 Musk tweeted that it was a record day for number of Twitter interactions, so if they think they're "owning" him, they might want to realize that it's the other way around.

Posted by: Wally at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (FJYfm)

513 Originally "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."
Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (TgBWG)
*******
I guess that makes more sense.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (NpAcC)

514 But what is the origin of "but first, you will blow me"?
Posted by: Dr. T at November 11, 2022 04:39 PM (tp+tP)

Srsly?

Mel Gibson arguing over the phone with his baby momma.

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (ZSK0i)

515 I’ve been using the good old tried and true one a lot recently: “suck my fucking dick.” No, not in a sexual way, but in the “go fuck yourself” way.

Posted by: Elric Blade at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (GzGDf)

516 Originally "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."
Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:38 PM (TgBWG)

And probably the concept of "proving" a pudding comes from proving doigh - letting it rest - before baking it into bread
Just guessing here, that pudding is quick to make, and the proving happens in your stomach lol

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (2xlV3)

517 'Calling Buicks'
-- yaking in the toilet
Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (LsEU/)
.......

driving the porcelain bus

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (v0R5T)

518 Except you have it backwards.
Posted by: fd
-----

This.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (Ga8Fv)

519 458 In West Side Story, in the “America” number, one of the Puerto Rican gals says, “Smoke on your pipe and put that in!”

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (atmen)

520 the ammo belts were made on a bolt of cloth that (at the time) came nine yards long. This is common knowledge (or I just made it up)

Posted by: illiniwek at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (Cus5s)

521
btw, I was watching The A-Team yesterday, and say what you will about how bad the show is (it isn't), the direction and cinematography is top notch. Lots of great camera angles and editing in those old "bad" shows.

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (myK0K)

522 Those etymologies are NEVER right. No one EVER forms words by making acronyms, ever. It just doesn't happen.

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (C1Zwz)

well laser and sonar. But pre science age, I agree.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (eoQWY)

523 "Those etymologies are NEVER right. No one EVER forms words by making acronyms, ever. It just doesn't happen."

I mean, except for Gary Busey.

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (C1Zwz)

524 Gotta go talk to a man about a horse

Posted by: nurse ratched at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (gVbFl)

525 Related, I read a long time ago that there was quite a bit of country science and math that went into that sort of thing, and experienced hangmen and executioners were very highly regarded.
Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (F9ExA)

There's a funny bit in a Neal Stephenson novel about two young boys in the 17th century who hired themselves out to hang on the legs of the executed at Newgate to hasten their deaths.
Had a little advertising skit and everything...

Posted by: sal at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (y40tE)

526 >>> Calling Buicks'
-- yaking in the toilet
Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (LsEU/)
.......

driving the porcelain bus
Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (v0R5T)

Taking the Browns all the way to the superbowl.

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (Nd9N3)

527 Throwing people under the bus. Was that a thing?

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (yHsuS)

528 519 458 In West Side Story, in the “America” number, one of the Puerto Rican gals says, “Smoke on your pipe and put that in!”
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (atmen)

--------

Not in Spielberg's version.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (Qzn2/)

529 469 Auto racing lingo:

- Understeer (back end is loose, wants to "spin out.")
- Oversteer (vehicle won't turn, aka "plowing")
Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM (Q4IgG)

—————

You got that backwards, my friend

Posted by: Elric Blade at November 11, 2022 05:42 PM (GzGDf)

530 Money doesn't grow on trees.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:42 PM (NpAcC)

531 Tits on a bull in the northeast

Posted by: Jamaica NYC at November 11, 2022 05:42 PM (b+v9B)

532 the ammo belts were made on a bolt of cloth that (at the time) came nine yards long. This is common knowledge (or I just made it up)
Posted by: illiniwek at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (Cus5s)

ammo belts are metal

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:42 PM (eoQWY)

533 Those etymologies are NEVER right. No one EVER forms words by making acronyms, ever. It just doesn't happen.

Posted by: ace

Leave it to Ace to Laser in on this while everyone else is scuba diving for the truth. Or something.

But he is right, there is so much damn stupidity that people believe because it sounds cute. Usually the best explanation for weird phrases is just alliteration.

Posted by: Gentlemen, this is junta manifest at November 11, 2022 05:42 PM (GwbMJ)

534 Back then we had lots of colorful idioms.

Nowadays we are more likely to encounter a colorful idiot.

Posted by: Muldoon at November 11, 2022 05:42 PM (kXYt5)

535 Useless as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at November 11, 2022 05:42 PM (vwMFL)

536
Gary Gygax

(that's all)

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:43 PM (myK0K)

537 399 Sorry to go off OT but AZ is gonna steal this. I just know it.
--

Don't be absurd. The election was Tuesday. There's no reason to think...

Wait, nevermind.
Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:27 PM (F9ExA)
________

Since it's started, I don't get the optimism. 240K was the original # outstanding, in areas where we get 60%. That give a 20% margin to Lake, or 48K.

But then another 50K show up. After 2018 and 2020, why is anyone confident those are real votes? Note the number. Suspicious?

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:43 PM (TgBWG)

538 What is this thing called love, I think a skit on the Carol Burnett Show decades ago.

Every time the sentence was said, a different word or two was emphasized. Hilarious!

-------------------
Hold my hoops! (The ladies getting ready for a slug out.)

Posted by: Lola at November 11, 2022 05:43 PM (NIYa7)

539 Great scene in The Shining...

Lloyd (the bartender): "What will it be, Sir?"
Jack: "Hair of the dog that bit me."
Lloyd: "Bourbon on the rocks."
Jack: That'll do her!"

Posted by: Chairman LMAO at November 11, 2022 05:43 PM (F5ekr)

540 Throwing people under the bus. Was that a thing?
Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM (yHsuS)
*******
Happening today as a matter of fact.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:43 PM (NpAcC)

541 Donald Sutherland got a lot of great lines.
Posted by: rd

Heh. Watched KH this morning ( early) when I once again
decided sleep is overrated.

