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What’s a popular saying that doesn't make any sense:
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""Have your cake and eat it too
Surely you don't have your cake then"
That's exactly the point... It's "you can't have your cake and eat it too" meaning you can't keep and and eat it. It's one or the other. |
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"Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth"
Again, this one does make sense.
Horse buyers at fairs would always check the horse's teeth to determine the age and likely health of the animal.
If the horse was a gift it would be rude to check it's mouth. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, yeah but then I’d have to go rummaging in a bush"
I had a friend changed this to 'worth two in Kate Bush'. Still makes me smile |
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"Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth
Again, this one does make sense.
Horse buyers at fairs would always check the horse's teeth to determine the age and likely health of the animal.
If the horse was a gift it would be rude to check it's mouth. "
Wow...every day is a school day. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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""Have your cake and eat it too
Surely you don't have your cake then"
This ones been changed and misunderstood , the original version is "you can't eat your cake and have it" if i remember thats one of the clues that help capture the Unabomber,
And yes it means you can't have both. |
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By *oghunter33Woman
over a year ago
on the hill NordWest of |
"How’s she cuttin’
Or
She’s sucking’ diesel now 
Top notch culchie phrases that make perfect sense!  "
Yer roots clearly shine through on this thread, Mick.  have ye ever been kid-napped by the fairies? |
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"How’s she cuttin’
Or
She’s sucking’ diesel now
Top notch culchie phrases that make perfect sense!
Yer roots clearly shine through on this thread, Mick. have ye ever been kid-napped by the fairies? "
I'm too sexy for the fairies |
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"It's raining cats and dogs
Why not frogs and sheep???? "
Love these old sayings and know most of them but this one is from ye olde times when everyone had thatched roofs, animals like cats and dogs would lay near the top of the thatch, ( bare in mind not two story properties and dogs don’t climb lol) where it was warm and dry, then when it rained they would jump down to get a dryer spot in the barn/house thus it was raining, cats and dogs lol or so I’m told  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune!!
What’s that about? Sure is all only a load of horse hair anyway. "
The wood used to make instruments "dries out" (thats not the proper description) over the years making a difference to the acoustic values of said instrument, making it sound nicer than a recently made one! |
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"It's raining cats and dogs
Why not frogs and sheep????
Love these old sayings and know most of them but this one is from ye olde times when everyone had thatched roofs, animals like cats and dogs would lay near the top of the thatch, ( bare in mind not two story properties and dogs don’t climb lol) where it was warm and dry, then when it rained they would jump down to get a dryer spot in the barn/house thus it was raining, cats and dogs lol or so I’m told "
I think that one was ruled out as being a myth.
I have a feeling that the current theory is that it came from a Greek word that sounded a bit like "cats and dogs" but it's not certain either. |
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"As happy as Larry.
Sure it could have any Tom, Dick or Harry but they had to pick on Larry
And who the hell were Tom,Dick and Harry "
Tom, Dick and Harry were three of the most common names in use in the English speaking world so the phrase signified common, average, or ordinary people. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"As happy as Larry.
Sure it could have any Tom, Dick or Harry but they had to pick on Larry
And who the hell were Tom,Dick and Harry
Tom, Dick and Harry were three of the most common names in use in the English speaking world so the phrase signified common, average, or ordinary people. "
And Larry is Larry Foley, a boxer in the late 1800s who'd never lost a fight and won large amounts of money |
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He'd or she'd steel the cross of an ass.
Money is as scarse as hens teeth.
You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
He's not the sharpest tool in the box
If work was in the bed he'd sleep on the floor
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"He'd or she'd steel the cross of an ass.
Money is as scarse as hens teeth.
You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
He's not the sharpest tool in the box
If work was in the bed he'd sleep on the floor
"
"Steal the cross of an ass" is a bit like skinning the hide of a flea. Like someone is so tight or that big a thief they'd steal/take the cross-shaped mark off an ass's back
Anything that's scarce or rare as hen's teeth is because hens don't have teeth so there's literally none of whatever it is
Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear just means you can't make something of high quality from poor quality materials, and making a pig's ear of something is from the same origin |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"He'd or she'd steel the cross of an ass.
Money is as scarse as hens teeth.
You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
He's not the sharpest tool in the box
If work was in the bed he'd sleep on the floor
"
Not the sharpest tool in the box comes from sharp also meaning bright or clever and dull also meaning unintelligent (as opposed to sharp -pointed and dull -blunt)
And if work was in bed he'd sleep on the floor just means he'd do anything to avoid work
Sorry...self confessed nerd about this stuff  |
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By *iktikiCouple
over a year ago
cork |
"As happy as Larry.
