We use them all the time but where did they come from and what do they mean? Stop and think about the ones that you use and share them here.

I sometimes say, "clean as a whistle"

Damn, after that thing has been in everbody's mouth, what's so clean about it?

 

"That guys up to a bunch of tom foolery"

"Quit your shennanigans"

 

I would bet it comes from a police guard mount(inspection). Thinking that you need to pay particular attention to the whistle to insure passing the inspection. Hence the whistle would be very bright and shiny, then the phrase would make sense when used to refer to any cleaning that has been completed.

I personally like "The whole nine yards".

 

Shenanigans! Isn’t that the place with all the goofy Irish stuff on the walls and the mozzarella sticks???

Signed,
The Don

 

Does anyone know what "the whole kit and kaboodle" means?

 

The whole nine yards comes from fighter planes during WWII. The ammo links for each gun was about 9 yards long and if they fired every round, then it was the whole nine yards.

 

"The whole nine yards" & where I heard it came from...

In the Pacific theatre during WW2, our fighter planes of course had on-board machime guns. In fact, they had multiple machine guns. I guess that for some reason, at times they'd go up without a full load of amunition...maybe to save weight? Anyway, the guns would use amo that was on belts or ribbons that held the bullets side-by-side. Some of the guns on the fighter planes would be fully loaded when they had 27 foot strips of bullets. When the pilot wanted the guns fully loaded, he'd tell the ground crew to "Give me the whole nine yards". nine yards=27'.

A variation on that story...When a pilot emptied his machine gun on an other plane trying to shoot it down, he'd say that he gave him "The whole nine yards".

Sounds strange I know, but that's the way I heard it.

MR

 

i want to know what a click is. Such as " 3 clicks to the north" like in the army movies. I know its a measure of distance.

 

"Click" as in Kilometers = 3 Klic's North

 

"Being a dog in the manger" - You dont want it yourself but you don't want anyone else to have it.

"Cutting off your nose to spite your face" - Saying "no" to something that you really would like, just because.......

"Wearing out your shoe leather" - Walking a lot.

"Take the bull by the horns" - Just do it!

"What's good for the goose is good for the gander" - What she can say when 'he' says something to 'her'.

"Don't put all of your eggs in one basket" - Don't depend on any one thing only.

"Make hay while the sun shines" - Do it while you have the opportunity.

"I'm not broke. I'm just badly bent" - Only a penny in her purse. (This was one of my mom's expressions)

"Try sleeping on your back" - My dad said this when my sister complained she couldn't sleep on an empty stomach.

"Pshaw" - My grandmother said this rather than 'darn' (or other). Actually, I was told that it was in an old comic.

"If that's supper, roll on breakfast" - A reply to "Did you enjoy supper?"

"If you break where you crack, you'll be short" - A remark made when someone broke wind.

"I didn't know they piled it that high" - A remark when seeing a really tall child.

"Penny wise and pound foolish" - Someone who pinches pennies and then squanders the dollars.

"Look after the pennies and the dollars will look after themselves" - Save your pennies and you will have dollars.

"A penny for your thoughts" - Said to someone being unusually quiet.

"Get behind me satan - but don't push too hard" - Wanting to do something but feeling guilty about it.

"Small fry" - Children.

"You'll have your head in your hands to play with" - Threat to someone wanting to do something you disapprove of.

"Old man Can't is dead and he left a little boy named Try" - Never say can't.

"Handle that with kid gloves" - Be careful and/or be kind.

"My sufficiency is suffonsified; any more would be double superfluency" - I'm full!

"The Trailer" - A pie was cut into 6 pieces in our house. There were 5 of us and Dad always claimed the "Trailer".

"Poor wee lamb" - This was what my grandmother always said when she saw a baby.

"Well, you just take a run around your collar and slide down your tie!" - Mom to Dad if he criticized her in jest.

"Children should be seen and not heard" - Speak only when spoken to.

"Up the wooden hill" - Upstairs to bed.

"More hurry, less speed" - The more you try to hurry, the slower it goes.

"Take the bitter with the better" - You have to take some bad along with the good.

"Get your skates on" - Hurry up!

"Six of one - half-dozen of the other" - One is the same as the other.

"It's as broad as it is long" - It's the same thing.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew" - Don't take on more than you can handle.
"Waste not, want not" - If you don't waste, you will not go hungry.

"Scratch the mad spot" - Remark you make when you think someone is angry with you unjustly.

"Button your lip" - Be quiet.

"My stomach thinks my throat's cut" - I'm hungry.

"I'm pulling your leg" - I'm teasing you.

"Necessity is the mother of invention" - Really needing something has led us to many good solutions.

"There's a long drink of water" - Remark made when seeing a really tall person.

"A galloping horse wouldn't see it and a blind man would be glad to" - Something to think about when you worry about a small flaw.

"Slower than molasses in January" - Now that is SLOW, here, in Canada.

"A watched pot never boils" - The more you watch for something to happen, the slower it seems to take.

"Put that in your pipe and smoke it!" - Remark made, emphatically, when you were trying to get a point across.

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" - It is better to take one dollar than wait a long while, hoping for two or more.

"Chewing the fat" - Talking.