Posted by: Sock Monkey * Ungovernable at November 11, 2022 05:43 PM (T8CQX)

542 I’ve been using the good old tried and true one a lot recently: “suck my fucking dick.” No, not in a sexual way, but in the “go fuck yourself” way.

My favorite go to when I'm royally pissed off. Also, Geena Davis said it in The Long Kiss Goodnight and she was a total bad ass.

Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at November 11, 2022 05:43 PM (nxdel)

543 poop in one hand wish in the other. That has a whole different meaning for Brandon.

Posted by: Minnfidel Looking For Jackie at November 11, 2022 05:43 PM (yb11p)

544 Jamaicans call fags fish. If you want a fish, name the fish or say swimmers.

Posted by: Jamaica NYC at November 11, 2022 05:43 PM (b+v9B)

545 Anybody remember that old saying, has to do with President Carter and the Liver Pills he took? My Dad use to say it all the time.
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (dKiJG)

Prior to the FDA there was a patent medicine called Carter's Liver Pills, that were very small round pills.
I suppose they were to encourage your liver, but I don't know more than having seen copies of the adverts

Posted by: Kindltot at November 11, 2022 05:44 PM (xhaym)

546 Useless as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.
Posted by: Bitter Clinger at November 11, 2022 05:42 PM (vwMFL)

I like "busier than".... because it evokes the mental image that he's actually trying to win!

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2022 05:44 PM (6FeV1)

547 Oversteer means you end up pointed the wrong way. Understeer means you end up the way you were pointed.

Posted by: fd at November 11, 2022 05:44 PM (sn5EN)

548 530 Money doesn't grow on trees.
Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:42 PM (NpAcC)

But it does come streaming out of the printers.

Posted by: Thrawn at November 11, 2022 05:44 PM (Rl7KJ)

549 Those etymologies are NEVER right. No one EVER forms words by making acronyms, ever. It just doesn't happen.

Posted by: ace

Well, ok.

Posted by: t-bird at November 11, 2022 05:44 PM (CaJIi)

550 Money doesn't grow on trees.
Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:42 PM (NpAcC)

Wut?

Posted by: Gen Z at November 11, 2022 05:44 PM (v0R5T)

551 take care of your dishes and your dishes will take care you

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM (us2H3)

552 No one EVER forms words by making acronyms, ever. It just doesn't happen."

*******

SNAFU?

Posted by: Muldoon at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM (kXYt5)

553
2008 shitty mystery lyrics?

Oh, [redacted because it's the title]
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay
I got mouths to feed
There ain't nothing in this world for free

Posted by: Soothsayer's Untrue But Accurate Tales at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM (myK0K)

554 >>>well laser and sonar. But pre science age, I agree.

you know what I mean. yes, those. but not "fornicating under the crown of the king" or "for unlawful carnal knowledge"

people are always spinning out these "folk etymologies" involving acronymic origins and it's just... this doesn't happen. Again, except for technical jargon like sonar, radar, laser, etc.

but no one ever said " i need a word for the coins I carry," how about 'Minding One's Necessary Expenses and Yields,' Oh I know, Money for short!"

that could never, ever happen.

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM (C1Zwz)

555 509 'Egg money' was the money *earned* by the sale of eggs, i.e. not wages, strictly household money earned as an aside. Women of the day often kept this, literally, pinned together, hence 'pin money'. It was outside of the budget.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November

Around here everyone says calf money.

Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM (VkEIW)

556 I like "busier than".... because it evokes the mental image that he's actually trying to win!

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2022 05:44 PM (6FeV1)

.....

Yes. Heard it that way, too.

I ordinarily go with "Busier than a queer in a dick factory."

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM (vwMFL)

557 Honk on bobo. (bobo was not a clown.)

Posted by: Lola at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM (NIYa7)

558 Carol Burnett is not mort (and is 89).

Posted by: SFGoth at November 11, 2022 05:46 PM (KAi1n)

559 Slap a hot iron on it.

Come on people.... it was a gimmie.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 11, 2022 05:46 PM (Q4IgG)

560 Those etymologies are NEVER right. No one EVER forms words by making acronyms, ever. It just doesn't happen.
Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 05:36 PM

WLNSSEODQY

Which, if you gaggle it, is found only on AoSHQ.

You're welcome.

Posted by: Winston Wolfe at November 11, 2022 05:46 PM (a3Q+t)

561 Nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2022 05:46 PM (6FeV1)

562 Sh*tting in tall cotton.

Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (VkEIW)

563 ""The entire kith" means everything on your estate, your land. They then say that "caboodle" means a "kitbag."

Nonsense. The original was Kitten KaPoodle, a small cat that looked like a poodle. A further rendition is the phrase "raining cats and dogs" ... meaning "everything is coming down". The whole Kitten KaPoodle. ("puddle" is also derived from that phrase.)

Posted by: illiniwek at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (Cus5s)

564 Musk tweeted that it was a record day for number of Twitter interactions, so if they think they're "owning" him, they might want to realize that it's the other way around.
Posted by: Wally
---------
Similar occurrences of wokesters causing unanticipated positive results: Goya, and Texas Pete. Whining about some stupid issue or other produced large increases in sales.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (Khgxe)

565 No one EVER forms words by making acronyms, ever. It just doesn't happen."

*******

SNAFU?
Posted by: Muldoon at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM

BOHICA!

Posted by: Minnfidel Looking For Jackie at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (yb11p)

566 >>>SNAFU?

i don't think that one, either. I think the word was created and then a "backronym" was made up to fit it.

I know people claim it means "Situation normal all f*cked up" but I think that's just something clever people came up afterwards. which is how these backcronyms come about.