Sure it could have any Tom, Dick or Harry but they had to pick on Larry
And who the hell were Tom,Dick and Harry
Tom, Dick and Harry were three of the most common names in use in the English speaking world so the phrase signified common, average, or ordinary people. "
Or any Tom,Dick and Harry |
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By *og-Man OP Man
over a year ago
somewhere |
"As happy as Larry.
Sure it could have any Tom, Dick or Harry but they had to pick on Larry
And who the hell were Tom,Dick and Harry
Tom, Dick and Harry were three of the most common names in use in the English speaking world so the phrase signified common, average, or ordinary people.
Or any Tom,Dick and Harry "
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I always say god bless and I'm as far from religious as you can get......
Bless you is a plague thing isn’t it after sneezing ?"
I'm not sure sometimes people look at me odd in shops... Maybe they think I'm a priest  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"As happy as Larry.
Sure it could have any Tom, Dick or Harry but they had to pick on Larry
And who the hell were Tom,Dick and Harry
Tom, Dick and Harry were three of the most common names in use in the English speaking world so the phrase signified common, average, or ordinary people.
Or any Tom,Dick and Harry "
Or no ordinary Joe Soap. |
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"The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune!!
What’s that about? Sure is all only a load of horse hair anyway.
The wood used to make instruments "dries out" (thats not the proper description) over the years making a difference to the acoustic values of said instrument, making it sound nicer than a recently made one! "
Did not know this one but it’s in the memory now. Didn’t need long division any way so bye |
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"I always say god bless and I'm as far from religious as you can get......
Bless you is a plague thing isn’t it after sneezing ?"
Yes it is, comes from the time of Black Death and the old nursery rhyme ring a ring a rosies pocket full of posies. When you got the Black Death when someone sneezed you were actually saying a prayer for them as it was one of the signs you had caught it. Pocket full of posies were carried because of the stench of death so people carried them and sniffed them, then tissue tissue we all fall down means ya sneeze and fall down dead. Just love this one lol so nerdy at times I know |
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"Anyone know toeing the line I think there are a few for it 
I think it's from naval inspections from the days of wooden ships"
Heard that as well but some say it’s a boxing term from when they had a line they had to put a toe on then the match started lol who knows with this one |
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By *og-Man OP Man
over a year ago
somewhere |
"Anyone know toeing the line I think there are a few for it
I think it's from naval inspections from the days of wooden ships
Heard that as well but some say it’s a boxing term from when they had a line they had to put a toe on then the match started lol who knows with this one "
Think its from the Darts myself as they couldn't see their feet on the ground because of their bellies and the commentator would say " Jockey Wilson You're toeing the line " |
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“Same difference”
…but…but there’s no difference…
…let alone two differences…unless you’ve introduced a third thing against which the things you are comparing have the same difference…and in that case, you’ve gone mad with power you ought not wield. |
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"It's always darkest before dawn...no is not it's darkest at midnight when the sun is on the other side of the world "
It's darkest between dusk and dawn. That leaves a window of a few hours. During the height of the summer it most likely wouldn't be fully dark by 12 midnight.
In any case, even if I'm wrong, sure isn't midnight just a few hours before dawn anyway? |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"It's always darkest before dawn...no is not it's darkest at midnight when the sun is on the other side of the world
Midnight is before dawn though "
And it's after it too |
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"Football."
Football comes from a time when everything was played on horse back.
Then people started games with out horses, using their own feet. These games were called football because they were played on foot. Has nothing to do with kicking a ball |
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By *ustBoWoman
over a year ago
Somewhere in Co. Down |
"He’s tighter than a ducks arse
This is because a duck's arse is watertight
Can ducks only poop when not in water?
Now there's a question "
Maybe they poop when they duck dive |
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"He’s tighter than a ducks arse
This is because a duck's arse is watertight
Can ducks only poop when not in water?
Now there's a question
Maybe they poop when they duck dive "
You could be onto something there |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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""Have your cake and eat it too
Surely you don't have your cake then"
Did you watch the netflix recreation of the unibomber? They mention the origins of the phrase which was "you can't eat your cake and have it too". The phrase became mixed through colloquial speech patterns over time. |
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By *ucka39Man
over a year ago
Newcastle |
"Up jack's arse and around the corner
Is this a Newcastle thing....its brilliant "
It's something I've heard as a child and continued. nope I'm sure it was around everywhere
I'll be back in a minute, nobody ever is |
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By *ucka39Man
over a year ago
Newcastle |
"Up jack's arse and around the corner
Is this a Newcastle thing....its brilliant
I've never heard it "
It was mainly used if someone asked you where you going as if it's any of their business |
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.. think it's a dub saying 
