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Old 05-06-2013, 11:37 AM   #9
Sparkle
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Some of my favorites:

All Talk, No Trousers

(UK) Someone who is "all talk and no trousers" talks about doing big, important things, but doesn't take any action.

A corruption of the phrases:

"All mouth and trousers"

Blustering and boastful, showing off without having the qualities to justify it. There is a suggestion that this is a corruption of a more logical, but rarely heard expression, 'all mouth and no trousers'. meaning full of talk but deficient in the sexual area. The phrase originated in northern England." The definition is "superficial, engaging in empty, boastful talk, but not of real substance".

A less racy version is "all talk and no action"

It also has a female analogy "all fur coat and no knickers", which is defined as "of a woman, all superficial appearance and no real substance beneath".


The pot calling the kettle black

Or as I prefer: "Hello Pot, this is Kettle calling..."

(UK) Is usually used in the sense of accusing someone of hypocrisy.

The origins of the phrase date back to at least the 1600s, when several writers published books or plays which included wordplays on this theme. Despite suggestions that the phrase is racist or nonsensical, the meaning is actually quite obvious when one considers the conditions of a medieval kitchen.

Typically, pots and kettles were made from heavy materials like cast iron to ensure that they would last and hold up to heat. Cast iron tends to turn black with use, as it collects oil, food residue, and smoke from the kitchen. Both pots and kettles would also have been heated over an open fire in a kitchen. As a result, they would have become streaked with black smoke despite the best cleaning efforts.

Since both are black, the pot calling the kettle black would clearly be an act of hypocrisy. The act could also be described by “it takes one to know one,” and it suggests a certain blindness to one's personal characteristics.
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