Wierd sayings

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Cyclefrance

First thoughts are that it could relate to early UK public phone boxes (the old red ones). You'd lift the handset, put a penny in the slot and dial the number.

I'm guessing it had more to do with old arcade machines, specifically the fortune tellers, which would dispense a fortune or some wise saying.

[Trilby]

My favorite fuck saying is 'Fuck you, you fucking fuck!'--has a nice ring to it.

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

But what do you hold the carrot out with, if not a stick? You have to carry two sticks to ride a donkey? They must be damn stubborn.

YUP

[Crimson Ghost]

Originally Posted by richlevy

'Rode hard and put away wet'.
I'm not sure about this one - "Wherever you go, there you are".

'Rode hard and put away wet.' - A horse riding term. If you rode a horse hard and put him away wet (from sweat), it means that you don't properly care for him. I'm sure that if I'm wrong, someone will be more than happy to flame... I mean... CORRECT me.

Originally Posted by Brianna

We say, "Did you pack?" meaning, bring your own lunch. In New Jersey I think it means "did you bring your gun?"

Why, yes, yes it does.
Usually a .38 with the serial numbers removed, sometimes a .45 as an "equalizer" (NJ/NYC people know), and if you're lucky, a car battery, a set of jumper cables, and a bucket of water.

Perhaps I've said too much...
Fuggetaboutit...

[Cyclefrance]

Originally Posted by richlevy

Penny's dropped - I'm guessing it had more to do with old arcade machines, specifically the fortune tellers, which would dispense a fortune or some wise saying.

There's also the more macabre association with the practice of placing pennies over the eyes of a dead person. If the penny dropped it would mean that they hadn't been dead after all..... or else they had come back to.... life! (for added effect inserts sinister, ghostly laughter, plus sound of owl hooting in background)......

[wolf]

from this rather interesting site on the origins of English sayings ...

Penny: If someone says "the penny has dropped", then they mean that they finally, and often suddenly, understand a situation. I have found no authenticated origin for the saying, but it must surely come from old Victorian slot machines, where a game would only work when the penny had dropped.

[bargalunan]

In France we say "manier la carotte et le baton" (use the carrot and the stick) and that means using both a promised reward (carrot) and a threat (stick) to make the donkey walk.

Sometimes French and English share the same expressions !

French popular wisdom : fog in November, Christmas in December !

[Cyclefrance]

Originally Posted by bargalunan

Sometimes French and English share the same expressions !

You know I had a feeling you might say that, but then I thought 'same sayings, no, not really - it was just a touch of deja vu.'

That aside Mr B - tell us some other French sayings that have an unusual background to them...(preferably with translation into English!)

[barefoot serpent]

my favorite French expression: Le petit mort -- the little death.

[bargalunan]

“un croque-mort” (an undertaker) :
“croque ” means “to bite”, “mort ” means “dead”
In the past people used to check if the body was dead, in biting one of his toes.

“qui dort dine” : “who is sleeping, is eating”
Everybody thinks it means that when we sleep we don’t feel hungry and don’t need to eat.
In fact, in the past it was an advert for hostels :
Customers were paying for the bed and the diner was free.

“L’habit ne fait pas le moine” : “the habit doesn’t make the monk”
means : don’t judge people according to their appearance.

“Pierre qui roule n’amasse pas mousse” :
“Pierre qui roule ” : “A rolling stone ”
“ n’amasse pas mousse ” : “isn’t covered with moss ”
(no link with Mick Jagger and Kate Moss)
means we never become rich if we too often change of country, job….

“Quand on veut noyer son chien, on dit qu’il a la rage”
“When we want to drown one’s dog, we say he’s got the rage”
means : when we want Saddam’s oil, we say he’s got mass murder weapons.

“Qui sème le vent récolte la tempête” :
“Who sows the wind harvests the storm”
means : somebody who causes disorder shouldn’t be surprised to get a disaster

“un(e) de perdu(e), dix de retrouvé(e) ” :
“one lost, ten back ”
often said when your boy(girl)friend goes away :
you’ll soon find several better occasions.

“une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps ” :
“a swallow/martin doesn’t make springtime ”
means : you can’t judge on only one example

“c’est l’hôpital qui se moque de la charité ” :
“it’s the hospital which laughs at the charity”
when we laugh at somebody else who shares the same failings.

“avoir des cornes ” : “to have horns ” :
to be cuckold

“ça ne casse pas 3 pattes à un canard ” :
“that doesn’t break 3 legs at a duck” :
There’s nothing extraordinary

“passer du coq à l’âne ” :
“change from rooster to donkey”
means : changing the subject of the conversation


The Alternative French Dictionary
(good examples but be careful in using it with French people, sometimes it’s very rude)

[bargalunan]

Originally Posted by barefoot serpent

my favorite French expression: Le petit mort -- the little death.

Yes, more exactly, it's "La petite mort"

[barefoot serpent]

Yes, more exactly, it's "La petite mort"

d'oh... that's my problem -- I've got the gender wrong!

and then there's the French postcard : British slang for a condom.

[bargalunan]

Nobody wants to assume condom invention.

In France we say "Capotte anglaise" (English condom) despite Condom is a city in the south of France where condoms were invented.

[mrnoodle]

Eek. Be careful when ordering the duck for dinner.

canard = duck (if I recall correctly)
connard = something else.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by bargalunan

“that doesn’t break 3 legs at a duck”

Sounds like something some of our recent newbies might say.