Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with phrase

I see you.

gursky — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:32:09 -0800

Searching for something Bill Clinton once said, when he was on Oprah. Help me find this quote! I remember Bill Clinton being on Oprah about 5 or 6 years ago. They were discussing African traditions, I think. Bill Clinton mentioned a tribe that acknowledges one another by using a phrase that translates to "I see you" rather than "hello" or something similar.

I can't find anything about the interview or this quote online. I'd love to know what Clinton said (as it had to do with acknowledging each other, and how important that is) and what the actual phrase is, too.

Am I crazy? Did I imagine this?

Thanks in advance for any help or insight!

"Sayonara, sucker" in Russian?

phunniemee — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:24:54 -0800

Need to "sayonara, sucker!" in Russian. OK, so not quite sayonara, sucker, but it's equivalent. An "hasta la vista, baby" for the Eastern European set. Is there a culturally relevant way to say "good bye, but I don't necessarily like you a whole lot" in Russian?

It's for a cake, so fewer words is better.

What is the source of "When you fight with a pig you both get dirty - but the pig likes it"?

zooropa — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:07:31 -0800

Where does this phrase/proverb come from? I'm looking for the source of the quote/proverb "When you fight with a pig you both get dirty - but the pig likes it."

Any ideas?

How to improve my southern speakin' skillz

willie11 — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:14:16 -0800

Please help me expand my base of quaint southern expressions, aphorisms and witticisms. Obviously I need to read more southern literature and spend some quality time with the good ol' boys here in beautiful Raleigh, NC. But are there any online resources out there? Recommended books? Any southern maxim or locution you're partial to?

Muy delicioso

cabingirl — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:53:15 -0800

SpanishFilter: How can I politely say "I've had enough" or "I'm full" in Spanish? As mentioned in a previous AskMe I am headed to Guatemala next week and I don't speak Spanish beyond the basic tourist phrases. Due to a medical issue I can't eat very much at one time. In many restaurants the server will ask me if the food was okay since it looks like I didn't eat anything. I usually reassure them that it was delicious but I'm already full, or I wasn't very hungry, or something like that.

What would be the best way to express that in Spanish? Who knows if I'll even need it, but I've had this experience in both the US and Europe and I certainly wouldn't want to insult anyone.

"thats the way we like to" do it

gcat — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:23:15 -0800

face down, ass up - what do you call that in bed? (possibly NSFW) oftentimes during foreplay, i like - no, love - to play w my girlfriend (of five years) while she is on all fours, on hands and knees, etc. - doggy style, but without the guy.

a lotta times, it is perfectly natural to nudge her in that direction, or somehow manipulate her body with my hands and arms, and she is mostly always perfectly willing and happy to oblige. but sometimes, it is not so natural to merely nudge her, so i have to use words to tell her i would like her to get into that position.

but i am pretty sure i have yet to come up with the best-sounding words to make this happen smoothly without sounding either too crude or too explanatory. describing it in a post online is one thing, but "baby, can you please get on all fours - you know, like were gonna do it doggystyle but without the penetretive sex? thanks!" seems a bit much.

anybody got some phrasing suggestions? guys that can tell me what their girls like, girls that can tell me what they like their guys to say? how would most women feel if their lover said "baby, get on all fours."?

we are perfectly able to enjoy rougher play with more dominant language, but i am looking for something not so necessarily dominant.

thanks!

Begging the question, for all intensive purposes: misused colloquialisms in modern English

cosmic osmo — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:41:08 -0800

Commonly misused phrases or expressions? It drives me nuts in a totally pedantic way when people misuse the phrase "take it with a grain of salt" to make the amount of salt larger (i.e. a "giant" grain) when the whole point of the expression is to emphasize how small the amount of salt should be--are there any other examples of phrases or expressions that are frequently used in the exact opposite way intended, either by mangling the phrase itself or just using it incorrectly (e.g. 'hoi polloi' to mean 'the wealthy elite' when it actually means 'the common masses')? I've seen things like lists of common errors in English, but I'm looking for this particular kind of error.

I'd rather not make this a debate on how language and meaning evolve over time and more about specific examples. Also, I have no idea how to use the phrase "to beg the question" but props to anyone who can finally explain that one to me, because I just know that'll be the first example given.

Not in the broccoli?

Mitheral — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 10:28:56 -0800

From whence the phrase "oohh, not in the broccoli" spoken in a stereotype ESL japanese speaker accent? As a kid in the 80s we used this phrase when someone had a accident resulting in things flying all over. EG: bumping a full plate of the table or knocking a bag of groceries down the stairs.

I fairly sure it originated from a movie/tv, probably a kung fu type show where someone ends up landing on a stack of boxes of broccoli. Anyone know which show?

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?

French phrase for celery, carrot, onion soup base?

cda — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:34:25 -0800

Martha Stewart prepared a soup base using only carrots, celery and onion and then she said there was a French phrase for this method but I couldn't catch it.

The world, it is mad.

misozaki — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 22:39:27 -0800

Does the phrase "It's a mad, mad world" have an origin? Googling "It's a mad mad world" or "mad world" only gets me the Stanley Kramer movie and a bunch of songs.

So who said it (or wrote it) first? Thanks.

Need a good short quote in 42 characters

filmgeek — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 06:50:23 -0800

I want a quote to go on my phone case. 2 lines. 21 characters per line. Preferable inspirational, possibly latin. I'm buying a wooden iphone case. On the back, I can put a quote.
2 lines of 21 characters. I'm looking for quotes to make me smile or bring my spirits up; as I look at the case (accidentally) and re-discover the quote.

Inspirational, not religious. Latin (or a translation to latin), I like, as a conversation piece (people will ask what it means.)