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (C1Zwz)

567 Put your money where your mouth is.

Posted by: Ben Had at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (kt3EL)

568 I suppose they were to encourage your liver, but I don't know more than having seen copies of the adverts
Posted by: Kindltot

More likely they were made of liver.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (2xlV3)

569 Carol Burnett is not mort (and is 89).
Posted by: SFGoth at November 11, 2022 05:46 PM (KAi1n)

Great!

Posted by: Additional Blond Agent, STEM Guy at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (ZSK0i)

570 Slap a hot iron on it.

Come on people.... it was a gimmie.
Posted by: Martini Farmer

"Bad news kid, it's your turn in the barrel!"

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (LsEU/)

571 I never quite figured that one out. We’re eggs that expensive, back in the day?
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (atmen)

"Egg money" was the money a farm wife earned by selling eggs. It was her "mad money" and belonged to her to spend as she liked.

Posted by: sal at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (y40tE)

572 For the 800th time. There are 300,000 Republican leaning votes in Maricopa waiting to be counted this weekend. They are being watched 24/7 by the Lake campaign.

How exactly are they going to steal it?

Makes me nuts. Settle down. If Hobbs had the votes in this batch, Fox would have called it for her.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (5p7BC)

573 The thing is a ton of stuff we refer to now like "shrinkage" and "jump the shark" is from pop culture of our youths, and it won't last... nor really should it. If you tell a young person that a life vest in WW2 was called a "Mae West" they'll tend to stare at you blankly. We barely remember why these days even at age 29.

Some stuff has to go, because its old and dated and only makes sense in cultural context. My problem with changing slang is that its not based on great literature or shared cultural identity but just social media barf and shallow, meaningless crap.

Thats why everyone using Thanos as a measure of power bugs the hell out of me.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (Ivdso)

574
Taking the Browns all the way to the superbowl.

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 05:41 PM

'Drop the kids off at the pool'

Posted by: Divide by Zero at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (y3pKJ)

575 fubar

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:48 PM (us2H3)

576 Musk tweeted that it was a record day for number of Twitter interactions, so if they think they're "owning" him, they might want to realize that it's the other way around.
Posted by: Wally at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (FJYfm)
----------------------

Maybe. He's mercilessly enforcing the "no impersonation" policy, so maybe it's an attempt at a mass-cleanup of the platform.

Honestly, I think it'd be amazing to see Twitter finally just die off and leave all those fruitcakes alone with their bitterness and no outlet to spew it.

Posted by: insurgens ad opus at November 11, 2022 05:48 PM (coCgA)

577 Scuba?

Radar?

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:48 PM (atmen)

578 Nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs
Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2022 05:46 PM (6FeV1)

its a long-tailed cat.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:48 PM (eoQWY)

579 I can't put my hand on it just now, but C S Lewis has an essay (not easily found until recently) in which he gives account for all sorts of obscene words, both use and etymology. English, Latin, Greek, and Old French.

One of his points is that they are NOT used, historically, to be erotic. Mostly for comedy, or abuse. But for actual eroticism the old writers would skirt words like that.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 05:48 PM (TgBWG)

580 I ordinarily go with "Busier than a queer in a dick factory."
Posted by: Bitter Clinger at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM

Nervous as a queer eating weiners at the church picnic.

Posted by: Minnfidel Looking For Jackie at November 11, 2022 05:48 PM (yb11p)

581 The phrase is said to be Scots in origin.
Didn't the Scottish poet Ewan McTeagle have a poem containing the lines:
My love, your beauty is to the nines!
Could you lend us a bob 'til Tuesday?

Posted by: Where are my ping pong balls? at November 11, 2022 05:48 PM (Yr4Df)

582 ammo belts are metal

Now that's just made up of whole cloth

Most often required by cloth belts, hence found on mostly early machine guns

Posted by: Zombie Hiram Maxim at November 11, 2022 05:48 PM (D+e7M)

583 My generation came up with "like totally" and "gag me with a spoon". I will say that no chick I ever knew spoke valley girl or used this phrase unironically.

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 05:48 PM (Nd9N3)

584
FUBAR > FUBB > TARFU > SNAFU

Posted by: Duncanthrax at November 11, 2022 05:49 PM (a3Q+t)

585 576 Musk tweeted that it was a record day for number of Twitter interactions, so if they think they're "owning" him, they might want to realize that it's the other way around.

Posted by: Wally at November 11, 2022 05:40 PM (FJYfm)
----------------------

He also said Twitter might not survive the economic downturn without subscription revenue.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at November 11, 2022 05:49 PM (vwMFL)

586 How exactly are they going to steal it?

I think its just fear and having been burned repeatedly, its hard not to be depressed and expect the worst, again. These long counts almost NEVER work out for the Republican candidate. That said I agree with your analysis.

I know people claim it means "Situation normal all f*cked up" but I think that's just something clever people came up afterwards. which is how these backcronyms come about.

I kinda agree, it does feel like something someone came up with to make sense of the term.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:49 PM (Ivdso)

587 >>>577 Scuba?

Radar?

yeah those-- apart from technical contractions, no one creates words by making up acronyms.

Posted by: ace at November 11, 2022 05:49 PM (C1Zwz)

588 No one EVER forms words by making acronyms, ever. It just doesn't happen."

*******

SNAFU?

Posted by: Muldoon at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM (kXYt5)

That's FUBAR. BOHICA.

Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:49 PM (yHsuS)

589
"Egg money" was the money a farm wife earned by selling eggs. It was her "mad money" and belonged to her to spend as she liked.
Posted by: sal at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM

That's exactly the same as the dairymen keeping the calf money.

Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:49 PM (VkEIW)

590 My love, your beauty is to the nines!
Could you lend us a bob 'til Tuesday?
Posted by: Where are my ping pong balls?

But it doesn't rhyme
Muldoon could do a lot better

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at November 11, 2022 05:49 PM (2xlV3)

591 self contained underwater breathing apparatus

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (ZLI7S)

592 The proof and the pubic hair is in the pudding.

Posted by: Minnfidel Looking For Jackie at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (yb11p)

593
SNAFU?
Posted by: Muldoon at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM (kXYt5)

__________

Private Snafu cartoon, restricted to the troops for reasons that become clear at about 2:45.

https://youtu.be/t4_rg9d3mRI

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (JxUmb)

594 My father had some very colorful sayings. My personal favorites that I've kept alive to this day:

A smell so bad "it could gag a maggot off a gut wagon."

When you're so hungery, "I could eat the asshole out of a dead Indian."

He was "shakin' like a dog shittin' peach seeds."

Posted by: insurgens ad opus at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (coCgA)

595 Must be tough to learn "Merican wut with all these crazy phrases.

Posted by: just crossed the border at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (v0R5T)

596 "Never look a gift horse in the mouth."

Accept a generous gift graciously, without trying to find fault in the gift or the giver (a horse with bad teeth would not be in good health).

Posted by: Chairman LMAO at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (F5ekr)

597 2008 shitty mystery lyrics?

Oh, [redacted because it's the title]
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay
I got mouths to feed
There ain't nothing in this world for free

Cage the Elephant, "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked".

Posted by: Blanco Basura - moronhorde.com - Email for morons. at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (Bd6X8)

598 I will say that no chick I ever knew spoke valley girl or used this phrase unironically

I have and it was deeply hilarious. It really was a thing in LA for several years. My cousin lived down there and she could do it perfectly, to hilarious effect.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (Ivdso)

599 Where did yelling "shotgun" and getting to sit in the front seat come from?

Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (VkEIW)

600 Around here everyone says calf money.
Posted by: CaliGirl
---------

Well, you know well enough not to say that on the ONT. That thread is rife with vulgar pervs. Who knows what they might do with that.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:51 PM (Khgxe)

601 GE Nuclear lore

TLA - Three Letter Acronym
ETLA - Extended Three Letter Acronym (4 letters)
METLA - Maximum Extended Three Letter Acronym (5 letters)
SMETLA - Super Maximum Extended Three Letter Acronym (6 letters or more)

The source was the ever evolving and ever sold and resold GE Reactor Power Analysis. It started with the standard Load Line Analysis (LLA) and evolved one adjective letter at a time into SMELLA, Super Maximum Extended Load Line Analysis.

Posted by: rd at November 11, 2022 05:51 PM (Z32m1)

602 wanna go get a drink real quick

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:51 PM (us2H3)

603 "butter and egg money" was money the wife earned by selling butter and eggs, and often was considered hers for her own purchases and fripperies.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 11, 2022 05:51 PM (xhaym)

604 Slicker than a minnows dick.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at November 11, 2022 05:51 PM (vwMFL)

605 If you tell a young person that a life vest in WW2 was called a "Mae West"

Now do "Gibson Girl" hand crank generators.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at November 11, 2022 05:51 PM (D+e7M)

606 Rukshan Fernando @therealrukshan · 2h
If you are seeing the news about the cruise ship with 800 positive cases docking in [Sydney, Australia], see if any of them mention that every passenger & crew member onboard had to be fully jabbed and tested. It’s an excellent case study on why the vaccinated economy and passports was bullshit.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) cancel your NY Post at November 11, 2022 05:51 PM (yikp0)

607 Private Snafu cartoon, restricted to the troops for reasons that become clear at about 2:45.

https://youtu.be/t4_rg9d3mRI
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh

Always good for a laugh. There is a WWII era film out about VD that shows exactly what it does to a soldiers pene.

Nothing to laugh about in that one.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 05:51 PM (LsEU/)

608 Where did yelling "shotgun" and getting to sit in the front seat come from?
Posted by: CaliGirl

Westerns.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 05:52 PM (Khgxe)

609 Ace, you didn't die on that hill and you've painted a path in blood to my door.

Posted by: humphreyrobot at November 11, 2022 05:52 PM (Ha80i)

610
Special High-Intensity Training

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 11, 2022 05:52 PM (JxUmb)

611 "ammo belts are metal" Posted by: Oldcat

sure, they are now.

Posted by: illiniwek at November 11, 2022 05:52 PM (Cus5s)

612 Anybody remember that old saying, has to do with President Carter and the Liver Pills he took? My Dad use to say it all the time.
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (dKiJG)

He has more xyzy than Carter has pills.

Posted by: LASue at November 11, 2022 05:52 PM (Ed8Zd)

613 Bite the bullet.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:52 PM (NpAcC)

614 599 Where did yelling "shotgun" and getting to sit in the front seat come from?
Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (VkEIW)

stagecoach

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:52 PM (us2H3)

615 For women's daintybits, terms once used included:

"The Phoenix nest," "The Netherlands," "Mount Pleasant," and,

Interesting... in SE Michigan, it takes 2 hours to go from "Mount Pleasant" to Climax. But only 90 minutes to go from Climax to Hell.

So I guess Michigan women are not satisfied with 2-hour men.

Can't speak from any experience to that lately as the last time I was in "Mount Pleasant" was 2011...

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at November 11, 2022 05:52 PM (Do5/p)

616 He was "shakin' like a dog shittin' peach seeds."
Posted by: insurgens ad opus

Holy moly, your dad had a gift!

