Common Phrases We Collectively Understand and Take for Granted

[Wannaplan?]

Someone once told me the mechanotronic owl in the Clash of the Titans movie looked cheesy. Yeah, the FX look like crapola, but that Harry Hamlin sure is hot! I never tasted a mechanotronic owl, so I don't know if the flapper tastes like gouda or cheddar. Doesn't matter, I know, it's just a phrase.


But why cheesy?

Why not "oniony" or "gloompy-doompy"?

Yoda sure looks "gloompy-doompy" in the "Phantom Menace," doesn't he?


These guys sure look "oniony," don't they?

Did someone just make-up cheesy, or is there a factual basis to its origin and colloquial meaning?

EDIT Where did the pics go?

sorry Wanigas?, I moved your pics from your gallery to the temp images gallery (where ALL NON-PLANNING images are supposed to reside) - when I checked the thread they were still visible to me but I guess my computer just had them cached or something. Sorry.

[Maister]

'kerfuffle' 'boinked' and 'kittywampus' (also regional variants 'caddywampus' and 'whomperjawed') all carry a certain instictive meaning. No one sat you down and explained what they meant, understanding occurred through its use in context.

[Zoning Goddess]

catty-cornered
what in the sam hill?
discombobulated

They don't mean anything but we know what they mean.

[Wannaplan?]

catty-cornered

Comes from the French for four, quatre. As in the four corners created by a road intersection. When English speakers try to say quatre, it comes out funny, hence "catty-corner."

[Jaxspra]

catty-cornered
what in the sam hill?
discombobulated

They don't mean anything but we know what they mean.

discombobulated isn't a real word
I think "what in the name of sam hill" must be a southern thing, I have never said that am not sure I have heard it...wierd thing is I DO know what it means....

[boiker]

Cheesy.

I imagine this can be traced back to saying "Cheese" when we get our photo's taken. One can assume that a forced, posed smile caused by the phrase "say cheese" results in a cheesy appearance. Cheesy meaning = awkward, unusual, or in an unatural way.

Therefore, the owl apeared cheesy in the movie.

anyone utilize "dadspeak" ? specifically the "I'll (whatever subject/object noun you just said to me) you."

[Bear Up North]

Don't forget the military offerings, including fubar .

Remember, also fugly .

& let's not forget our Canuckistickitian fans with eh? .

Finally, appropriate today, Is the Pope Catholic? .

Bear

[jmello]

discombobulated isn't a real word
I think "what in the name of sam hill" must be a southern thing, I have never said that am not sure I have heard it...wierd thing is I DO know what it means....

I always thought it was "what in Sam hell."

[Jaxspra]

I always thought it was "what in Sam hell."

Me too...and WTF does that really mean anyway?? I assume you could say it either way as neither one really means anything (at least not to me, I am sure they were derived from somewhere )

[GISgal]

Anybody use the word kyped?

As in, "That guy kyped my i-pod?" (stole)

[zman]

Finally, appropriate today, Is the Pope Catholic? .

Bear

Or the Big Lebowski version: "Does the Pope &*^% in the woods?"

[Mastiff]

Me too...and WTF does that really mean anyway?? I assume you could say it either way as neither one really means anything (at least not to me, I am sure they were derived from somewhere )

From World Wide Words:

[Q] “I have often heard in American movies and on television phrases like ‘What in the Sam Hill is going on?’ Or, ‘What the Sam Hill happened here?’ Or, some such exclamation. I have not been able to find the basis of this expression.”

[A] There is a story sometimes told (for example in Edwin Mitchell’s Encyclopedia of American Politics in 1946) that one Colonel Samuel Hill of Guilford, Connecticut, would often run for political office at some point in the early nineteenth century but always without success. Hence, “to run like Sam Hill” or “go like Sam Hill”. The problem is that nobody has found any trace of this monumentally unsuccessful candidate.

On the other hand, an article in the New England Magazine in December 1889 entitled Two Centuries and a Half in Guilford Connecticut mentioned that, “Between 1727 and 1752 Mr. Sam. Hill represented Guilford in forty-three out of forty-nine sessions of the Legislature, and when he was gathered to his fathers, his son Nathaniel reigned in his stead” and a footnote queried whether this might be the source of the “popular Connecticut adjuration to ‘Give ‘em Sam Hill’?” So the tale has long legs.

The expression has been known since the late 1830s. Despite the story, it seems to be no more than a personalised euphemism for “hell”.

Anybody use the word kyped?

As in, "That guy kyped my i-pod?" (stole)

Definition: \Kipe\, n. [Cf. OE. kipen to catch, Icel. kippa to pull,
snatch. Cf. {Kipper}.]
An osier basket used for catching fish. [Prov. Eng.]

