Polish translation for "I have nothing"? [more inside]
posted by rickim on Oct 6, 2009 - 1 answer

"I Haven't Had So Much Fun Since the Pigs Ate My Brother." Aside from this post, what year and where was the first time you heard this phrase? [more inside]
posted by eccnineten on Aug 23, 2009 - 11 answers

I'm looking for a Latin translation of an American colloquialism (knowing that such translations are at best approximations/don't work because the idiom never existed in Latin.) [more inside]
posted by usonian on Aug 12, 2009 - 5 answers

What quotations / sayings have you found to be helpful to you in getting through daily life? [more inside]
posted by titantoppler on Jun 18, 2009 - 88 answers

"Time on his hands and himself on his mind". This is a real saying, right? [more inside]
posted by Emilyisnow on Mar 15, 2009 - 7 answers

What would a good Indian expression of suprise be? Specifically a pleasant suprise, such as the realisation that one is going to make a large amount of money, possibly from someone who is none too reputable. The Hindi (or other language) version and a literal translation would be most useful.
posted by Artw on Dec 27, 2008 - 6 answers

Is this phrase or saying real? Something along the lines of "The play never changes, only the players". [more inside]
posted by rivenwanderer on Dec 19, 2008 - 14 answers

Help me compile a list of vintage hokey parental catchphrases. [more inside]
posted by roger ackroyd on Oct 14, 2008 - 158 answers

"The Mad Menagerie Manager imagined that he managed an Imaginary Menagerie"--who wrote this? [more inside]
posted by emhutchinson on Sep 21, 2008 - 2 answers

Where did the saying "It's 5 'o Clock Somewhere" originate? [more inside]
posted by applemeat on Jul 30, 2008 - 13 answers

I'm looking for sayings/proverbs/idioms etc. that convey or state, of one refusing to be told what to do (or think, or say). "When I say jump, you'll ask: 'how high?'" -- the *opposite* of something like this. [more inside]
posted by raztaj on Jul 22, 2008 - 35 answers

What are some good - or bad - similes for slowness? (Like "As slow as molasses in January" but not so archaic.)
posted by Fuzzy Skinner on Jul 16, 2008 - 40 answers

MajorDomesticDebateFilter : What is up? She says jig. I say gig. Google is undecided. [more inside]
posted by vizsla on Apr 25, 2008 - 37 answers

What are retorts for some common sayings? For example, when people say: "The early bird gets the worm", you could retort "The second mouse gets the cheese". Which other ones are out there?
posted by markovich on Mar 14, 2008 - 80 answers

Isn't there some saying about "before you die/live life, you'll connect through Atlanta", referring to ATL being a huge hub airport? How does it go exactly? Google-fu failing and all that.
posted by tinkertown on Feb 6, 2008 - 9 answers

I'm compiling a list of popular bon mots of the kind that are usually written in yearbooks, memory books, autograph books, etc. Things that are typically written by adolescents and teenagers to their friends and classmates. [more inside]
posted by amyms on Dec 13, 2007 - 50 answers

Do other non-U.S. countries/cultures use the phrase "It's a free country?" [more inside]
posted by ALongDecember on Oct 26, 2007 - 31 answers

I'm looking for phrases, sayings, anything that incorporates a fruit. For example: "Apple of my eye" or "Cherry on top." Thanks!
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Oct 23, 2007 - 45 answers

What is the origin of the phrase "Local Boy Makes Good"? I Googled it and see that it was a Mervyn LeRoy movie from 1931, so it's at least that old.
posted by abbyladybug on Sep 11, 2007 - 4 answers

What is the origin of "Nothing about us without us"? [more inside]
posted by beelover on May 15, 2007 - 3 answers

What's a good alternate well-wishing statement to "good luck" that doesn't have anything to do with luck, fate, deism of any kind, or assorted other superstitions that still conveys good wishes? [more inside]
posted by ChrisR on Apr 17, 2007 - 76 answers

What is the origin of the phrase "the beatings will continue until morale improves". Google has failed me on this, only the hive mind will save me.
posted by bumpkin on Mar 30, 2007 - 12 answers

Does anyone know the origin of the term, 'carving nature at its joints' when used to describe the process of dividing up a territory into its constituent parts? I believe it goes back to Ancient Greece, but I don't know much more than that...
posted by barbelith on Mar 6, 2007 - 5 answers

A notable saying by an author. I would like to find out who the author is. [more inside]
posted by Postroad on Nov 8, 2006 - 4 answers

Help me think of phrases that come exclusively from game play. Some examples would be: "Ollie ollie oxen free" and "ready or not here I come" and "ring a round a rosy".
posted by typewriter on Aug 9, 2006 - 60 answers

The phrase "Sometimes a pipe is just a pipe" is always attributed to Freud, but is so hackneyed by now -- so well-known -- that it always seems to be cited without any hint of a reference to its original context, which makes me wonder if it is apocryphal. Did Freud really write/say this? If so, where? If not, where does its origins lie? Does anyone know? [more inside]
posted by .kobayashi. on Sep 6, 2005 - 14 answers

Rhyming Aphorisms/Superstitions/Pieces of Folk Wisdom: (ie. Wind from the east, fish bite the least). I can't get enough of them. Please tell me more. [more inside]
posted by cadastral on Apr 14, 2005 - 88 answers

What is the difference between the sayings, "at first glance..." and "at first blush..."? When would one use "at first blush..." over the other option?
posted by pwb503 on Jan 19, 2005 - 15 answers

"Parts is parts". Have you ever heard this phrase? I acquired a few bumper stickers from a thrift store on the Oregon coast with said phrase on it- I thought it was funny. It was packed in with stickers making fun of Reagan, Qaddafi, Khomeni, and so forth. It's got to be from something, doesn't it? Do you know what? [more inside]
posted by thethirdman on Dec 9, 2004 - 10 answers

"For Pete's sake!" Who's Pete?
posted by rorycberger on Jul 3, 2004 - 10 answers

Lost in Translation:
I'm doing a bit of site redesign, and wanted to make sure that 'copie est mort' is a good French translation of the old MacLuhan adage "Print is Dead." Anyone able to say with more certainty than I? and feel free to share any thoughts on the design itself. other than validation-related stuff, which i'm going to focus on once I have things up and running.
posted by kaibutsu on Mar 24, 2004 - 7 answers

My senior partner from west Texas always make me laugh by using silly sayings such as "looking at me like a cow at a new fence" or "smiling like a jackass eating cactus." I was looking for help finding some website with similar sayings. Is there some compendium or usage guide somewhere for these kind of colloquial sayings? Do these kind of sayings have a recognized name (besides similie)? Anyone know any other similar and funny sayings?
posted by Seth on Mar 4, 2004 - 32 answers

What, if any, is the traditional saying or cultural attitude which lies behind the computer-age excuse It's not a bug - it's a feature? [More inside.] [more inside]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Jan 28, 2004 - 22 answers