Odd sayings we still use that might not make sense...

[Warped9]

This isn’t the first time I’ve thought of this, but we do use everyday expressions that really don’t make much sense. So maybe we can share some here.

It was raining earlier today and as I was finishing lunch I noticed the sky was beginning to clear. And I caught myself saying, “Look, the sun is trying to come out.” That really is silly because the sun is always out.

Today I still hear people say, “Give me a ring sometime.” referring to calling them on the phone. Almost never do phones ring anymore unless you choose that old style ring as your ringtone.

An oldie is, “Thats just common sense.” Well apparently not since such common sense often seems in short supply thus rendering not so common.


Anyone else with a saying that strikes them as nonsensical?

 

[Timewalker]

There's a line from one of the Tom Baker Doctor Who stories in which he offers a comment on the phrase "It stands to reason." The Doctor complains that the phrase is silly/stupid, and "why doesn't it lie down to reason? It would be much easier." (paraphrase; it's been decades since I saw that story)

How about "think outside the box." I get that it means "don't be rigid in your thinking" but honestly, who does think inside literal boxes? The only ones I know of who do that consistently are cats.

 

[RandyS]

Less is More. One of the most moronic, idiotic things I've ever heard.

Less is not more, less is less. If less was more it would be called more, but it's not, it's called less and the reason for that is because it's less.

Ah. Deep breath.....

 

[Warped9]

I recall Frasier Crane remarking, “If less is more just imagine how much more “more” will be.”

 

[Gary Mitchell]

There's a silly expression that my grandmother used to say when I was a kid. If it was raining and ruining our plans to have fun, if there was a little blue sky, she'd say "The rain will stop soon. There's enough blue in the sky to make a pair of pants." I don't think I've heard anyone else say it but it made me smile the other day when I was thinking about it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Using nouns as verbs, or vice versa.

 

[Timewalker]

Using nouns as verbs, or vice versa.

Isn't that a modern thing? I don't remember years ago when a TV commercial for an SUV had the line, "This is how you family." This commercial made me decide that if I were ever to learn to drive, this particular vehicle is something I would NEVER buy. Annoying ads work in reverse on me: Annoy me and watch me avoid your product (I actually got a frozen food company to drop a couple of their commercials because of the high levels of annoyance I was experiencing).

"This is how you adult" is another one that drives me up the wall (now that is an old saying that's been around longer than I have, and I always had a mental image of a car driving up a wall and it never made sense to me).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Isn't that a modern thing?

There have been crab BOILS, clam BAKES, etc. for a fairly long time.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

People still say “Dial a number”
When rotary phones went away decades before landlines.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Using nouns as verbs, or vice versa.

I think that’s a generational thing particularly with millennials. It’s used fo convey a certain tone of irreverence toward the anachronistic social paradigm they are emulating.

It also gives your statement the comic beat of 90s style TV.

Like “Hey look I’m doing the thing our parents said we’re supposed to want to do but not cause we’re conforming to their expectations, we’re doing it our own way”.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I think that’s a generational thing particularly with millennials. It’s used fo convey a certain tone of irreverence toward the anachronistic social paradigm they are emulating.

Ah, so it's even more pedantic than I thought? Gotcha.

 

[Warped9]

People still say “Dial a number”
When rotary phones went away decades before landlines.

Oops! Yep, forgot about that one.

One I first came across only about ten years ago: “It is what it is.” True enough, but it’s often invoked to acknowledged that something is truly stupid or ridiculous, but we’re stuck with it anyway. I’ve heard this a lot where I work.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Less is More.

It means that less of one thing results in more of a different, more important thing. It makes perfect sense, really. E.g., a quotation from 1954 [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/less_is_more]:

The essence of Mies's architectural philosophy is in his famous and sometimes derided phrase, "Less is more." This means, he says, having "the greatest effect with the least means."​

 

[Colonel Midnight]

‘Proactive’ drives me nuts... You can’t really get more active than active, last time I checked.

Also, the whole ‘Fail’ thing was only so funny for about... 2 seconds, sorry. The noun is ‘Failure’.

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[Warped9]

Proactive sounds like something you should take when you’re constipated.

 

[Timewalker]

There have been crab BOILS, clam BAKES, etc. for a fairly long time.

Do you use the verb as a noun, without including the noun that comes before it?

Example: "I'm going to a boil, wanna come?"

People still say “Dial a number”
When rotary phones went away decades before landlines.

I have a landline, I do not have a cellphone, and I owned a rotary phone as recently as 2009 (yes, it still worked, though it was useless for anything requiring numbers to be entered).

Oops! Yep, forgot about that one.

One I first came across only about ten years ago: “It is what it is.” True enough, but it’s often invoked to acknowledged that something is truly stupid or ridiculous, but we’re stuck with it anyway. I’ve heard this a lot where I work.

For me, "it is what it is" means "this is the situation we have, and there's nothing we can do about it" or alternatively, "this is the situation and I choose not to change it".

"It is what it is" is shorthand for reassuring the clerk at my grocery store (during a phone order for delivery) that I won't be changing my order based on the total owed, since I've already guesstimated how much it's going to come to and would not inconvenience them by changing my mind.

 

[Nerys Myk]

‘Proactive’ drives me nuts... You can’t really get more active than active, last time I checked.

Cheers,
-CM-

Doesn't it refer to getting out ahead of a problem? Fixing your roof before the rain begins. Placing childproof locks on the cabinets before the baby is born. Things like that.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Ah, so it's even more pedantic than I thought? Gotcha.

No more pedantic than any other generation's quirks. Ok boomer.

I don't see what you think is pedantic about communicating ideas using pop culture metaphors and sarcasm, when you're living in one of the hardest times to get a career started since the Depression under the unempathetic summary judgment of people who grew up in the easiest time to get a career started.

Less is more, when applied to art, can be a legitimate saying. Like, sometimes a couple short meaningful glances can accomplish more than a long expository dialog can.

 

[Warped9]

Less is more, when applied to art, can be a legitimate saying. Like, sometimes a couple short meaningful glances can accomplish more than a long expository dialog can.

Practical example: watching Lord Of The Rings as opposed to reading it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Do you use the verb as a noun, without including the noun that comes before it?

Example: "I'm going to a boil, wanna come?"

No, but I've seen phrases like "crab boil" on products sold at my store.