Cut The Mustard and other strange phrases...game

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Ok...how about writing on the wall?

Raining cats and dogs

Meaning

Raining very heavily.

Origin

This is an interesting phrase in that, although there's no definitive origin, there is a likely derivation. Before we get to that, let's get some of the fanciful proposed derivations out of the way.

The phrase isn't related to the well-known antipathy between dogs and cats, which is exemplified in the phrase 'fight like cat and dog'. Nor is the phrase in any sense literal, i.e. it doesn't record an incident where cats and dogs fell from the sky. Small creatures, of the size of frogs or fish, do occasionally get carried skywards in freak weather. Impromptu involuntary flight must also happen to dogs or cats from time to time, but there's no record of groups of them being scooped up in that way and causing this phrase to be coined. Not that we need to study English meteorological records for that - it's plainly implausible.

One supposed origin is that the phrase derives from mythology. Dogs and wolves were attendants to Odin, the god of storms, and sailors associated them with rain. Witches, who often took the form of their familiars - cats, are supposed to have ridden the wind. Well, some evidence would be nice. There doesn't appear to be any to support this notion.

It has also been suggested that cats and dogs were washed from roofs during heavy weather. This is a widely repeated tale. It got a new lease of life with the e-mail message "Life in the 1500s", which began circulating on the Internet in 1999. Here's the relevant part of that:

I'll describe their houses a little. You've heard of thatch roofs, well that's all they were. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. They were the only place for the little animals to get warm. So all the pets; dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs, all lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery so sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Thus the saying, "it's raining cats and dogs."

LOL...very interesting.

[brnidokiegurl 0]

The writing on the wall (or sometimes 'handwriting on the wall') is an expression which suggests a portent of doom or misfortune. It originates in the Biblical book of Daniel—where supernatural writing fortells the demise of the Babylonian Empire, but it has come to have a wide usage in language and literature.

[MrsCat 6]

how 'bout "blow this popcorn stand"

aka - I'm outta here.

ex: "Jim (the boss), I just got my interview date for my visa, and I'm blowing this popcorn stand."

[one...two...tree 2,762]

23 Skidoo.

[Sassy1natl 0]

Snug as a bug in a rug?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Snug as a bug in a rug?

Oh...I think that has to do with those nasty bed bugs, but I have no idea of where it originated.

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

how about: slower than molasses going uphill on a glacier.

as me gran pappy used to sa.

Daniel

[KarenCee 3]

Some sayings from the South...some of these I've heard all my life.

http://www.gagirl.com/southern/southern.html

Southern Sayings

A good attitude is like Kudzu - it spreads.

Wild as a peach orchard hog.

So buck toothed he could eat corn-on-the-cob through a key hole.

Slick as an eel.

Slicker than a chased greased hog.

Full as a tick.

Fat as a tub o lard.

Ol' boy's tough as whit leather.

He ran like a scalded dog.

Rough as a cob.

Just as happy as if he had good sense.

Cold as a well digger's tail.

So dull he couldn't cut hot butter with a knife.

Crazier than a run over dog.

Tougher than a one eared alley cat.

Scared my mule ( when something really startled them )

Crooked as a dog's hind leg.

Faster than greased lightning.

Better than snuff, ain't half as dusty.

She's limber as a dishrag.

Nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full o' rocking chairs.

So ugly she'd run a dog off a meat wagon.

Took off like Moody's goose.

As scarce as hen's teeth.

Purty as a speckled pup.

Done gone and got yankee rich.

Sorry as a two dollar watch.

So poor he'd have to borrow moeny to buy water to cry with.

Plumb tuckered out.

Older than the mountains and got twice as much dust.

That's a gracious plenty ( when being offered something)

In all my born days. . .

Edited July 20, 2008 by KarenCee

[Sassy1natl 0]

[KarenCee 3]

Oh yeah...this one:

Lyin' like a rug.

[Sassy1natl 0]

My grandma used to say...hotter than a piss ant in a pepper box.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Anybody want to take stab at why 'Love' is spoken in tennis when a player has zero points?

[newenglander 0]

How about Happy as a clam at high tide? That makes sense.

Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite! (where does this come from?)

Scarce as hen's teeth.

Sit and watch the grass grow (do nothing)

Walking on thin ice -- or eggshells

Elevator doesn't go to the top floor. Not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Not playing with a full deck.

[Scott & Lai 12]

Anybody want to take stab at why 'Love' is spoken in tennis when a player has zero points?

From the French "l"oeuf", meaning "the egg," so, "nothing."

For the cold weather theme:

"So cold Gladys Knight almost froze her Pips."