Why do people use phrases they don't understand?

[kranky]

Could not agree more with the OP. I can't stand when someone nictitates a big word into a conversation and they don't even know what it means.

 

[OCGuy]

My wife bought a new pur se...what is it with wimmenz and their pur se's?

Yea your wife needs a new pur se......that last one was gettin rather worn!

 

[hzl eyed grl]

My wife bought a new pur se...what is it with wimmenz and their pur se's?

Haha

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

It ain't rocket surgery.

 

[BoomerD]

Yea your wife needs a new pur se......that last one was gettin rather worn!

That's what I've been saying for decades!

 

[zinfamous]

You sure?

Okay...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douche_bag#Slang_uses

I really wanted something more in-time-ate.

 

[BoomerD]

Yogi Berra was a master...

I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.

A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true.

He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious

I never said most of the things I said.

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.

If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.

t's like deja-vu, all over again.

The future ain't what it used to be.

You can observe a lot by just watching.

 

[zinfamous]

I have heard these used in real life:

"Half of one, six dozen of another."

"We will burn that bridge when we get to it."

MotionMan

Crap, the mis-statement I heard was:

"Dropped like a hot pancake."

Sorry.

MotionMan

Don't count your chickens 'til they've crossed the road.

this shit is making me laugh. loudly.


I'm back home right now, so I'm gonna keep my ears peeled for borked expressions. or novel ones. This is always a great part of the world for verbal tomfoolery.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

MOST people I know have a solid grasp on the English language...

ig·no·rant/ˈignərənt/Adjective
1. Lacking knowledge or awareness in general; uneducated or unsophisticated.
2. Lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about something in particular: "ignorant of astronomy".

Ignore --> Ignorant. Knowledge is not simply lacked, it is actively not paid attention to. Someone who is ignorant is more than unknowledgeable, though that is certainly how it is frequently used, but the term is more derisive than a word like stupid, or unintelligent, which mean inability to be knowledgeable. There is culpability for being ignorant.

 

[zinfamous]

Ignore --> Ignorant. Knowledge is not simply lacked, it is actively not paid attention to. Someone who is ignorant is more than unknowledgeable, though that is certainly how it is frequently used, but the term is more derisive than a word like stupid, or unintelligent, which mean inability to be knowledgeable. There is culpability for being ignorant.

no, culpability is not implied with ignorance.

a peasant in some vassal's fiefdom is ignorant of Jupiter's orbit simply because there are no scientists, no labs, no universities or "research institutions" within their area to allow them access to this knowledge, whether spoken or observed. They just need to feed their family and live, best they can.

this is not chosen, this is a matter of birth. "Ignorance" came form that accepted reality of "lack of exposure."

it exists today as well. The child may remain ignorant of many things. Yes, the parent can choose to drag their child through blocks an blocks of ghetto to let them read books or play basketball, rather than play Wii and hide from bullets, but the child never had that choice. not really.

that is ignorance. and you can't blame the person that has no position to choose their access to information.


that, is stupidity. (ie, the person that reads the same books you read, the same instruction, the same exposure to accumulated human knowledge, and still believes that the answer is 2. THAT, my friend, is STUPID. That is not ignorance.)

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Revved up like a DOUCHE, another runner in the night.

Please tell me you're trolling.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

no, culpability is not implied with ignorance.

a peasant in some vassal's fiefdom is ignorant of Jupiter's orbit simply because there are no scientists, no labs, no universities or "research institutions" within their area to allow them access to this knowledge, whether spoken or observed. They just need to feed their family and live, best they can.

this is not chosen, this is a matter of birth. "Ignorance" came form that accepted reality of "lack of exposure."

it exists today as well. The child may remain ignorant of many things. Yes, the parent can choose to drag their child through blocks an blocks of ghetto to let them read books or play basketball, rather than play Wii and hide from bullets, but the child never had that choice. not really.

that is ignorance. and you can't blame the person that has no position to choose their access to information.


that, is stupidity. (ie, the person that reads the same books you read, the same instruction, the same exposure to accumulated human knowledge, and still believes that the answer is 2. THAT, my friend, is STUPID. That is not ignorance.)

For all intensive purposes I am technically ignorant of my ignoraance— literally, per se.

 

[BoomerD]

For all intensive purposes I am technically ignorant of my ignoraance— literally, per se.

Hell...we all know that...but it's a mute point.

 

[hzl eyed grl]

I really wanted something more in-time-ate.

So sari to let ewe down.

I once had a guy blow up on me for saying that I didn't want to be a wet blanket but.... (whatever else it was that I said) He didn't know what wet blanket meant, so he just assumed it was something insulting. (insulating....for the purpose of the thread? lol) I kept trying and trying to explain what it meant, but he just didn't get it.

 

[BoomerD]

Hzl, you must of hurt his self of steam...That sort of think can happen when we take it for granite that people understand colloquialisms.
Irregardless of his understanding though, in no way should the term "wet blanket" be thought of as a true fiscal dampening...but merely meta fouracal.

 

[Nik]

Minus whale lock the thread up since the OP dun goofed.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Ewe guise our ant sew fab yule us width duh homo nymph gay em.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Hell...we all know that...but it's a mute point.

Be honest now, we have both been matriculated into the micturating in the Cheerios fraternity.

Humor at the expense of everyone, and seriousness at the expense of ourselves!

 

[zinfamous]

Hzl, you must of hurt his self of steam...That sort of think can happen when we take it for granite that people understand colloquialisms.
Irregardless of his understanding though, in no way should the term "wet blanket" be thought of as a true fiscal dampening...but merely meta fouracal.

 

[BoomerD]

Be honest now, we have both been matriculated into the micturating in the Cheerios fraternity.

Humor at the expense of everyone, and seriousness at the expense of ourselves!

Now playing with fonds like that will make you go blind...lettuce not act like a bunch of ball bearians...

 

[Schfifty Five]

Prime examples:

Per se (and all the misspelled variations)
ignorant
'intensive purposes'
technically
literally


Learn the language before spouting nonsense please.

This is a big pet peeve of mine. Well it's more of a thing that I notice and just roll my eyes than it is something that angers me.

But I just find it funny that people use the world "literally" to give emphasis on a point which is not what the word is used for.

Example: "It was literally a million miles away." (when describing something only a couple miles away), when they really meant something like "It was like a FREAKING million miles away".

 

[GlacierFreeze]

Cool topic, But It will be a "Cold day in Hell" before I click on it again

Lol wow. /facepalm

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

its easier to just use lolcat speak or other internet lingo.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Please tell me you're trolling.

I was noting the two words ("another runner") foghorn67 omitted from the lyric; he's the one who supplied the word at issue.

FWIW, It's very clearly "deuce" in the Springsteen original, but Manfred Mann's version sounds distinctly different.

 

[Kadarin]

This thread peaks my interest, but damn, all you fuckers need to start towing the line or we'll need an escape goat (HAL9000?).