"Use elbow grease" - Scrub really hard.

"Keeps a stiff upper lip" - Doesn't complain.

"The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it in your purse." - One of my mother's expressions.

"I don't chew my cabbage twice." - Said when the person does not intend to repeat themselves.

"Adam's ale" - Water.

"Their right hand doesn't know what their left hand is doing" - When a company or person continually makes mistakes.

"He couldn't chew gum and walk at the same time!" - Meaning one who repeatedly gives excuses for not following instructions.

"I feel as busy as a one-armed paper-hanger with the hives" - I have "too many irons in the fire". (Oops! I guess that is another old saying.)

"Isn't 'that' a fine kettle of fish!" - Not what was expected.

"Picking up the pieces" - Starting over.

"Bending over backwards" - Nothing to do with aerobics - it means trying your best to do something.

"Jumping on the bandwagon" - Joining in.

"Eating crow" - Not a new fowl recipe; means apologizing and taking back what you have said that turned out to be wrong.

"Tooting your own horn" - Nothing to do with a band. Means bragging.

"Adding fuel to the fire" - Nothing to do with your fireplace. Means to keep a disagreement of some kind going - usually intentionally.

"I'll be a monkey's uncle!" - I'll be darned!
"Stir their stumps!" - Hurry them up!

"You cant make a silk purse from a sow's ear." - You cannot make something beautiful without the right materials to work with.

"Take the bull by the horns." - Just tackle the problem!

"A new broom sweeps clean." - New things and sometimes relationships usually look great at first.

"There's more than one way to skin a cat." - There is always more than one way to handle something you are unsure of.

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." -This was one of my mom's. Quite appropriate in the 'olden' days - at least in our family.

"Take that with a grain of salt." - Don't be upset about it.

"A lick and a promise." - A little dusting today and a promise to do better tomorrow.

"Out yonder." -"Outside, perhaps in the back field." This was one of my grandmother's.

"So mad I could spit hot water." - Very angry!

"Chew the fat." - Talk.

"Wet your whistle" - Have a drink. (Since this was one my mom used it would mean water, tea, juice, gingerale)

"Don't burn the candle at both ends." - Don't work day 'and' night; you need 'some' sleep.

"Mind your P's and Q's!" - Don't be nosy!

"Not half bad!" - Good! (That was what my dad meant when he said it.)

"Take the whole kit and kaboodle!" - Take it all.

"Keep your shirt on!" - Wait a minute!

"Don't cut off your nose to spite your face! " - Don't say "no" to something you would like because you are stubborn.

"Beggars can't be choosers." - Be happy with what you can afford.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." - What do you expect for nothing.

"My stars and garters!" - Just another way of expressing surprise.

"That's really the Cat's pajamas." - Cool!

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" - One of my husband's old sayings and he meant just that!

"Let's get this show on the road!" - Another of my husband's, meaning Let's get on with it!

"The better the day the better the deed." - An expression Mom used when she had to do something on Sunday that she ordinarily wouldn't.

"A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still." - Your opinion cannot be forced on anyone.

"Putting your foot in your mouth." - Saying the wrong thing!

"I was knee-high to a grasshopper." - I was very young.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." - Take care of things as you use them and prevent needing a major repair or replacement.

"You hit the nail on the head." - You are right on.

"Don't buy a pig in a poke" - Don't by just anything. Choose wisely.

"Rob Peter to pay Paul" - Borrow from one place in your budget to pay something else for which you don't have enough money.

"Do you mind?" - Do you remember?

 

Why do we always say someone has kicked the bucket when they die?

 

Here's a few ways to calll someone stupid:

A few clowns short of a circus.
A few fries short of a Happy Meal.
An experiment in Artificial Stupidity.
A few beers short of a six-pack.
Dumber than a box of hair.
A few peas short of a casserole.
Doesn't have all his cornflakes in one box.
The wheel's spinning, but the hamster's dead.
One Fruit Loop shy of a full bowl.
One taco short of a combination plate.
A few feathers short of a whole duck..
All foam, no beer.
The cheese slid off his cracker.
Body by Fisher, brains by Mattel.
Has an IQ of 2, but it takes 3 to grunt.
Warning: Objects in mirror are dumber than they appear.
Couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel.
He fell out of the Stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down.
An intellect rivaled only by garden tools.
As smart as bait.
Chimney's clogged.
Doesn't have all his dogs on one leash.
Doesn't know much but leads the league in nostril hair.
Elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor.
Forgot to pay his brain bill.
His sewing machine's out of thread.
His antenna doesn't pick up all the channels.
His belt doesn't go through all the loops.
If he had another brain, it would be lonely.
Missing a few buttons on his remote control.
No grain in the silo.
Proof that evolution CAN go in reverse.
Receiver is off the hook.
Several nuts short of a full pouch.
Skylight leaks a little.
Slinky's kinked.
Surfing in Nebraska.
Too much yardage between the goal posts.

 

oh man, Tex, I got about 1/4 of the way through your list without realizing it was that long >_<

 

That post alone gave me carpal tunnel

 

<TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>The wooden frame that slaughtered animals were hung from is known as a bucket. The death spasms of the animals caused them to kick the bucket.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/218800.html

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- #EndEditable -->