Posted by: t-bird at November 11, 2022 05:52 PM (CaJIi)

617 Where did yelling "shotgun" and getting to sit in the front seat come from?
Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (VkEIW)

If you had to guard a wagon even one drawn by horses, the driver had to control the horses and the guy next to him had the shotgun.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:52 PM (eoQWY)

618 Me Mum hailed from Hull,UK
She had a few clips
If a person had a new style clothing or hairdo that she didn't think was appropriate
"You look like a horse's ass on a windy day"

When one of us kids was not judging her drift or understanding her teachings she would say
"A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse"

And lastly if she was performing a task or explaining a little how to subject that was easy peasy that's when she would say
"Bob's your Uncle
Fanny's your aunt"

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damnit! at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (+Hs6W)

619 butter and egg money" was money the wife earned by whoring to the milkman.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (D+e7M)

620 If you tell a young person that a life vest in WW2 was called a "Mae West"

Now do "Gibson Girl" hand crank generators.
Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions

"Prick 25" radio sets.

Posted by: Tonypete at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (LsEU/)

621 I always liked Crazy as a shithouse rat.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (ZLI7S)

622 Honk on bobo. (bobo was not a clown.)

Posted by: Lola at November 11, 2022 05:45 PM

We were Honkin' on Bobo in 2004.

Posted by: Aerosmith at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (Do5/p)

623 CaliGirl, I'd imagine from the stage coach era. Shotgun (security) guy would ride up front, next to the driver (guy with the reins).

Posted by: rhomboid at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (OTzUX)

624 Blowing a tranny has a way different meaning now.

Posted by: Minnfidel Looking For Jackie at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (yb11p)

625 Throw me a bone

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (us2H3)

626 Here's another gimmie....

"Suck the chrome off a bumper."

Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (Q4IgG)

627 We're in a pickle

Posted by: Gref at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (AMIL/)

628 If you tell a young person that a life vest in WW2 was called a "Mae West"

Now do "Gibson Girl" hand crank generators.
Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at November 11, 2022 05:51 PM (D+e7M)

And "Kamala" for on-your-knees promotions.

Posted by: LASue at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (Ed8Zd)

629 Widow's pension

Widow would let out rooms to boarders.

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (xcd1u)

630 Lipstick on a pig.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:54 PM (NpAcC)

631 Where did yelling "shotgun" and getting to sit in the front seat come from?

I cannot swear to this but I am confident it was because in the old west you had a driver in the one seat, and the person with them as guard "rode shotgun" usually with a nice scattergun to discourage robbers.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:54 PM (Ivdso)

632 Bein' a Smart Military Blog, 'n all, some, particularly those nearing the 29 y/o cut-off date, might recognized PCOD, APCOD, and AAPCOD.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at November 11, 2022 05:54 PM (a3Q+t)

633 Dang.
This is taking it easy on Veterans Day?

Posted by: Diogenes at November 11, 2022 05:54 PM (anj39)

634 My all time favorite is --useless as tits on a boar

Posted by: Ben Had at November 11, 2022 05:54 PM (kt3EL)

635 Corn boil (The town's (or factory's) The Corn Boil is next Saturday. Families are invited.) Yes, there was more to eat than boiled corn.

Posted by: Lola at November 11, 2022 05:54 PM (NIYa7)

636 ..Or when your tacking and straight up wind, all kinds of flopping sheets. Posted by: WisRich at November 11, 2022 05:08 PM (G0vdT)

And when the hull lacks the necessary momentum to complete the turn through the wind, and won't turn either to the port or starboard, as water is no longer rushing o'er the rudder.

"In Irons" this is, and one can spend infuriating minutes trying to finagle the boat to one heading or another, in order to once again fill the sails with wind. The sails crave the wind, but the hull is playing "weathervane" and doesn't want to point away till either side. Until it does, when it'll lock into a beam-to-the-seas drift (dangerous in heavy seas!), but at least now you can re-capture the wind and make headway and try to come about, again. (this time matey, build up some speed before throwing the helm 'ard a'lee!)

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at November 11, 2022 05:55 PM (e6UQI)

637 Bite the bullet.
Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:52 PM (NpAcC)

surgery with no chloroform to avoid biting tongue or breaking teeth. Lead is soft.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:55 PM (eoQWY)

638 619 butter and egg money" was money the wife earned by whoring to the milkman.
Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM

When the kids don't look like the dad or each other?
The milkman was fat and the gardener has red hair.

Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:55 PM (VkEIW)

639
One from the British army I love is "interview without coffee".

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at November 11, 2022 05:55 PM (JxUmb)

640 tub maid

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:55 PM (us2H3)

641 "Suck the chrome off a bumper."
Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (Q4IgG)

----------

Bumper HITCH.

Makes more sense that way. Nobody would suck chrome off a bumper.

Not even Kamala.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:55 PM (Qzn2/)

642 Where did yelling "shotgun" and getting to sit in the front seat come from?
Posted by: CaliGirl at November 11, 2022 05:50 PM (VkEIW)
.......

maybe the Pony Express stagecoaches except they used to sit on the roof.

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:55 PM (v0R5T)

643 Nobody would suck chrome off a bumper.

Not even Kamala.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:55 PM (Qzn2/)

....

No. But I bet she could suck a golf ball through a garden hose.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (vwMFL)

644 Jewells ( yeah, getting that feeling also)

Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (xhxe8)

645 641 "Suck the chrome off a bumper."
Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (Q4IgG)

suck golfball through a garden hose

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (us2H3)

646 Widow's pension

Widow would let out rooms to boarders.

Posted by: Braenyard, _ want nuremberg trials? badger your congressman at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (xcd1u)

Widows did get their husband's pension after they died in the Civil War. I have the records and everything.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (eoQWY)

647 I prefer a special lady friend who won't give me a grotesque degloving injury of the meatus. But that's just me.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (6FeV1)

648 Related, I read a long time ago that there was quite a bit of country science and math that went into that sort of thing, and experienced hangmen and executioners were very highly regarded.
Posted by: Gray Man - Look for rainbow books at your kids library, press charges against librarians at November 11, 2022 05:25 PM (F9ExA)

Gotta wonder how many times you have to do that deed to qualify as "experienced."

