Common phrases that are nonsensical

[Doomkid]

Can you think of any common phrases (in any language or culture) that are said regularly but don't actually make any sense when you scrutinize them?

 

One that always bugged me was the phrase "It's always darkest before the dawn". I get that it's metaphorical and means things can still get better even after hitting a low point, but.. It's nonsensical. It's actually always darkest in the absolute middle of the night, when you still have several hours of darkness ahead - nowhere near dawn, the sky starts getting lighter several hours before it could even be considered "dawn".

 

It would be just as logical if the phrase was "It's always brightest just before nightfall", which is similarly nonsensical.

 

Can you think of any phrases that persist despite being gobbledygook once you break them down?

[Arrowhead]

I always have thought that 'break a leg' is complete nonsense - I think you're supposed to say  it when wishing someone luck, but it almost sounds malicious...

[Major Arlene]

"cool beans" and "cool bananas"- I say these a million times a day but cold beans are yucky?

[Sena]

I've always appreciated how whenever someone dies, you can offer "thoughts and prayers" as a socially acceptable way of not actually having to give any of your own thoughts on the matter.

[Nine Inch Heels]

15 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

Can you think of any common phrases (in any language or culture) that are said regularly but don't actually make any sense when you scrutinize them?

 

Microsoft works

[Bridgeburner56]

36 minutes ago, Arrowhead said:

I always have thought that 'break a leg' is complete nonsense - I think you're supposed to say  it when wishing someone luck, but it almost sounds malicious...

This was said to people before they auditioned because if you break a leg ... you get in the cast.

:D

[Hawk of The Crystals]

It gets better.

[Omniarch]

"Ja no", a bizarre idiom from my homeland, comes to mind. Literally, it translates to "Yes no", which is oxymoronic. In practice, it can be used as a "maybe", a hesitant affirmative or as a "yes and", among other things. Notably, the idiom is never used in a comparable fashion to the American "Yeah, no".

 

For a more general example, "off the top of my head" makes no sense literally (yes, the phrase did occur to me as an example as I was about to write it out). To be quite frank, one could just comb through a list of idioms, pick the most nonsensical ones, plonk 'em down here and call it a day (hey look, another one!). It'd be a piece of cake (uh oh...)! Just like riding a bicycle (I can't seem to stop myself...), easy as pie (make it stop...)!!

 

...

 

This is getting out of hand... wait, no! Not another one! I'm going off the deep end... off my rocker... no no no...

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

[insert idiomatic doom-spiral here]

[Murdoch]

When someone calls someone and says "Hello Person X, it's me." Of course it's you. Who else would it be?

 

"I could care less." You could? OK. Feel free.

[Bridgeburner56]

1 minute ago, Omniarch said:

"Yes no", which is oxymoronic

Wait till you hear New Zealanders go "yeah yeah, nah ... yeah. Nah"

[xdude_gamer]

Hate to say this but "Beauty is only skin deep" taken literally is not very sensical. I bet if you cut up a demon you wouldn't find a beautiful thing in there, only organs.

[Doomkid]

4 minutes ago, Omniarch said:

"off the top of my head" makes no sense literally (yes, the phrase did occur to me as an example as I was about to write it out). To be quite frank, one could just comb through a list of idioms, pick the most nonsensical ones, plonk 'em down here and call it a day (hey look, another one!). It'd be a piece of cake (uh oh...)! Just like riding a bicycle (I can't seem to stop myself...), easy as pie (make it stop...!)

Well, to be fair, a lot of these do make some sense metaphorically - at least more than "darkest before the dawn", which doesn't even work as a metaphor!

 

"Off the top of my head" refers to a thought that is close to the surface level of your brain. That's why it's a thought from "off the top" of your head, rather than from deep within your head.

 

"Calling it a day" refers to someone who has just completed a job, and is thus announcing the end of the work day. Even if there's more work to be done, it's not for "this day", its for a future day.

