Confusing and Annoying Idioms....

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I got into trouble as a child when a teacher telling me off shouted at me "do you think I'm talking out of a hole in my head?" and I, confused, replied "yes".

I didn't know it meant "do you think I am talking rubbish?" and I thought well, your mouth is a hole in your head that you talk out of. Like we all do.

I always got in trouble for things like this as a kid, especially in grades 3-5. My teacher thought I was just being rude. After that I just learned to keep my thoughts to myself.

"Same difference." I think that might mean that the amount of deviation from a norm is equivalent for two different things, but it is confusing. How can something be the same if it is different?

And the British sometimes start talking by saying "Now then..." Well, which is it?

Idioms cause difficulty sometimes when learning another language. These are great examples of the strengths and weaknesses of words being used to communicate meaning. Strengths in that, when the context or origin of the idiom is understood, it is beautiful how words can paint a picture to describe a situation. Weaknesses because when taken literally, they sometimes seem incomprehensible.

I wrote a song about the limitations of language for communicating meaning:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYX3dg5753E[/youtube]

Good question.
Never heard that expression.

Dont know if its sarcastic (ie that they fight all of the time) or what.

I think the bicycling guitarist is overthinking "same difference".
I think its purposely kinda dumb. The person is saying "i was gonna say its the same THING, but yeah I know that its not EXACTLY the same thing, but its kinda the same thing, and Im not interesting in discussing the nuances of the issue."

House on fire means that the two people get on very well. It's a very common expression in England. It's often used for when you introduce two people who you don't expect to get on really well and the way they are talking like best friends surprises you.

Thinking about it, maybe it is because when a house catches fire the flames spread and go out of control very quickly after the first spark and that is like the instant friendship between the two people.


Another phrase I don't get is when someone is trying to calm a situation down & play peace-maker and they are said to 'pour oil on troubled waters'. I can't think of any situation where you would pour oil of any kind onto water and why it would help? (Except for bath oil maybe, and a bathtub isn't troubled waters.)

And when people say a person 'has a wise head on their shoulders'. Heads are atop your neck, not on your shoulders!

I think I understand most idioms or at least most of the commonly used ones but I find them bothersome and irritating. I can often understand what is implied when one is used but my first instinct is always to make some critical comment about the literal interpretation which I try to suppress because I think people find that annoying.

I think it comes from my need for language to be clear, concise and unambiguous. I get annoyed in a similar way with non-sequitars and misuse of words etc. I have limited patience for people simply not making sense resulting in my having to do the work to figure out what they really mean. It's a problem I have I guess so I do try to bite my tongue (to use an idiom) rather than criticise as would be my instinctual reaction.

Oil flattens out the waves- dampens down the turbelence. So if oil spills on to water the seas stop being choppy.

I do kinda get it- instant ignition of friendship- a small spark to sudden intense heat. Sorta makes sense.

Head on your shoulders isnt so bad- your head could be thought of as 'on your shoulders".

But explain "head over heels in love"!

Your head is NORMALLY above your heels! Shouldnt it be "heels over head in love"?

One I can't understand is, "He/she was all over it like white on rice." I don't know what it means, or if it is good, bad or indifferent. Maybe someone here knows.

When I was a kid I recall being very confused about someone saying, "people were coming out of the woodwork". I just saw holes in the walls with termite like humans emerging. I guess that does capture the essence of the expression, but it still seems very strange.

When I was about 13 my mother gathered us kids together and told us that while she was driving home thinking about something to do with our family that her "heart broke". I became very alarmed because I thought she was telling us she was having a heart attack or something.

My grandmother used lots of expressions like "pots calling kettles black" and "raining cats and dogs" and "crying and crying like Little Audry". Mostly I like metaphores and do not have too much trouble figuring them out as an adult.

It means to attach oneself inseparably to someone or something. It can be good, bad or indifferent. It is not inherently one of the three.

Rice in its' natural state is beige colored. But that beige-ness is the bran covering the rice kernel (which incidentally also has the nutrients) and it can be removed by polishing. Once the rice is polished, it is white. The beige can be removed. The white cannot. Thus the "white on rice" is inseparable. And if somebody is all over something "like white on rice", they can't be separated from it.

Thank you!

I still don't get the "like white on rice" one either.

Ah ok. I understand now.

Some more that are just plain ODD to me.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer".

"A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush".

"More than you can shake a stick at". (I suppose this one might mean something like - the problem is bigger than you can handle?)

"Cutting your nose off to spite your face".

Keep your friends... Simply means you cant trust anyone- you have to be vigilant and watch everyone. It doesnt mean 'close" in a warm friendly sense.

If you're reduced to living like a caveman and foraging for food in the bush then it would be kinda obvious that "a bird in the hand would be worth several in the bush".

"cutting your nose.." is used to convey the meaning that you're damaging yourself in order to spite someone else in a less damaging to them way. The gory surface imagery is a bit odd, but it got the message across when I first heard it as a child.

"Shaking a stick" IS a bit odd. You got me on that one. My mental image is of a little old bent lady shaking a stick at a huge pile of something nasty to dispose of like horse dung. It so big a pile that you dont have to be accurate to point in its direction ( like 'the side of barn'). So you just have to "shake a stick' to indicate where it is. Maybe.

BTW: The "white on rice" thing has spawned the variant "like ugly on an ape"( you step outta line again soldier, and I'll be on you like ugly on an a ape!")

Idioms are odd by nature.



Keep your friends close is obvious. Keep your enemies closer means, basically, make them think they are your closest friends, so they will confide in you and you'll always know what they're up to.



This comes from a fable. It's about greed. A man goes out to catch birds, does catch one, but on the way home finds two birds sitting in bush. In an attempt to catch the other two as well, he loses all three. He was too greedy.



Always known what this one meant, but never really thought about it. It means a lot, but not worth counting. It's origins are unknown, but here's a link with a little more info: http://www.quora.com/Where-does-the-phr ... -originate



This one reminds me of throwing out the baby with the bath water, but it's not quite the same.

Basically it just means that you're willing to hurt yourself in order to hurt others. The idea is that you hate your face, so out of spite for your face, you would cut off your nose. No, it doesn't make sense, because it's not supposed to. If someone were to tell you "You'd cut off your nose to spite your own face," they're telling you that you get so wrapped up in spite, you would do things that make no sense and harm yourself in the process.

I'm gonna guess the I COULD CARE LESS is a sarcastic take on the original. And the pot and kettle black....that one stumped me for years and it was explained to me as having to do w coffee. Idk. It still seems ridiculous to me.