Posted by: The Mantastic Tor at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (dwzrA)

649 There’s also the term “retonym,” referring to a term where an adjective is needed to describe something that didn’t need a descriptor before, like the term “conventional oven,” which wasn’t needed, and would’ve made no sense, before the “microwave oven” became widespread.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (atmen)

650 Top of mind. KJP

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (NpAcC)

651 In irons is a great sailor's expression.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:57 PM (Qzn2/)

652 light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at November 11, 2022 05:57 PM (PWvcU)

653 Explaining something to that guy is "like showing a chicken a card trick"

Posted by: fd at November 11, 2022 05:57 PM (sn5EN)

654 thought I was thinking fast and still got beat by 28 comments

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 05:58 PM (v0R5T)

655 No. But I bet she could suck a golf ball through a garden hose.

Both used humorously in the BASEketball movie

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 05:58 PM (Ivdso)

656 That's all she wrote.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 05:58 PM (NpAcC)

657 "Never look a gift horse in the mouth."

Accept a generous gift graciously, without trying to find fault in the gift or the giver (a horse with bad teeth would not be in good health).
Posted by: Chairman LMAO

I thought it was because you could tell the horse's age by how worn-down its teeth were. And thus, how much more work you could get out of it.

Posted by: mikeski at November 11, 2022 05:58 PM (P1f+c)

658
Gotta wonder how many times you have to do that deed to qualify as "experienced."
Posted by: The Mantastic Tor at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (dwzrA)

_________

A lot

Posted by: Albert Pierrepoint at November 11, 2022 05:58 PM (JxUmb)

659 glovebox justice

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:58 PM (us2H3)

660 Gotta wonder how many times you have to do that deed to qualify as "experienced."
Posted by: The Mantastic Tor at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (dwzrA)

As long as you don't put "freelance" anywhere on your resume....

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2022 05:58 PM (6FeV1)

661 "Suck the chrome off a bumper."
Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 11, 2022 05:53 PM (Q4IgG)

suck golfball through a garden hose
Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (us2H3)

Cackle like a veep.

Posted by: The Mantastic Tor at November 11, 2022 05:59 PM (dwzrA)

662 I've heard the fox one used before.

Also heard shivering like a dog shitting peach seeds

Posted by: Rance Stoddard at November 11, 2022 05:59 PM (NSpgJ)

663 >>maybe the Pony Express stagecoaches except they used to sit on the roof.

Yea but they sat next to the driver.

Posted by: JackStraw at November 11, 2022 05:59 PM (ZLI7S)

664 Asdic - Brit for sonar - is an interesting case. Not a contraction of the technical concept, but named for the government committee charged with developing anti-submarine detection technology.

Apparently the origin was in the British naval R&D establishment, where the research was done in the Anti-Submarine Division - which became "Asdic", sort of an acronym, but with an element added. All to keep secret that what was being looked into was sound-based detection.

There's a claim that later on the Admiralty gave out a false explanation/expansion of ASDIC, as "Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee", presumably also for reasons of secrecy. Dunno the true story.

Posted by: rhomboid at November 11, 2022 05:59 PM (OTzUX)

665 I haven't seen you in a coon's age.

Haven't seen you in a month of Sundays.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger at November 11, 2022 05:59 PM (vwMFL)

666 659 glovebox justice
Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:58 PM (us2H3)

---------

Sounds like a phrase invented by Dashiell Hammet.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:59 PM (Qzn2/)

667 Brit Army "interview without coffee"

https://tinyurl.com/53jzcvte

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) cancel your NY Post at November 11, 2022 06:00 PM (yikp0)

668 surgery with no chloroform to avoid biting tongue or breaking teeth. Lead is soft.
Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 05:55 PM (eoQWY)
*******
Now it makes sense.

Posted by: redridinghood at November 11, 2022 06:00 PM (NpAcC)

669 Gainz nood if you didn't know

Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2022 06:00 PM (xhxe8)

670 It isn't over til the fat lady sings- Dan Cook

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at November 11, 2022 06:00 PM (PWvcU)

671 When the kids don't look like the dad or each other?

"There's a dead cat on the line"

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at November 11, 2022 06:00 PM (D+e7M)

672 I haven't seen you in a coon's age.

I think that one has racist origins, but I cannot be sure. A month of Sundays would be 30x7, so a pretty long time.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 06:00 PM (Ivdso)

673 Then, there's the Scottish phrase "Ah'm claimin' ye!", which, if said to you by a Highland soldier, means he is offering to beat you up.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 11, 2022 06:00 PM (VoNp6)

674 It's all a mute point.

Posted by: a.moron at November 11, 2022 06:00 PM (F6Xpw)

675 Sent my overseas sister a link to that Brian Nguyen Miss Greater Derry news item and she thought it was fake news.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at November 11, 2022 06:01 PM (2xlV3)

676 More likely they were made of liver.
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (2xlV3)

I looked it up, they were bisacodyl

Posted by: Kindltot at November 11, 2022 06:01 PM (xhaym)

677 666 659 glovebox justice
Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 05:58 PM (us2H3)

---------

Sounds like a phrase invented by Dashiell Hammet.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 05:59 PM (Qzn2/)

east TX redneck phrase

Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 06:01 PM (us2H3)

678 I thought it was because you could tell the horse's age by how worn-down its teeth were. And thus, how much more work you could get out of it.

But it's a gift. Accept it and be thankful.

