American Phrases

[footfootfoot]

We had to clean up "cats fucking dogs" to a G rated version for use in front of the inchling. It's now "cats dating dogs."

[Clodfobble]

"Cats and dogs living together" is how we say it...

[busterb]

One Monkey don't make a show.

Originally Posted by Torrere

Does anyone know where "cleaned their clocks" comes from? I used it last weekend, and I've been trying to figure out where it came from ever since.

Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang:

TO CLEAN SOMEONE’S CLOCK, phrase [1940’s and still in use] (originated in U.S.) 1) to beat up severely. 2) to take all someone’s money, especially during gambling (cf. ‘clean out’). [figurative use of Standard English]; ? link to US railroad jargon ‘clean the clock,’ to apply the airbrakes and thus bring the train to a sudden stop. The ‘clock’ in question is the air gauge, which on halting, immediately registers zero and is thus ‘clean.’].
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American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms

CLEAN SOMEONE’S CLOCK: Beat, thrash, or defeat someone decisively, as in “He’s much bigger than you and could easily clean your clock.” This term originated in the military. The use of ‘clock’ is unclear but possibly alludes to hitting someone in the face ( for ‘clockface’) [slang mid-1900s]
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Brewer’s Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable

TO CLEAN SOMEONE’S CLOCK: To beat or defeat them decisively. The term is of U.S. military origin and arose during the Second World War. A person’s ‘clock’ is probably their face (‘dial’).

Oh, and here's a great Westernism that I heard today in Cortez, Colorado: "This ain't my first time out the chute at the rodeo."

[dar512]

Do Brits use "in dutch"? I'm not actually sure how common it is here, for that matter. But I grew up with it. It means "in trouble".

[lookout123]

i'm glad i came to this thread. i just left jinx's beaver thread shaking my head and wondering what the heck "in dutch" meant.

[JayMcGee]

not sure we do......

we use 'going dutch' ie each partner on a date pays half each....

your'e speaking 'double dutch' - I don't understand what your'e saying

[footfootfoot]

A 'dutchman' is a wooden patch used to repair a defect or knot or damage of some sort to another piece of wood.

[monster]

Originally Posted by dar512

Do Brits use "in dutch"? I'm not actually sure how common it is here, for that matter. But I grew up with it. It means "in trouble".

no, we just say "in the shit".

chastized =
got a bollocking
got strife

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Emerging in newspapers today: Redneck Words of Wisdom, collected and organized by one Jamie Muehlhausen, confining himself to stuff said by people just talkin', and not a Jeff Foxworthy oneliner. Some, uh, gems:

"I feel like I've been eaten by a bear and shit off a cliff." In this case, deponent was quite hung-over. Cf., ". . .swallowed a bobcat, and then done something to piss it off."

A few exerpts. The article ran them under bullets, but I won't bother; this is just the flavor of the thing:

"It's hotter than 40 acres of burning stumps."
"It's colder than a brass toilet seat on the shady side of an iceberg." -- I've been out in South Dakota winter mornings that were a lot like that. Freeze up the snot in your nose on the inhale, they do. That's one way to tell it's forty below.
"You got to be ten percent smarter than the equipment you're runnin'."
"I'm gonna put a knot in your head the Boy Scouts can't get out."
"A bumblebee is faster than a John Deere tractor."
"Don't skinny-dip with snapping turtles."
"I'm busier than a one-armed man in a fistfight." -- Gun guru Jeff Cooper is on record as having cast this one as "busier than a onelegged Indian in an ass-kicking contest."
"I feel lower than a bowlegged caterpillar."

The article goes on: "Another key component is the delivery. Anyone who's witnessed that or been on the receiving end knows the following: typically, there's a stop to size you up, then a pause -- maybe even a glance off into the distance or down to the ground -- followed by the line, usually stated very dryly."

[cowhead]

just a quick thought... george funk (real name)
http://www.amazon.com/Horsefeathers-.../dp/0062733532
(although.. never buy from them.. find it at a used book store.. if you can)
look at that link.. word/phrase origins.. great stuff for the over read-undereducated crowd )

[monster]

Today, I have mostly been annoyed by the phrase "visiting with".

Especially when in Cabelas

(Brits, you just need to come over and see it to get it, but it's for people who like to kill any animal they can find in any way they can find (we go there because you can adapt this stuff for paintball. at least that's what hubby tells me))

.....anyway, the guy who helped us said "it's been nice visiting with you" as a parting phrase. and yesterday a mom told her kid to wait until she was finished visiting with me. We were just chatting, ffs!

[footfootfoot]

The other day I was helping a friend pour footings for a round pen he's building, later on we were checking the set of the concrete and he said "Well, it's harder than dad's..."

I'd never heard that one before.

"She's got the kind of legs he likes!"

Said when looking for something nice to say about a woman who is the latest in a long line of romantic interests for a guy who isn't particular about what kind of women he goes out with.

She's got the kind of legs he likes [feet on one end and pussy on the other].