that old chestnut and other sayings

[daizie]

As Sure As Egss Is Eggs

Meaning

Is used to describe asolute cerainty about something .

Origin

In fact, it is a simple misquote which has passed into common usage . In formal logic and maths the formula 'x is x' is used to describe complete certainty. It is unclear how or when 'x is x' became 'eggs is eggs' but it is known Charles Dickens used the phrase 'eggs is eggs' in The Pickwick Papers, published 1837. Maybe Dickens was joking, or playing on words, or possibly it was a simple mistake that proved amusing enough to be left unchanged .

[computedshorty]

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[daizie]

Crocodile Tears

Meaning

False tears / insincere sorrow

Origin

Crocodiles, after eating, shed excess salt from glands just beneath each eye. According to the Ancient Egyptians, after the animal had devoured its victim it would immediately appear to be crying with remorse. The Egyptians coined the phrase and applied it to their double-dealing country folk who showed insincerity or flase sorrow for their actions .

[computedshorty]

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[computedshorty]

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[daizie]

Haha!! Computedshorty excellent stuff!

[daizie]

Skeleton In The Cupboard

Meaning

To have a shameful secret hidden away

Origin

Until 1832 it was illegal to dissect a human body for the benefit of medical research, but of course many a physician still did, and the skeletons had to be hidden somewhere. It is also true that, after dissections became legal, grave robbers would dig up newly buried corpses and sell them to unscrupulous doctors in an underhand way. This practice was so frowned upon that medical men would try to keep their secrets hidden away in locked cupboards. The phrase was first used in print during an article in Punch magazine, written in 1845 by William Thackeray, and has been in common usage ever since .

[computedshorty]

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[computedshorty]

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[daizie]

There But For The Grace Of God Go I

Meaning

Used by people noting anothers misfortune and suggesting it could easily be them .

Origin

The popular Protestant preacher John Bradford first used this phrase whilst being held in the Tower of London on the charges of 'trying to stir up a mob'. All he had done was to save a Catholic preacher named Bourne from a baying Protestant mob. But this happened during the reign of Mary 1, whose restoration of the Catholic Church saw the persecution of many protestants. While in the Tower, Bradford witnessed many being taken away for execution and each time would remark ' There but for the grace of God goes John Bradford'. But Bradford was soon charged with heresy and later burned at the stake in Smithfield market on 1 July 1555 .

[jimmy two times]

LOL: meaning laugh out loud. Derived from computer geeks using it to indicate laughter.

[EDmummy]

Lucky legs, lucky they don't snap off and stick up your bum

Origin

My mum circa 1975

[iaineasy]

hahaha good old mums have a lot to add to this debate it seems!

[daizie]

Mums the Word

Meaning

Means to convey no secrets and remain silent .

Origin

This has nothing to do with mothers and more to do with the 'mmmmm' we use with tightly closed lips indicating we have nothing to say on a subject .The phrase was first recorded in 1540 but is thought to be at least 200 years older still .

[Keef]

A musician was once telling me about a fellow band member who had decided he no longer wanted to play, but rather get in to the sound tech side of things. He described it as

"Like giving a starving dog a rubber bone".

I always liked that.

[Y'man]

Up in Annie's room, in the oil bottle, behind the clock.

Meaning, I don't know where it is, you're too lazy to look for it and I'm not going to.

[Atila Reincarnate]

Cheap at half the price???

Surely it should be "Cheap at double the price"?

[iaineasy]

my mum used to say "if it'd had teeth it would have bitten you" when you can't find something thats right under your nose.

[brum]

Here's an appropriate one... 'Brass monkey weather' or 'It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey'

Origin:

British Navy, 18/19th Century. A 'brass monkey' is a metal ring, or collar, placed on the deck next to every gun position for cannon balls to be stacked into a pyramid, ready for use. When ships ventured into the Arctic and other very cold places, this ring would cool and contract, thereby pushing the top cannon ball off the pyramid. Hence the term.

I bet you thought it would be rude....!

[iaineasy]

That very interesting brum nice one!!

[gwod]

Not really a saying, but...Noel Desenfans, founder of Dulwich Picture Gallery and of Desenfans Road fame's name is derived from his beginnings in France. As a orphan of unknown parentage he took part of the name of his first home; L'Ecole Des'Enfants Perdue, which was later anglisised to Desenfans.

[Fathertime]

I don't know how old your mum is, but I heard this saying (She's got lucky legs... lucky they don't break off and jam up her bum) from my (previous) mother-in-law in 1967.

[anna_ed]

I loved reading this. Saying says quite a lot about cultures. One that really amused me when I arrived in England from Denmark, was this one

?Kill two birds with one stone. ?

(I always get an image of stone age men (Monty Python like) throwing stones at bewildered birds?.he he)

in Denmark we have a similiar one ?Kill two flies with one smack?(sl? to fluer med et sm?k"). It is a lot less dramatic and probably reflect our farming culture.

Another danish saying

?man kan ikke b?de bl?se og have mel i munden?

?one cannot both blow and have flour in your mouth?

That saying can only come from a pastry culture who legalized porn early?just kidding about the porn bit; blow means blow. The saying means that you should avoid multitasking completely?.do one thing at the time.

?Hellere lille og v?gen end stor og doven?

?It?s better to be small and quickwitted than big and lazy (it rhymes and sounds nice)

My father used to tell me that. It?s a comforting thing to hear for the teenage Danes who are being bullied for being small i.e less than six feet tall.