Posted by: t-bird at November 11, 2022 06:01 PM (CaJIi)

679 The one that always got me was "You'd complain, if you were hung with a new rope."
Posted by: Comrade flounder, Disinformation Demon at November 11, 2022 05:13 PM (yHsuS)
-------
I heard that was because new ropes "snap" more than old ropes, which tend to stretch. If you want a clean death, you want the rope to jerk your head and cleanly snap your neck.
Posted by: rd at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM

It's the opposite - new ropes will stretch, absorbing the energy.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at November 11, 2022 06:01 PM (a3Q+t)

680 >>> f you tell a young person that a life vest in WW2 was called a "Mae West"

Now do "Gibson Girl" hand crank generators.
Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenko Solutions at November 11, 2022 05:51 PM (D+e7M)

Which one is a young engineer going to better visualize and remember for reducing transonic drag, "The Whitcomb Area Rule" or "The Marilyn Monroe" shape?

Posted by: banana Dream at November 11, 2022 06:02 PM (Nd9N3)

681 Then, there's the Scottish phrase "Ah'm claimin' ye!", which, if said to you by a Highland soldier, means he is offering to beat you up.
Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at November 11, 2022 06:00 PM (VoNp6)

---------

I think Earnest T. Bass said that to Romena.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 06:02 PM (Qzn2/)

682 There's a claim that later on the Admiralty gave out a false explanation/expansion of ASDIC, as "Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee", presumably also for reasons of secrecy. Dunno the true story.
Posted by: rhomboid at November 11, 2022 05:59 PM (OTzUX)

acronyming comes with bureaus and bureaucrats and until recently wouldn't get out to folk sayings. Probably specialists could find similar abbreviations and such in church writings, old government clerkdoms but they don't survive to become common sayings.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 06:02 PM (eoQWY)

683 I looked it up, they were bisacodyl
Posted by: Kindltot

I guess Marketing vetoed "poop pills"

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at November 11, 2022 06:02 PM (2xlV3)

684 More really acronyms again, rather than expressions, but an old favorite was FROD. Functionally Related Observable Difference. A part of the mechanism for counting rules for strategic nuclear systems, usually air-breathers (bombers), back in the days of SALT and START. Pronounced as it looked, was funny, in the context of treaties and cheatin' russkis, etc.

Posted by: rhomboid at November 11, 2022 06:02 PM (OTzUX)

685 Katy bar the door

Posted by: Ben Had at November 11, 2022 06:03 PM (kt3EL)

686 I think that one has racist origins, but I cannot be sure. A month of Sundays would be 30x7, so a pretty long time.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 11, 2022 06:00 PM (Ivdso)

less than a year, though.

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 06:04 PM (eoQWY)

687 east TX redneck phrase
Posted by: REDACTED at November 11, 2022 06:01 PM (us2H3)

guess that's where you keep a pistol in the car

Posted by: Oldcat at November 11, 2022 06:05 PM (eoQWY)

688 I thought it was because you could tell the horse's age by how worn-down its teeth were. And thus, how much more work you could get out of it.

But it's a gift. Accept it and be thankful.
Posted by: t-bird
------

I'm surprised that there isn't a Trojan-inspired corollary, ' Always look a gift horse in the ass.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 11, 2022 06:06 PM (Ga8Fv)

689 They's a NOOD

Next Original Output Draft

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at November 11, 2022 06:08 PM (Qzn2/)

690 572 For the 800th time. There are 300,000 Republican leaning votes in Maricopa waiting to be counted this weekend. They are being watched 24/7 by the Lake campaign.

How exactly are they going to steal it?

Makes me nuts. Settle down. If Hobbs had the votes in this batch, Fox would have called it for her.
Posted by: Dave in Fla at November 11, 2022 05:47 PM (5p7BC)
________
1. Your explanation for why they're delaying makes no sense.

2. The fact that it changed from 240K to 300K is, in itself, suspicious.

3. I hate to remind you that you were entirely dismissive of fraud in 2020.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 06:08 PM (TgBWG)

691 "Balls out" refers to a flyball governor on a steam engine running at max speed.

"Balls to the wall" refers the throttle and mixture controls on an airplane. Pushing them in to the firewall is max power.

Posted by: Rick T at November 11, 2022 06:08 PM (47+qM)

692 How exactly are they going to steal it?

-

$20, same as in town

(boom! Keeping it on topic!)

Posted by: Paul Pelosi for Senate at November 11, 2022 06:09 PM (z1Z+P)

693 Very cool post.

Posted by: Farmer Bob at November 11, 2022 06:10 PM (hS8+x)

694 Gotta wonder how many times you have to do that deed to qualify as "experienced."
Posted by: The Mantastic Tor at November 11, 2022 05:56 PM (dwzrA)

The state of Oregon Penitentiary bragged once upon a time of having a hangman who had learned his trade in the Philippines during the Moro Rebellion

Posted by: Kindltot at November 11, 2022 06:11 PM (xhaym)

695 3. I hate to remind you that you were entirely dismissive of fraud in 2020.
Posted by: Eeyore
----
You are free to ignore me, most do.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at November 11, 2022 06:11 PM (5p7BC)

696 664 Asdic - Brit for sonar - is an interesting case. Not a contraction of the technical concept, but named for the government committee charged with developing anti-submarine detection technology.

Apparently the origin was in the British naval R&D establishment, where the research was done in the Anti-Submarine Division - which became "Asdic", sort of an acronym, but with an element added. All to keep secret that what was being looked into was sound-based detection.

There's a claim that later on the Admiralty gave out a false explanation/expansion of ASDIC, as "Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee", presumably also for reasons of secrecy. Dunno the true story.
Posted by: rhomboid at November 11, 2022 05:59 PM (OTzUX)
_______
Yes. The first is correct. It was named after the committee, ASD, with IC added to make it pronounceable as a name. They continued to use the term until post-WWII, when they switched to Sonar.

BTW, in WWI, we were far behind on hydrophones when we entered. Within 6 months, we'd pulled ahead of both Britain and France. Then we dropped off between the wars. It wasn't our top priority.

