Sick as a parrot
January 4, 2018 9:45 AM Subscribe
I'm seeking non-sequitur expressions like "sick as a parrot" (which in Brit usage means very disappointed).
I don't understand your question. Idioms are, by definition, non-sequitur. You used the term idiom in your tags, so you presumably know these are idioms.
Here's a list of idioms. Use Google for many other options.
posted by hydra77 at 10:07 AM on January 4, 2018
Here's a list of idioms. Use Google for many other options.
posted by hydra77 at 10:07 AM on January 4, 2018
Agreed with hydra77, I think this could use a bit more explanation. Are you specifically looking for metaphoric idioms that use animals/things that are not actually known for those qualities outside of that idiom? For example, I'd think "Happy as a clam" fits the bill, since outside of that specific phrase no one thinks of clams as even sentient enough to understand happiness, much less embody it.
posted by solotoro at 10:10 AM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by solotoro at 10:10 AM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Dead as a doornail -- as I recall, Charles Dickens went on a bit of a rant at the beginning of A Christmas Carol regarding the stupidity of that analogy.
posted by tivalasvegas at 10:14 AM on January 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 10:14 AM on January 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
Bob's your uncle.
posted by Dolley at 10:32 AM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Dolley at 10:32 AM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Do you mean like fractured idioms? "It's not rocket surgery" is taking parts of two normal idioms ("its not rocket science"/"it's not brain surgery") and making a new, goofy one that generally means the same thing.
Also: "I don't have a horse in this fight", a combo of "I don't have a horse in this race" and "I don't have a man in this fight". Means the same thing, brings up the amusing mental image of horse boxers.
posted by Elly Vortex at 10:36 AM on January 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also: "I don't have a horse in this fight", a combo of "I don't have a horse in this race" and "I don't have a man in this fight". Means the same thing, brings up the amusing mental image of horse boxers.
posted by Elly Vortex at 10:36 AM on January 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
Deaf as a post.
Rhyming slang can also give you something similar - "haven't got a scooby", etc
posted by rd45 at 10:38 AM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Rhyming slang can also give you something similar - "haven't got a scooby", etc
posted by rd45 at 10:38 AM on January 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
Do you mean like fractured idioms?
Ooohh, if that's what OP is after, then the objectively best one is "Does the Pope shit in the woods?"
posted by solotoro at 10:38 AM on January 4, 2018 [15 favorites]
Ooohh, if that's what OP is after, then the objectively best one is "Does the Pope shit in the woods?"
posted by solotoro at 10:38 AM on January 4, 2018 [15 favorites]
right as rain
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:58 AM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:58 AM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
"Does the Pope shit in the woods?"
That one always makes me laugh. I like its corollary too, ruminating on the religious inclinations of our ursine friends.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 11:06 AM on January 4, 2018 [6 favorites]
That one always makes me laugh. I like its corollary too, ruminating on the religious inclinations of our ursine friends.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 11:06 AM on January 4, 2018 [6 favorites]
religious inclinations of our ursine friends
I prefer "Does a bear wear a funny hat?" Because some of them do.
posted by rd45 at 11:29 AM on January 4, 2018
I prefer "Does a bear wear a funny hat?" Because some of them do.
posted by rd45 at 11:29 AM on January 4, 2018
Even more obnoxiously fractured, since it breaks the purpose of the items, is "Does a bear shit in the pope's hat?"
posted by notsnot at 11:47 AM on January 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by notsnot at 11:47 AM on January 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
(really, you can mix up "does the pope wear a funny hat", "Does a bear shit in the woods", and "does a wooden horse have a hickory dick" into any number of sayings...)
posted by notsnot at 11:51 AM on January 4, 2018
posted by notsnot at 11:51 AM on January 4, 2018
Here's a few non-sequitur sayings in common usage:
S/he bought the farm. [died]
S/he ate crow. [was proven wrong]
Dry run. [a rehearsal]
Can't cut the mustard. [doesn't meet expectations]
Eighty-six X. [Get rid of X]
It came out of left field. [I was surprised]
Though I'm sure there is a reason for all of them. The left field one is an American baseball reference. Eighty-six is supposedly a saying from the old American west.
posted by tempestuoso at 11:52 AM on January 4, 2018
S/he bought the farm. [died]
S/he ate crow. [was proven wrong]
Dry run. [a rehearsal]
Can't cut the mustard. [doesn't meet expectations]
Eighty-six X. [Get rid of X]
It came out of left field. [I was surprised]
Though I'm sure there is a reason for all of them. The left field one is an American baseball reference. Eighty-six is supposedly a saying from the old American west.
posted by tempestuoso at 11:52 AM on January 4, 2018
One of my partner's friends: "happy as a kite".
posted by jamjam at 11:59 AM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by jamjam at 11:59 AM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I think OP is looking more for the "literally nonsensical", rather than the mixed / fractured type of idiom.
"Daft as a brush" is the only one I can currently dredge out of my memory to add, though I feel like there are loads more on the tip of my tongue.
Sideways, I am also particularly fond of "Does the Pope shit in the mouth of the gift horse that feeds him?"
posted by protorp at 12:04 PM on January 4, 2018 [4 favorites]
"Daft as a brush" is the only one I can currently dredge out of my memory to add, though I feel like there are loads more on the tip of my tongue.
Sideways, I am also particularly fond of "Does the Pope shit in the mouth of the gift horse that feeds him?"
posted by protorp at 12:04 PM on January 4, 2018 [4 favorites]
Mad as a box of frogs
posted by glasseyes at 12:44 PM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by glasseyes at 12:44 PM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
86 is from the restaurant business, when items come off the menu or specials are out.
One brick shy of a load.
Up in the night.
