Interesting Phrase Explanations!

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Melvil

Guest
A foreign colleague questioned the meaning of the phrase 'How's-your-father' - so, not knowing it myself, I googled it and got this rather diverting but, I fear, not 100% correct explanation:

http://www.michaelkelly.fsnet.co.uk/qfather.htm

(n.b. a little rude!)


Anyway - anyone else got any more entertaining explanations for phrases?
 
'hoist by your own petard' refers to being blown up by a grenade (your own) named after a fart.
 

NickM

Veteran
laurence said:
'hoist by your own petard' refers to being blown up by a grenade (your own) named after a fart.
Whereas "scoring an O.G." refers to a fart squeezed out with less than consummate control and therefore unfortunate consequences for the undergarments.
 

graham56

Guru
Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

The "monkey" was what held the iron cannon balls on 18/19 century men of war, and funnily enough made off brass.In extremely cold weather the monkey would contract and the cannon balls would fall to the deck.
Hence "cold enough to freeze the ball off a brass monkey"- i kid ye not.
 
graham56 said:
The "monkey" was what held the iron cannon balls on 18/19 century men of war, and funnily enough made off brass.In extremely cold weather the monkey would contract and the cannon balls would fall to the deck.
Hence "cold enough to freeze the ball off a brass monkey"- i kid ye not.

erm...

"There are several problems with this story. The first is that the term 'monkey' is not otherwise recorded as the name for such an object. The second is that the rate of contraction of brass in cold temperatures is unlikely to be sufficient to cause the reputed effect. The third is that the phrase is actually first recorded as 'freeze the tail off a brass monkey', which removes any essential connection with balls. It therefore seems most likely that the phrase is simply a ribald allusion to the fact that metal figures will become very cold to the touch in cold weather (and some materials will become brittle)."
 
graham56 said:
i kid ye not.

So you were, then! :smile:
 

NickM

Veteran
NickM said:
That site is a laugh a minute, Melvil - well spotted!
...but is filtered on my work computer because "Websense" (a misnomer if ever there was one) considers it to fall into the "Racism and Hate" category :blush:

Bloody ridiculous :smile:
 

walker

New Member
Location
Bromley, Kent
not quite a phrase but interesting enough - Honeymoon comes from back in the day when the father in law would give his new son enough honey mead for the full length of a moon period.
 
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