 

 A "Piece of cake" is really easy to eat - unlike, oh say, brussels sprouts. That's why something easy is comparable to a piece of cake - inoffensive, no struggle required.

 

"Just like riding a bike" implies it's so easy that for most people it's second nature, or maybe so easy a kid can do it with relative ease.

 

"Easy as pie" is the same deal as cake - it's a very easy food to eat, so something that can be done simply is easy as pie.

 

...I guess my point is, I "get" these ones. They're all metaphors that work really well for certain things. Conversely, "always darkest before the dawn" makes no sense literally OR metaphorically - There is never an instance, be it metaphorical or literal, where it is darkest before the dawn! To put it differently - if there was some celestial phenomenon where it appeared even brighter than high noon for a brief moment before the sun sets, I could see where the metaphor is derived from. But unlike the other phrases, which at least have some connection to reality or a known occurrence or behavior - there's just nothing for this phrase to "latch onto" where an argument could be made for it being logical. Someone essentially pulled it out of their ass in the 1600s with no basis and it's just gone unquestioned since then!

[Nootrac4571]

Slight tangent, but for many years I thought the phrase "Turn that frown upside down" was complete nonsense, until (quite recently!) I learned the reason is that it makes total sense in American English, but not my native British English.

 

So: I managed to spend four decades on this planet before I realised that the word "frown" means a completely different thing in UK and US dialects. What part of your face moves when you frown? If you're from the US then you'll likely answer: "your mouth." A frown is a down-turned mouth; the opposite of a smile. That's not the case in the UK - it has nothing to do with the mouth; a frown is where you lower your eyebrows - it's roughly the same thing as "furrowing your brow," or a less angry scowl.

 

It's amazing to me that such a common word has such a different meaning on each side of the Atlantic, but there's just enough overlap that the difference can go largely unnoticed, aside from that one phrase that makes no sense on one side.

 

I assume US folks must often get a little confused when British authors write phrases like "frowning in confusion" or "frowning in concentration," trying to picture what strange expression they're going for.

[snapshot]

"it will blow your socks off" how? and what if im also wearing shoes? i need to knowww

[ketmar]

3 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

Someone essentially pulled it out of their ass in the 1600s with no basis and it's just gone unquestioned since then!

…you just described most of "known and established things" in life…

[Senor Cacodemon]

"No one asked", I think this is stupid because people can say what they want and even if what they said was true. IT WOULD BE STUPID

[Nootrac4571]

40 minutes ago, Murdoch said:

When someone calls someone and says "Hello Person X, it's me." Of course it's you. Who else would it be?

 

That sounds like a generational thing? That's exactly how you'd start a phone conversation in the ancient dark ages before mobile phones or even caller ID, when phones didn't have a screen to display who was calling. The phone would ring, you'd pick it up with no idea who's on the other end and wait for them to identify themself. That's how it worked for a very long time - far longer than smartphones have been around. If that's how you spent half your life starting a phone conversation, it's a hard habit to break!

[magicsofa]

"Pick yourself up by your bootstraps." It doesn't make sense because it was never intended to, it's an impossible feat. So if someone asked for something unreasonable, you could say "you're asking me to pick myself up by my bootstraps." But now people say it as a command, or to mean that you've succeeded without help. I've even heard it shortened to just "pick up your bootstraps" which is right out

 

28 minutes ago, Nootrac4571 said:

I assume US folks must often get a little confused when British authors write phrases like "frowning in confusion" or "frowning in concentration," trying to picture what strange expression they're going for.

To be fair, people sometimes do turn their lips down when confused or focused, so I would have probably glossed over it if I read that. I didn't how about this difference until recently as well

 

47 minutes ago, Murdoch said:

"I could care less."

This is just a case of people trimming off syllables in common phrases. It's supposed to be "I couldn't care less"

 

4 minutes ago, Nootrac4571 said:

The phone would ring, you'd pick it up with no idea who's on the other end and wait for them to identify themself.