Things that I'm thinking of:
"Know Thyself" (Temet Nosce)
Never despair. Nil desperandum.
Sit vis vobiscum. (May the Force be with you.)

I really wanted (but it's too long) - "Even an Elephant can be eaten - one bite at a time.
Or, "Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

C'mon MeFi. Give me 42 great characters!

you'd be one if you can answer

Arasithil — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:06:38 -0800

What is the origin of the phrase "(you're) a gentleman and a scholar", or what popularized it? I've seen this, but I was wondering if anyone here knew something a little more definite.

verbal tic?

merocet — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:20:42 -0800

Where does the usage of "speaks to" to mean "speaks about" or "speaks of" come from. For example, "It speaks to our will to be goverened that we allow these things to happen"? Characters on Boston Legal are constantly using it also. It speaks to my frustration that I've not been able to find anything on its etymology on google.

Origin of "we are all [blank] now"

Urban Hermit — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:02:34 -0800

What is the origin of the phrase "we are all [blank] now"? The earliest 'famous' usage I'm aware of is Nixon's "we are all Keynesians now," but I don't know if that was really where it started.

Does the phrase "please, not in the face!" come from anywhere in particular?

so_necessary — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 08:48:29 -0800

Does the phrase "Please, not in the face!" (in reference to a metaphorical imminent beating) have a definitive, particular origin from a famous film or some other piece of pop culture? Or has it just sort of established itself from actual beatings?

I | <3 ?

lostburner — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:52:44 -0800

What is the origin of the "I | ___" phrasing? I've seen this cropping up with increasing frequency on the web. It seems to be the same usage as "I (heart) ___", but with a bar instead (shift-backslash on a US keyboard). It doesn't make sense to me. "I bar New York"? "I caret New York"? "I or New York"? This question may not make a lot of sense if you haven't seen it, and I can't exactly search for examples, but maybe you folks have seen it around.

Textual trick.

Citizen Premier — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:30:04 -0800

Help me find a phrase that reads the same left-to-right as up-to-down. I once saw a guy with a construction hat, and on it was written a phrase in another language, possibly Latin. The text was arranged in a square shape. Unfortunately I don't remember anything else about the phrase, as I didn't recognize any of the words. I suppose it's possible it was just gibberish made to look like a language, but is anyone familiar with a phrase like this?

Why not six bells? Eight?

pdb — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 16:00:26 -0800

Where did the phrase "beat seven bells" (out of someone) come from? I was listening to the excellent Guardian Unlimited Football podcast last week, and one of the commentators was talking about a recent kerfuffle between Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise, and he said that Bellamy proceeded to "beat seven bells out of Riise".

I've heard this phrase before, and I love it - but I have no idea what its origins are. My Google skills turned up nothing of consequence - does anybody have any idea where this comes from?

A lot of stick shaking?

informity — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 00:30:11 -0800

Where does the phrase "more [whatever] than you can shake a stick at" originate? ...... and how much of [whatever] do you need before you can't shake a stick at it.

You probably discussed this question with your friends yesterday, too.

vytae — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 08:10:27 -0800

What's the term (if there is one) for a previously-unfamiliar concept that you suddenly encounter all over the place for no apparent reason? For example, I recently had this experience with the Neti Pot, a strange contraption I'd never heard of until my singing teacher mentioned it. The next day at work my coworkers were talking about them, and a few days later one of my favorite bloggers mentioned them. Neti Pots did not suddenly became trendy or newsworthy that week, and none of the sources have any connection to each other, so these incidents seem to be completely unrelated.
My parents call this kind of thing a "bader meinhof," but I think it's because Dad had this experience after the first time he heard about the German group by that name. I can't find any instances on the net of other people using "bader meinhof" in this way.
So, does it have a name? If so, what is it?
Please note, I'm not saying that these experiences have any cause or significance. I don't see them as omens. There's no need to discuss that side of the issue. I just want a way to describe the experience more succinctly than this question and more universally than my parents' personal term. Thanks!

Where did the phrase "strangely intriguing" get popularized?

hidinginabunker — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:45:11 -0800

Where was the phrase "strangely intriguing" popularized? I know this is kind of asking a lot but I feel like there was some specific use on a television show or maybe in a movie that was particularly funny and started this tiny meme a spreadin'. Can anyone remember any recent uses of the phrase "strangely intriguing" in popular culture? Just curious since I keep noticing it being used by many people with very different tastes.

it's a small handkerchief?

bluefly — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 07:07:00 -0800

A Mexican friend of mine recently used a Spanish phrase that literally translates out to, "The world is like a handkerchief." He says it means the same as "it's a small world." However, he doesn't know the origins of this phrase or why it means that. Being mathematicians, we think it's that any point on the handkerchief can be brought arbitrarily close to any other point on the handkerchief. Does anyone know the origin of this phrase?

What is the original origin of the phrase "Falling in love with you wasn't part of the plan?"

John Kenneth Fisher — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 13:05:56 -0800

What is the original origin of the phrase "Falling in love with you wasn't part of the plan?" Movie quote? Book? Anyone?

What's the origin of the phrase "out like Lottie's eye"?

redteam — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 01:10:55 -0800

What's the origin of the phrase "out like Lottie's eye"? Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie and fame) said "I'm just going on 'til they get me, then I'm out like Lottie's eye."

This same question has been asked on Yahoo!'s Answers site but the responses aren't very satisfying.

Is the biblical Lot's wife being referred to here?

Some mention a speakeasy in Chicago called "Lottie's Pub" that supposedly turned a blind eye to activities inside. However, others mention that the term has been in use since English pre-colonial times.

Anyone have a definitive answer?