Posted by: Eeyore at November 11, 2022 06:17 PM (TgBWG)

697 The one that always got me was "You'd complain, if you were hung with a new rope."
Posted by: Comrade flounder

I heard that was because new ropes "snap" more than old ropes, which tend to stretch. If you want a clean death, you want the rope to jerk your head and cleanly snap your neck.
Posted by: rd

It's the opposite - new ropes will stretch, absorbing the energy.
Posted by: Duncanthrax

But that would give them a legitimate reason to complain. They would strangle to death slowly with a new rope, rather than die quickly with an old one.

The phrase, at least as my father used it, was the opposite. It described someone who would still bitch no matter how much extra effort you put in for them, and no matter how inconsequential the difference.

Posted by: mikeski at November 11, 2022 06:17 PM (P1f+c)

698 Flirting with disaster.

Posted by: kraken at November 11, 2022 05:18 PM (qdYPY)

I got this

Posted by: Molly Hatchet at November 11, 2022 06:19 PM (Yh3xC)

699 They's a NOOD
Next Original Output Draft
Posted by: Cicero

Newfound Object Of Discussion?

Posted by: mikeski at November 11, 2022 06:20 PM (P1f+c)

700 Did "That'll be the day!" come from the John Wayne movie The Searchers? Wayne said that two or three times in the film. (The movie preceded the Everly Brothers pop song.)

Posted by: matthew49 at November 11, 2022 06:23 PM (8aDmE)

701 I thought "bite the bullet" was getting shot in the face

Posted by: wth at November 11, 2022 06:29 PM (v0R5T)

702 Mrs. Fubbs' Parlor indeed!

Posted by: Corona at November 11, 2022 06:34 PM (nakGR)

703 Re: "the whole nine yards"

The belt for a M2 BMG 50 used in air force service was 9 yards long. So to answer your question of "which fighter had 9 yards" the answer is "all of them". Well, at least 9 yards PER GUN.

So a P47 with 6 M2 50s had 6 guns with 9 yards each, so considerably more than 9 yards IN THE PLANE, but regardless if all of them fired at the same time, you only had 9 yards of ammunition for each gun before they were all exhausted, so your "seconds of fire before you run out" was essentially 9 yards divided by the rounds per minute of the guns. The 9 yards was a "per gun, per loading" situation.

Posted by: Goober at November 11, 2022 06:35 PM (Hgvgt)

704 I think the cat o nine tails was stored in a baize bag when not in use. sweating like a white in church... a southernism.

Posted by: Awkward davies at November 11, 2022 06:43 PM (nnAZk)

705 Don't forget "nook and cranny". What is a cranny?

Posted by: Raoul Ortega at November 11, 2022 06:54 PM (a/7LW)

706 What do you think of "sweating like a pig?" The pop etymology that it comes from ironsmithing seems unlikely because there's pig copper and pig lead too.

Posted by: 80s Kaballist at November 11, 2022 06:57 PM (zjiwm)

707 “ three sheets to the wind -- drunk in an out-of-control way. If a ship with three sails had all three sheets -- lines which control the sails -- in the wind, that is, loose, it was out of control. (Thanks to Jim for correcting me.)”

I’d go with a Marconi-rigged vessel, or something similar—a sloop in the modern sense. It has two sails (main and jib) and three sheets. The windward sheet of the jib must be free for the jib to work properly. The mainsail has only one sheet. Having the windward jib sheet cleated or on a winch is the drunk's mistake.

Posted by: Bruce Anderson at November 11, 2022 07:34 PM (Pkag6)

708 I believe I have a possible solution for "have at (you)":

The "have" is an imperative, and so maybe "Have your defence/wits/guard at (i.e. with, about) you"

Posted by: random artsnark at November 11, 2022 07:36 PM (inAOq)

709 When paying a substantial amount for something, my Dad would always say, “Bang goes the egg money.”

I never quite figured that one out. We’re eggs that expensive, back in the day?
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at November 11, 2022 05:32 PM (atmen)

Egg money is the money you get from selling your extra eggs on the farm.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) with a goatee at November 11, 2022 07:38 PM (yQpMk)

710 56
Batten?
batten the hatches??

"Battens" on a modern sailboat are thin strips of wood (etc) used to keep the rear edge of the sail (the "lee") from fluttering. In older times a batten was any strip of wood, including the pretty damn thick ones used to hold down a hatch from being forced open in rough seas.

Posted by: Ray Van Dune at November 11, 2022 08:16 PM (hRbjX)

711 You say "Have at" is out of use but that's not been my experience. Maybe it's regional so I'll mention that I live in Alabama, but it's used often enough not to stand out. "Food's ready. Have at it." is pretty common at a casual event with a buffet for example. Sorry if I muddied the water.

Posted by: Ben Sears at November 11, 2022 08:17 PM (b+nYB)

712 I all the time emaіⅼed this blog post page to all my assocіates, as if like to read it neҳt mʏ links will too.

Posted by: humanness at November 12, 2022 06:02 AM (Kr7La)

713 I am making 90 dollars an hour working from home. I never imagined that it was honest to goodness yet my closest companion is earning $16,000 a month by working on a laptop, that was truly astounding for me, she prescribed for me to attempt it simply.
Everybody must try this job now by just using this link.. https://cutt.ly/lVo997O

Posted by: Tom at November 12, 2022 10:14 AM (/FkNc)

714 my favorite girl parts slang has always been chiffarobes.

Posted by: cmeat at November 13, 2022 01:26 PM (cyZhK)

715 we text "do" to each other. it conveys what are you doing?
there was a kid in grade school whose family, the berolzheimer's, used make as a reference for bowel movement. never heard that since.

Posted by: cmeat at November 13, 2022 01:34 PM (cyZhK)

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