Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with idiom

Mohammed and the mountain.

Blackwatch — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:16:55 -0800

Using the phrase 'If Mohammed won't come to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed.' First of all, please excuse my rank ignorance of all things Islamic.

I work for a company which produces publications in the UK.
An article contains the well-worn phrase 'If Mohammed won't come to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed.'

I understand this is an old idiom, but is it at all offensive to Muslims?

Finally, is there a preferred spelling for 'Mohammed'.

Thanks for your help.

"Take the heart of me?" You can just say, "my heart."

Busoni — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:00:32 -0800

In Return of the King, Aragorn says: "I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me." What precisely does he mean by this? My confusion is with the phrase "take the heart of me." Is this a standard idiom?

Help me thread the needle.

Powerful Religious Baby — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:02:45 -0800

Over the past year or two, I've noticed an increasing use of the phrase "thread the needle" in news stories and blog entries. The problem is, I don't know exactly what "thread the needle" means, and it appears in a variety of contexts that don't appear entirely consistent with each other. Lee Huang and Robert Litan use it interchangeably with the phrase "walk a fine line." Timothy Noah, similarly, thinks it means "to skillfully navigate a difficult problem." (Many people seems to be using it interchangeably with "threading one's way"--a figurative action that differs slightly, in my mind, from the figurative action of "threading a needle.") David Welna, however, thinks it means "to get something started," and Andrew Sullivan seems to think it means "to aid understanding." This dude thinks it means "broach the subject." (I'm almost certainly misreading a few of these examples, but I think that's due to the fact that the phrase is often used in a vague or nebulous way.)

It's mentioned often in connection with politics, particularly Barack Obama. Is there any consensus about the use of this phrase, or are people hearing it, instinctively filling in their own definition, and applying it however they see fit? I'm interested.

What the heck is hanging?

RedEmma — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:49:31 -0800

What is the origin of the phrase "getting the hang" of something? What did it mean, originally, to "get the hang" of something?

What is the origin of the phrase "by the balls"?

sciurus — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:52:07 -0800

What is the origin of the phrase "by the balls" as in: "He's really got you by the balls."? My mom thinks it is a biblical reference where dudes would grab each other by the balls when they entered into an agreement with each other. Her priest disagrees, so now my mom wants to find out exactly what the origin of that phrase is.

I believe I have placed this question in the correct category.

Birds do it, Bees do it...

amyms — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:24:16 -0800

Is (or was, since it sounds quaint now) the phrase "the birds and the bees" mostly an American thing or is it also used in other english-speaking countries as a euphemism in reference to sex education. What other euphemisms or idioms are used around the world within the context of sex education (not formal sex education in a classroom setting, more along the lines of "The Talk" parents have with their kids). I'm interested in phrases used in other languages too.

The gig/jig is up

vizsla — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:39:18 -0800

MajorDomesticDebateFilter : What is up? She says jig. I say gig. Google is undecided. ...and should we use the original usage or the commonplace usage (if they differ)?

"giving them the Heisman"?

patricio — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 02:12:51 -0800

In this blog post on Information Arbitrage the author uses the expression "giving them the Heisman". The meaning is pretty clear from the context but I've never come across the expression before. Can anyone shed any light on it? The full paragraph is:
"Yahoo's lame tactics have only been outshone by Microsoft's inexplicable passivity. Microsoft has been holding a straight flush from Day 1, but have acted as if they've got ace high. But even the sleeping giant can be awakened, and it was when they rolled over, looked at the calendar and realized that Yahoo has been giving them the Heisman for two months now. As I said from the beginning, Microsoft shouldn't pay a dime over what is due Yahoo shareholders in the original offer. It is full and fair, and potentially even more so given the uncertain economic environment. They will likely scare Yahoo to the table and prompt Microsoft to offer $1-$2 a share more just to keep the peace and get the deal done."

Is "an X is just an X, and it is Y that Z" a snowclone?

ErWenn — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 22:00:11 -0800

In , "Molecular Ethology: an Immodest Proposal for Semantic Clarification", Heinz von Foerster says To escape this dilemma it is only necessary to recall that an urn is an urn, and it is animals that learn. Is this a reference to some other phrase (quotation, idiom, or otherwise) of the form "an X is just an X, and it is Y that Z"? I ask because it shows up as the conclusion to one of the most ridiculous arguments I've ever heard, and I might be more slightly more forgiving if he's just trying to be funny. I got suspicious because it's the only phrase in the paper that rhymes.

Things I do not think he is referencing:
1) Gertrude Stein: Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.
2) Sigmund Apocryphal Freud: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
3) Plutarch by way of Erasmus the Not-very-good-with-Greek: ...calling a fig a fig, and a spade a spade
4) Louis Armstrong: A kiss is still a kiss; a sigh is just a sigh

Need foreign idioms about love

hulahulagirl — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:29:42 -0800

Thinking about my newest tattoo idea, it's been brewing for months...now I need the help of strangers. I have most of the elements fleshed out, but I'm looking for a saying about love, preferably in a foreign language, to incorporate. Nothing too long, it has to fit on a banner on my forearm. Idioms are best, or something that is a little more obtuse than "forever love." My left forearm has La Catrina skeleton wrapped in a banner with the text, "J'ai des papillons noir tous les jours," which I found in a book totally by accident. I'm hoping the same kind of thing will happen with this.

The new tattoo will be a male skeleton, in the Posada style, with a trumpet representing my husband.

How to Search for Idioms and Phrases?

L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:21:51 -0800

Given a word, how can I search for terms and idioms containing that word? I'd like to find a reference, preferably a Web page, that will take a word and return common turns of phrase, compound words, and similar short constructions containing that word.