Talk turkey
Talk up your sleeve
posted by Oyéah at 12:52 PM on January 4, 2018
One brick shy of a load.
Up in the night.
Talk turkey
Talk up your sleeve
posted by Oyéah at 12:52 PM on January 4, 2018
For more Britishisms, I always enjoy hearing that someting is the dog's breakfast or takes the biscuit.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 1:56 PM on January 4, 2018
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 1:56 PM on January 4, 2018
There's more idiom here than you can shake a stick at.*
*Now sure how there's a limit, but there you are.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 2:49 PM on January 4, 2018
*Now sure how there's a limit, but there you are.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 2:49 PM on January 4, 2018
"dumb as a box of hair" is one of my favorites (references way back when the hair from a woman's brush was kept in a box and then, possibly, woven into ornaments)
posted by MovableBookLady at 3:43 PM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by MovableBookLady at 3:43 PM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
I like. "Dumb as a bag of hammers."
Bat shit insane!
For shits and giggles.
For the love of Pete!
Not with it.
posted by Oyéah at 3:59 PM on January 4, 2018
Bat shit insane!
For shits and giggles.
For the love of Pete!
Not with it.
posted by Oyéah at 3:59 PM on January 4, 2018
I think Australia may win at this:
"As crook as Rookwood" - seriously ill. 'Crook' being really sick, at death's door, and Rookwood being the biggest cemetery in Australia
"Face like a dropped pie" - ugly.
"Fit as a Mallee bull" - very fit and strong, in good physical condition. The Mallee is a region in Victoria, South Australia - a dry area where an animal would need to be tough and fit to survive.
"Full as a centipede's sock drawer" - very full.
"He needs that like a third armpit" - he doesn't need it at all.
"Kangaroos loose in the top paddock" - eccentric or not very bright.
"Like a mad woman's breakfast" - all over the place or messy.
"Like a shag on a rock" - lonely or exposed.
"Mad as a meat-axe" - crazy.
"Mouth like the bottom of a cocky's cage" - a dry mouth, often as a result of heavy drinking and or smoking. (A cocky is a cockatoo.)
"Popular as a rattle snake in a lucky dip" - unpopular person.
posted by ananci at 4:05 PM on January 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
"As crook as Rookwood" - seriously ill. 'Crook' being really sick, at death's door, and Rookwood being the biggest cemetery in Australia
"Face like a dropped pie" - ugly.
"Fit as a Mallee bull" - very fit and strong, in good physical condition. The Mallee is a region in Victoria, South Australia - a dry area where an animal would need to be tough and fit to survive.
"Full as a centipede's sock drawer" - very full.
"He needs that like a third armpit" - he doesn't need it at all.
"Kangaroos loose in the top paddock" - eccentric or not very bright.
"Like a mad woman's breakfast" - all over the place or messy.
"Like a shag on a rock" - lonely or exposed.
"Mad as a meat-axe" - crazy.
"Mouth like the bottom of a cocky's cage" - a dry mouth, often as a result of heavy drinking and or smoking. (A cocky is a cockatoo.)
"Popular as a rattle snake in a lucky dip" - unpopular person.
posted by ananci at 4:05 PM on January 4, 2018 [3 favorites]
I've always liked "funny as a crutch." I know, crutches aren't particularly funny, but I've never thought of them as inherently UNfuny, either. Plus, "crutch" has a K sound and a CH sound, which tends to make a word sound funny.
Now that I think about it, "Filthy Rich" doesn't make a ton of sense.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:18 PM on January 4, 2018
Now that I think about it, "Filthy Rich" doesn't make a ton of sense.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:18 PM on January 4, 2018
In Texas, some people say, "Shit fire and save matches." But I always say, "Eat matches and shit fire!"
posted by a humble nudibranch at 4:53 PM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by a humble nudibranch at 4:53 PM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Protorp has it. I wasn’t sure how to define what I was looking for, but that is it. Literally nonsensical.
posted by Dragonness at 6:22 PM on January 4, 2018
posted by Dragonness at 6:22 PM on January 4, 2018
"Dumb as moss" proved to be a useful recollection from my childhood. And while the true meanings of "drunk as the lord" or "pissed as a newt" escape me, I have not been swayed from my search for the truth.
(I also found that my shitting pope image was one day displaced by "does Raggedy Ann have cloth tits?")
posted by cooper green at 8:20 PM on January 4, 2018
(I also found that my shitting pope image was one day displaced by "does Raggedy Ann have cloth tits?")
posted by cooper green at 8:20 PM on January 4, 2018
An ex of mine nearly threw up when he first heard the phrase “shit-eating grin.”
“Screw the pooch” strikes me 50% nonsensical, and the half that makes sense I’m still too proud to Google.
Closer to “fractured” than “nonsensical,” but generally a bit of both, is the malaphor. It’s like two trains crossing in the night.
posted by armeowda at 10:26 PM on January 4, 2018
“Screw the pooch” strikes me 50% nonsensical, and the half that makes sense I’m still too proud to Google.
Closer to “fractured” than “nonsensical,” but generally a bit of both, is the malaphor. It’s like two trains crossing in the night.
posted by armeowda at 10:26 PM on January 4, 2018
Best answer: There were a number of these in the Blackadder TV series. The one that springs to mind is "a plan so cunning you could brush your teeth with it."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:37 AM on January 5, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:37 AM on January 5, 2018 [4 favorites]
Fun fact - sick as a parrot is usually shortened. The full, original phrase was ‘sick as a parrot with a rubber beak’ - so it’s not actually as random as it appears, it’s more along the lines of logical similes like ‘snowball’s chance in hell’.
posted by Happy Dave at 7:16 AM on January 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Happy Dave at 7:16 AM on January 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jozxyqk at 10:06 AM on January 4, 2018 [1 favorite]