Cat got your tongue?

[Sweet Bliss]

Idioms. We use them throughout the day whether joking, serious, or making a point.

Where did they start? Who said it first?

What does it mean today?

What does it mean to YOU?

Let's find out together!!

Here is a help center: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/

[Sweet Bliss]

First let's do the title.

Cat got your tongue?

"Cat got your tongue?" is a nonsense question that you ask when someone is being unusually quiet and not talking. You often see this used by an adult to try to get a child to tell them what they are thinking about. It started around the 18th century according to sources.

[puddin']

"it ain't over until the fat lady sings."

"It ain't over till (or until) the fat lady sings" is a colloquialism. It means that one should not presume to know the outcome of an event which is still in progress. More specifically, the phrase is used when a situation is (or appears to be) nearing its conclusion. It cautions against assuming that the current state of an event is irreversible and clearly determines how or when the event will end. The phrase is most commonly used in association with organized competitions, particularly sports.

The first recorded use appeared in the Dallas Morning News on 10 March 1976:

Despite his obvious allegiance to the Red Raiders, Texas Tech sports information director Ralph Carpenter was the picture of professional objectivity when the Aggies rallied for a 72–72 tie late in the SWC tournament finals. "Hey, Ralph," said Bill Morgan, "this... is going to be a tight one after all." "Right", said Ralph, "the opera ain’t over until the fat lady sings."

[Sweet Bliss]

Thanks for your contribution Puddin!! I never knew that! I use this line a lot, it's great to know more about what that saying means. Only 1976? I thought it was as old as the opera!

I like your choice. What kind of sayings do you have in New Zealand? I bet you know lots.

[Teddybear]

yesterday while Ms Cinn and I were doing my run from Mass to Maine and back we were talking and we were talking about ppl who had kids and someone would say "they spit and had that kid"

To us down south it means that the kid is a spitting image of the parent. That no one else was involved in the production of the kid

Ms Cinn told me she never knew what it meant but had been told it before by others I was glad to help out

[Sweet Bliss]

Originally Posted by Teddybear

yesterday while Ms Cinn and I were doing my run from Mass to Maine and back we were talking and we were talking about ppl who had kids and someone would say "they spit and had that kid"

To us down south it means that the kid is a spitting image of the parent. That no one else was involved in the production of the kid

Ms Cinn told me she never knew what it meant but had been told it before by others I was glad to help out

Nifty!! I've never heard that one before. OH!! I learned something new today!

[Semantics]

I tend to be overly serious, which irritated my coworkers to the point that they nicknamed me Lilith (as in Cheers). I'm not traditionally funny, but I can deadpan an idiom like nobody's business.

My favorite is more than you can shake a stick at.

My second favorite, which I use regularly at my job where I'm dealing with non-custodial parents who don't pay their child support, is in the pudding club.

Idioms, if utilized in a proper droll tone, can really throw people off-balance.

[femm_cb]

Don't bite your nose to spite your face.

[Sparkle]

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.

[The_Lady_Snow]

"It Takes Two To Tango"

if there is a conflict, issue, indescrepancy both parties are culpable.

Origin:

A long standing cliché asserts that Tango originated in the brothels of Argentina. According to this cliché, men had to wait in line at the brothels, so madams employed Tango musicians to keep the men entertained while they waited. Alas, Tango historians have refuted this version and instead say that the dance originated in the lower class districts of Argentina but was first encountered by the wealthier classes in brothels. The brothels were one of the few places where the rich and poor rubbed elbows.

[Teddybear]

Originally Posted by femm_cb

Don't bite your nose to spite your face.

I have never heard it said this way before I was taught it was dont cut ur nose off in spite of your face

[Sweet Bliss]

A wonderful neighbor said to her misbehaving daughter, "God don't like UGLY."

I had never heard that before, she regaled me with more, I have forgotten most of them, but she was a fountain of funny sayings. Needless to say, her embarrassed daughter straightened right up.

I love the South, warm wonderful funny peeps are everywhere!!



Read about it here: http://bloggingtothechoir.com/2009/1...ont-like-ugly/

[puddin']

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob's_your_uncle

[SoSousMe]

Here are some Southern Euphemisms

The cheese done slid off her cracker ~ she's not all there

Yer jumpier than a cat in a room full o' rockin chairs ~ nervous type

I don't trust you any further than I can throw ya

Gimme some sugar ~ give me a kiss

Yer wastin' daylight ~ more or less quit going so slow

Sweatin' like a hooker in church ~ nervous as hell or worried as hell

you look like you've been rode hard and put up wet ~ you look like you've had a rough day

[puddin']

frock tart: without the persistance of Laura Straub the meaning of this phrase would have remained a mystery. Quote: Its TV/Movie industry slang (and it is Kiwi!) for someone who works on/designs/sews the costumes. The term came from a disclaimer at the end of a rather costume intense version of 'Xena: Warrior Princess'. It read: "No frock tarts were killed during the production of this motion picture, however, many wished they had been"

[Mopsie]

I have a coworker who is famous for some her sayings ...

"I am busier than a one armed paper hanger"

"The clock is running faster than I am" (came in late)

[Venus007]

I have used this at work before

"Make hay while the sun shines"

Meaning get on it before the opportunity is gone

[DJ Bear]

Many decades ago in the Army I was stationed in the south and often heard these 2 sayings.....

"Well blow up my dress." Meaning to satisfy, make happy or excite

"Tired as a one legged man in a butt kicking contest"

[Sweet Bliss]

Thank you DJ Bear, Mopsie, Venus 007, Sparkle, Puddin', So Sous Me, The Lady Snow, Semantics, Femm_CB, you have all contributed great and unforgetable expressions!!

I will have to start making note cards so I can start using them!

Colder than a witch's tits in a brass bra (more colorful than the word "freezing")

Useless as tits on a Boar Hog (pretty useless)

F**k me Buffy (think this is from watching too many episodes of Vampire Slayer)

[MysticOceansFL]

Here's a few more phrases 1. Thick as mud , meaning your hard headed, 2. Cat on a hot tin roof. *guess what that means?*