[sisterceleste]

I have always hated the phrase "kill two birds with one stone". Does not sound very nice.

[Mastiff]

discombobulated isn't a real word

Tsk!


Main Entry: dis·com·bob·u·late
Pronunciation: "dis-k&m-'bä-b(y)&-"lAt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -lat·ed; -lat·ing
Etymology: probably alteration of discompose
: UPSET, CONFUSE <the offensive had discombobulated all the German defensive arrangements -- A. J. Liebling>

I have always hated the phrase "kill two birds with one stone". Does not sound very nice.

They could be mean birds... one never knows.

[Jaxspra]

Tsk!


Main Entry: dis·com·bob·u·late
Pronunciation: "dis-k&m-'bä-b(y)&-"lAt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -lat·ed; -lat·ing
Etymology: probably alteration of discompose
: UPSET, CONFUSE <the offensive had discombobulated all the German defensive arrangements -- A. J. Liebling>

So it IS a real word!!

[Rumpy Tunanator]

Don't hurt 'em Hammer....

[jsk1983]

Cheesy.

I imagine this can be traced back to saying "Cheese" when we get our photo's taken. One can assume that a forced, posed smile caused by the phrase "say cheese" results in a cheesy appearance. Cheesy meaning = awkward, unusual, or in an unatural way.

In the Uk there is a category of music known as cheese. Its basically pop, alot of classic songs that have been played over and over despite their lack of musical quality. Something like YMCA or Britney Spears would fit this. Perhaps one of our British members can better explain it.

[noj]

In the Uk there is a category of music known as cheese. Its basically pop, alot of classic songs that have been played over and over despite their lack of musical quality. Something like YMCA or Britney Spears would fit this. Perhaps one of our British members can better explain it.

I don't think I can add much more to that JSK, other than any type of music can be cheese, it all depends on the cheesy elements within the music. Its often applied to euro-dance music, but I would propose, for instance, that the music of 'The Darkness' is cheesy.

Kyped is a new one for me. Some other words for 'stole' over here; nicked, pogged, half-inched.

[Maister]

just thought of a really dumb idiomatic expression: "make a killing"

[pete-rock]

Me too...and WTF does that really mean anyway?? I assume you could say it either way as neither one really means anything (at least not to me, I am sure they were derived from somewhere )

Sam Hill, Sam hell...

Doesn't make a difference. Six in one hand, half-dozen in the other.

[mentarman]

Sam Hill, Sam hell...

Doesn't make a difference. Six in one hand, half-dozen in the other.

lol never heard that. I've heard "Six of one, half a dozen of the other" to mean a choice that really won't make a difference. Or "Sixes" in its shortened form.

[zman]

"Man Alive!!"

Or the Simpson's take on it: "Man alive! There's men alive in here..."

[Mastiff]

Let's not forget the sports phrases people add to their lingo:

Baseball:

He hit that one out of the park.
They sure threw me a curve...
We're in the ballpark.
I'll go to bat for you.
Out in left field.
Step up to the plate.
Way off base.

Basketball:

It's a slam dunk.
The ball is in your court.

Football:

Go the whole nine yards.
What's the game plan?
Take the ball and run!
Make an end run.


Golf

Par for the course.
He putts from the rough. (NTTAWWT)

Boxing:

Throw in the towel.
Hit below the belt.
Take it on the chin.

Racing:

Down to the wire.
Neck and neck...
Jockey for position.
He's the dark horse.


I know there are more...

[mgk920]

Let's not forget the sports phrases people add to their lingo:

Baseball:

He hit that one out of the park.
They sure threw me a curve...
We're in the ballpark.
I'll go to bat for you.
Out in left field.
Step up to the plate.
Way off base.

'I need a raincheck'

Basketball:

It's a slam dunk.
The ball is in your court.

Football:

Go the whole nine yards.

Nope, comes from military combat, as in having a fighter pilot use his entire supply of automatic weapons ammo (they were in belts that were about 9 yards long). 'He shot the whole nine yards'.

What's the game plan?
Take the ball and run!
Make an end run.

I would include phrases relating to punting. Also, 'He could go all the way!'.

Golf

Par for the course.
He putts from the rough. (NTTAWWT)

I have heard quotes relating to 'Even a duffer nails one every now and then'.

Boxing:

Throw in the towel.
Hit below the belt.
Take it on the chin.

Racing:

Down to the wire.
Neck and neck...
Jockey for position.
He's the dark horse.

'Upset' (was a real long-shot race horse that won a major race in the late 19th century)

Mike

[jsk1983]

"pardon my French"
meaning excuse me for swearing. Why French? Why not pardon my Dutch?