For example, if I input "news" it would give me:

* Newsboy
* Newshound
* Yesterday's news
* News to me
* Breaking news
* Slow news day

...and so forth. I know a dictionary will give me some of these, and something like a slang dictionary or quotation reference might give me more, but is there someplace for one-stop phrase shopping?

Can I show you my exquisite collection of etchings?

juv3nal — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:24:53 -0800

What's the origin of/meaning behind the idiom of inviting a lady to inspect one's collection of etchings as a (euphemized/veiled?) sexual proposition? I might have the exact formulation wrong, came across kind of vague and inconsistent uses of it in some hard boiled Hammett/Chandler kind of stuff.

What are we talking about again?

JaredSeth — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 07:43:46 -0800

Is there a turn of phrase for when someone resumes a conversation after a extended period of time as if no break has occurred? My wife habitually picks up conversations where she left off sometimes hours later as if no time has passed.* I know this is pretty common and was just wondering if there's a word or phrase for this. English or otherwise, since I know the Germans and French are famous for this sort of stuff: schadenfreude, L'esprit de l'escalier, etc.

* This wouldn't drive me so crazy if she didn't expect me to realize that we were back to the previous subject.

Bilingual idioms.

roofus — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:32:11 -0800

French letter / capote anglais French leave / filer à l'anglaise Can you suggest other examples of pairs of complementary (perhaps derogatory?) idioms in two different languages? Is there a word for these?

Ayuda me, por favor!

sprocket87 — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 06:42:03 -0800

What are some Spanish-language idioms or expressions for "Goodbye" (or similar) to put on a going-away cake? We have some friends that are moving away soon and who are also in the process of learning Spanish as a family. We're having a going-away party for them and would like to have an appropriate phrase on the cake, but in Spanish.

Obvious choices would be "A Dios!" or "Hasta la Vista", but those are pretty generic. It'd be nice to have a cute little Spanish saying or idiom that would fit the going-away theme.

I had three years of Spanish in high school and am pretty comfortable with the basics, but I was never immersed in the culture enough to know any really unique expressions like this.

Thanks!

Funny sayings, expressions and idioms

Anoxs — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:29:10 -0800

I'm looking for funny sayings, expressions, idioms, et cetera. The comical value is, of course, subjective, but I like funny phrases and such. Sometimes their humor is derived from their antiquatedness, sometimes just from the way they sound. I like fun to drop these things in casual conversation, so I need to learn a collection of them.

Along the lines of what I'm looking for:
"23 skiddoo"
"Cock in the henhouse"
"Bee in your bonnet"

Strangling the monster in the crib

commander_cool — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:08:46 -0800

What are the origins of the idiom "strangle the monster in the crib"?

Hoot Your Belly and Give Your Backbone Ease

breezeway — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:18:28 -0800

What does "hoot your belly" mean? "Hoot Your Belly" is the title track on Georgia bluesman/farmer Jimmy Lee Williams' 1977-1982 album, recorded by George Mitchell at Williams' home of Porlan, Georgia. On some compilations it's called "Hoot Your Belly and Give Your Backbone Ease." Is this a common idiom? What does it mean?

was für eine Frage...

geckoinpdx — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 14:57:56 -0800

Hilfe! Any resources out there to teach someone how to think German? Not think in German, but to think like a German. I've been trying to teach my other half German (at his request), but it hasn't been easy... Words and pronunciations are pretty straightforward (apart from his sometimes adorable, sometimes maddening mispronunciations). The trouble starts when we get into phrasing and idioms.

He's very literal-minded. He understands that Fenster = window and Wasser = water with no problem. However, phrases like "Was für ein Kerl" (What a guy) completely short-circuits him. "What for a guy? What the hell does that mean? What's the for for?" etc.

To me, it's just how it is. But he insists on knowing why it is, not just that it is. I think if I could help him understand how to think like a German instead of trying to apply English logic, it might be easier.

I've been able to find idiom resources, but they all say what the idioms mean and not why they mean that, if that makes sense.

Add to this that despite being raised bilingual, I've mostly spoken English for the majority of the last 20 years. I'm not as fluent as I'd like to be and therefore probably not the most definitive resource on such matters (I sometimes hear "You're just making that up. Real Germans don't say that!").

(As a side note since it's been so long, is there a difference in pronunciation between F and V? That one keeps coming back up, too since he doesn't understand why some words are spelled with an F (Fenster) and some are with a V (Viel) but both letters sound the same. All I could come up with was "Well, English has both C and K...")

Hopefully this makes some kind of sense...I acknowledge that the problem may lie with the teacher and not the subject...

A word that describes taking pleasure in my enemy's pain?

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 08:20:20 -0800

Is there an English term for, or an idiom that describes, taking pleasure in the pain or humiliation of one's enemy?

Occupational Hazards

jenovus — Tue, 23 May 2006 00:22:53 -0800

"Writer's block," "swimmer's ear," and "athlete's foot" are all examples of occupation-specific conditions. Are there any others? I am fairly sure that there's at least one more that I haven't thought of. Note that I'm looking for conditions or maladies that fit the pattern X's Y.

Is there a good online dictionary of idioms and phrases?

inksyndicate — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 14:22:22 -0800

Is there a good online dictionary of idioms and phrases? I know there are online thesauri, but they don't have the colorful expressions from the original Roget's I.

Deciphering Arabic

symphonik — Sun, 12 Dec 2004 15:08:31 -0800

LanguageFilter: Any Arabic speakers here? I'm trying to decipher an Arabic phrase: "Baashake ya halo." I might have spelled it wrong, but I know it's not a common Arabic phrase so much as it is slang. Any ideas?