Right. By saying "it's me." Doesn't help much does it?

[Nootrac4571]

1 minute ago, magicsofa said:

Right. By saying "it's me." Doesn't help much does it?

 

Haha, I assumed the "me" was a stand-in for the person's actual name there, literally saying "it's me" is of course redundant.

[TenenteZashu]

"Cut the shit"

[Dragonker]

Slightly off-topic but some phrases in English sound weird in Spanish (and am sure that it's the same vice versa).

 

For example, in English is okay to say "I'll ask you a question," but in Spanish that is "Te voy a preguntar una pregunta," to which somebody could answer (in Spanish) "Claro, que mas me puedes preguntar?"

 

Another interesting phenomena is when some phrases hold the same meaning but with different words between languages. The phrase "Between a rock and a high place" is, in Spanish, "Entre la espada y la pared" (Between a sword and the wall).

 

PD: Speaking of which, I have never understood "Between a rock and a high place"

[Nootrac4571]

Just now, Dragonker said:

PD: Speaking of which, I have never understood "Between a rock and a high place"

 

It's actually "Between a rock and a hard place," meaning between two equally undesirable positions.

[Nine Inch Heels]

7 minutes ago, Dragonker said:

PD: Speaking of which, I have never understood "Between a rock and a high place"

That's probably because it's "between a rock and a hard place"... And it means having 2 (or perhaps more) options to choose from, with neither of which being pleasant...

 

If you had 2 political parties to choose from, but you basically hated either of them, then you're stuck between a rock and a hard place... Or, if you only have enough money to pay either rent or food, then you're stuck between a rock and a hard place...

 

An alternative to "between a rock and a hard place" is "between Scylla and Charybdis", which has origins in greek mythology, and means the same thing as our modern iteration...

[Dragonker]

1 minute ago, Nootrac4571 said:

 

It's actually "Between a rock and a hard place," meaning between two equally undesirable positions.

My error, but still, what's exactly a "hard place?" I have never seen the term used outside this phrase.

[Nine Inch Heels]

1 minute ago, Dragonker said:

My error, but still, what's exactly a "hard place?" I have never seen the term used outside this phrase.

The idea is that both a rock and a hard place are.... hard... and uncomfortable....

[Luleta]

in spanish we sometimes say "ahorita despues" which is kinda translates to "now later"

its like.. stating that something is immediate but not yet????

i sometimes go the extra mile and say "ahora despues luego" which could be translated as "now after later"

[Doomkid]

10 minutes ago, Dragonker said:

My error, but still, what's exactly a "hard place?" I have never seen the term used outside this phrase.

In a more literal sense, a "hard place" could be something like a brick wall. You're right though, in English you're unlikely to ever hear someone call a hard surface a "hard place" - those two words back to back are pretty much only ever seen in that phrase.

[Nootrac4571]

10 minutes ago, Dragonker said:

My error, but still, what's exactly a "hard place?" I have never seen the term used outside this phrase.

 

I don't think it's meant to be a common term, just "your choice is a rock, or something else... that is exactly the same as a rock." It might as well be "between the Arctic or a very cold place."

[Luleta]

Just now, Nootrac4571 said:

 

I don't think it's meant to be a common term, just "your choice is a rock, or something else... that is exactly the same as a rock." I might as well be "between the Arctic or a very cold place."

its actually kinda like. having to choose between two options that are equally negative.

like being against the wall would be like being cornered and forced to fight, despite that not being what you want.

at least thats how i always interpreted it.

[Nine Inch Heels]

4 minutes ago, Nootrac4571 said:

 

I don't think it's meant to be a common term, just "your choice is a rock, or something else... that is exactly the same as a rock." I might as well be "between the Arctic or a very cold place."

Actually not true, because apparently this figure of speech was coined by coal miners in the 1900s, who knew their way around rocks and "hard places"

 

I get that you mean to say that either figure of speech would be identical in perceived meaning, but there's a reason we have one and not the other is what I'm saying...