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Eng. lang. colloquialisms. Luv 'em or hate 'em, dissect or pervert them.

Charmonium

Charmonium

Lifer
From time to time I'm forced to realize that colloquialisms are such a huge part of language that ESL peeps (eng. as 2nd lang), even with a decent accent and good command of the language, are often lost. ESL programs probably take that into account now. Anyway, there was a quote from Liz Cheney that the 1/6 committee is firing on all cylinders. I'm not really a fan of that one because firing on all cylinders should be the nominal state of any running engine and you're using to imply something more, even if technically you can read her use either way.

To get your juices flowing, whether blood, mucus, bile or piss, here are a few examples

www.mapquest.com

The 12 Strangest Sayings in America

If you've had a chance to travel, you've noticed differences in the way people talk in other places. This is something that anyone who has traveled the U.S. is keenly aware that people in Seattle talk differently than New Yorkers, and Texans are a whole other kettle of fish again.
www.mapquest.com www.mapquest.com
 
One that annoys me...

Me: I can't find $object
Them: If it was up your ass you'd know where it was
Me: Yea, I suppose I would(WTF?!)
 
lxskllr said:
One that annoys me...

Me: I can't find $object
Them: If it was up your ass you'd know where it was
Me: Yea, I suppose I would(WTF?!)
Click to expand...
If you really want to piss them off (either that or get that quizzical, "ruh?" look we all love), tell them it's 'were,' not 'was.' Although technically, common usage is moving steadily toward 'was.'
 
the aussies really have the most variety I think
mackers McD
brekky (breakfast)
smoko ( a break)
she'll be right
a few stubbies short
bob's your auntie
fair shake of a lambs tail
two shakes ( of a lambs tail)

there was another that was very very funny, but I cant remember it correctly. had to do with sheep.
 
one that annoys me and Stewie Griffin is "all of the sudden".

seriously, it's all of a sudden. what's with the substitution of "a" with "the"?
 
Iron Woode said:
one that annoys me and Stewie Griffin is "all of the sudden".

seriously, it's all of a sudden. what's with the substitution of "a" with "the"?
Click to expand...
I would NEVER say that.

One I can't get over is that seems like most people pronounce February "Febuary." Even announcers seem to do that most every time. Or is it just my crappy hearing?
 
Iron Woode said:
one that annoys me and Stewie Griffin is "all of the sudden".

seriously, it's all of a sudden. what's with the substitution of "a" with "the"?
Click to expand...
Never heard it with "the." Either way, it's a strange expression. What's a "sudden?"
Muse said:
One I can't get over is that seems like most people pronounce February "Febuary." Even announcers seem to do that most every time. Or is it just my crappy hearing?
Click to expand...
I still pronounce it that way but I figured that was normal. Saying Feb-brew-ary is a sort of tongue twister - well, for me it is. Then at some point I noticed that a lot of people pronounce the 'r.' Hmm, what to do. I could probably train myself to do that but IDK. I really do like it better without the 'r.'
snoopy7548 said:
I gee-gawed your mom last night!
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That one's new. Do you hee-haw in the gee-gaw? Haha. 🙂
 
Charmonium said:
From time to time I'm forced to realize that colloquialisms are such a huge part of language that ESL peeps (eng. as 2nd lang), even with a decent accent and good command of the language, are often lost. ESL programs probably take that into account now. Anyway, there was a quote from Liz Cheney that the 1/6 committee is firing on all cylinders. I'm not really a fan of that one because firing on all cylinders should be the nominal state of any running engine and you're using to imply something more, even if technically you can read her use either way.

To get your juices flowing, whether blood, mucus, bile or piss, here are a few examples

www.mapquest.com

The 12 Strangest Sayings in America

If you've had a chance to travel, you've noticed differences in the way people talk in other places. This is something that anyone who has traveled the U.S. is keenly aware that people in Seattle talk differently than New Yorkers, and Texans are a whole other kettle of fish again.
www.mapquest.com www.mapquest.com
Click to expand...
I'm not sure firing on all cylinders is really from gas engines. Large diesels can turn individual cylinders off. Also old steam powered ocean liners could turn steam cylinders on and off, I believe.

Some websites say it is about gas engines, and means "everything is running as it should," not "everything is running super fast." Considering how finicky the original gas engines were, it probably makes sense from that period.
 
Zorba said:
I'm not sure firing on all cylinders is really from gas engines. Large diesels can turn individual cylinders off. Also old steam powered ocean liners could turn steam cylinders on and off, I believe.

Some websites say it is about gas engines, and means "everything is running as it should," not "everything is running super fast." Considering how finicky the original gas engines were, it probably makes sense from that period.
Click to expand...
Ah, that's interesting. Thanks. I had that idea in the back of my mind but I was thinking about some cars that had a similar feature but I figured that was too obscure to be worth noting. I didn't know that a lot of diesels could also do that.

Now I'm thinking about the word "firing" in that expression. Diesels are self-igniting and I associate the word with a spark plug that "fires." But it could also be referring to the actual explosion of combustion.

Interesting. 🙂
 
Zorba said:
I'm not sure firing on all cylinders is really from gas engines. Large diesels can turn individual cylinders off. Also old steam powered ocean liners could turn steam cylinders on and off, I believe.

Some websites say it is about gas engines, and means "everything is running as it should," not "everything is running super fast." Considering how finicky the original gas engines were, it probably makes sense from that period.
Click to expand...
If you ask me someone complaining about firing on all cylinders isn't firing on all cylinders.
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I'm watching the last episode of Lost in Space and one of the characters just pronounced "solder" with the "L." So off to the google machine for pronunciation and it confirmed that it's just "sodder" (sod off and sodder you db).

That was is a little strange.
 
Irregardless happens to have made it into the dictionary and is defined as 'regardless.' I saw a comment from someone in one of the answered questions you generally see after a lot of searches. It said something like, just because we put this in the dictionary doesn't count as their approval of the word.

I get that. Any good dictionary HAS to include even misuses or nonsensical uses if they're part of common parlance.

But I have to say I haven't this word in quite a while. I'm sure it's still out there though making folks like me to continue to wince.
 
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