You know any cool, lesser-known or even made up phrases?

pray tell

For demanding an answer. In my opinion, it adds a friendly layer of irony, indicating that you cannot see a possible reason for something :

And pray tell, what purpose does it serve? 🙄

Half Sisyphus, half rolling stone.

Describes self sabotaging tendencies (while showing good will and effort).

I thought you quit smoking last month – yea, half Sisyphus, half rolling stone🥲

Today,

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonplussed

A lot of people think it means unhappy, but it really means bewildered. Confusion over the definition has led to a new use as unimpressed.

Today,
rikudou,
@rikudou@lemmings.world avatar

I always thought nonplussed meant unimpressed.

TheGayTramp,
@TheGayTramp@lemmy.ca avatar

Similarly, “presently” originally meant “soon”, but now people use it to mean “at this time”. Like “I will be leaving presently” could mean two different things depending on who’s saying it

livus,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

And "momentarily" doesn't mean "soon" but people are starting to use it that way.

livus,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

Streets ahead.

If you have to ask, you're streets behind.

ritswd,

I thought it was coined by Community initially, so when I heard it used on the Great British Bake-Off, I thought “wow, is that a Community reference?” Turns out it’s been a common saying in the UK and Ireland for ages.

Heh, it was still a good joke.

livus,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

Ha ha it's a saying my mother would use, or people of her generation, which makes it even funnier that Pierce thinks he coined it... a bit like when he thinks he "writes" the Greendale song.

Taleya,

Aussie here, i didn’t get the joke, i will admit. 'Cos it’s something i heard in the 1990’s

techbits,
@techbits@lemmy.world avatar

The show The Bear dropped streets ahead in the second season as well as Gillian Jacobs being added to the cast. The creator of the show Chris Storer is the long time partner of Jacobs. Joel Mchale and Dani Pudi had brief cameos as well.

livus,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

Is it a good show?

techbits,
@techbits@lemmy.world avatar

I think it’s one of the best shows on tv right now.

galaxi,

😎

livus,
@livus@kbin.social avatar

Perfect response. I was just about to type "wish I could upvote twice" when I realized I could boost!

KHN45,
@KHN45@lemmy.world avatar

As an answer to an obvious question:

“Does the pope shit in the woods?”

The answer is yes. Yes he does.

kersploosh,
@kersploosh@sh.itjust.works avatar

Is the Pope a bear?

ritswd,

I have a lot of questions about the state of sanitation in the Vatican.

Taleya,

Is the bear a catholic?

Froyn,

We'll burn that bridge when we get there. It's not rocket surgery.

Taleya,

“It’s not Dragon magic” is a fave of mine, semi-obscure ref for those that get it, dada for those that don’t

Maerman,

I am partial to ‘Does the pope systematically cover up child sexual abuse?’

Maerman,

Much of a muchness.

Used to describe something redundant or superfluous. Naming a cat is much of a muchness; it won’t come when you call it anyway.

That’s not how you play cricket.

Used when someone or something is obviously bending or breaking the rules in an ungentlemanly manner. Capitalism is not how you play cricket.

scubbo,

“not how you play cricket”

I (native UK English speaker)'ve only ever heard it with “cricket” in an adjectival form. As in “that’s just not cricket”.

Maerman,

It’s very possible that I have it a bit twisted. I’m a South African, and English is my second language.

Today,

Do you ever listen to A Way with Words?

www.waywordradio.org

corytheboyd,
@corytheboyd@kbin.social avatar

Pussy on the chainwax!

Bishma,
@Bishma@social.fossware.space avatar

Wide awake nightmare: A terrible thing you have to live with, you can’t just wake up from it.

As in the line from the MST3k episode The Scream Skull, “This is Micky, Micky is a wide awake nightmare.”

Fibby,
@Fibby@sh.itjust.works avatar

“Clear as mud?”

Normally said after I tried to explain something and I’m only getting a blank stare in response. Or after a meeting when I know everyone is confused.

distractedcactus,
@distractedcactus@beehaw.org avatar

“Mallyhacked” - meaning something that is broken or destroyed. I heard this phrase a lot from older folks during my childhood, but never by anyone who wasn’t from my area. My SO didn’t believe it was a real word so I did some digging and I think that it is likely a very regionally accented version of “malahack”.

Urban Dictionary says that malahack comes from the Lumbee-English slang of southern North Carolina. I don’t think that’s quite accurate because I’m not from anywhere close to North Carolina. My preferred reference is from The Vocabulary of East-Anglia: An Attempt to Record the Vulgar Tongue of the Twin Sister Counties Norfolk and Suffolk, as it Existed in the Last Twenty Years of the Eighteenth Century, and Still Exists: with Proof of Its Antiquity from Etymology and Authority; in Two Volumes · Volume 2 by Robert Forby, 1830:

Malahack, v. A word ludicrously fabricated, which means to cut or carve in an awkward and slovenly manner.

calabast,

You should check out this great documentary called “Pootie Tang”.

GobiasIndustries,

Pootie Tang don't wah da tah to the shama cow.

calabast, (edited )

https://lemm.ee/pictrs/image/d1bbc2f9-5922-448c-85cd-212280b0a16a.webp

(Pootie Tang: King of cool, made-up phrases)

Lifecoach5000,

Not a phrase but I’ve been saying the word “absolute” instead of “absolutely”. I’m a legend in my own mind.

Maerman, (edited )

Ooh, another one I just remembered, translated from Afrikaans: ‘Piggie war’.

Used to refer to a conflict where there are no winners, like pigs fighting in mud, where all participants just end up dirty, humiliated and bruised. Like replying to a troll online.

Today,

Is that kinda like “two monkeys fucking a football?”

Maerman,

Never heard that one, but it could be similar. I’m stealing that, by the way.

Barbacamanitu,

Getting two birds stoned at once.

jossbo,

Some slang from York, UK that was common in my childhood:

Pushknacker - a bicycle, particularly a street bike. Best one on this list, tbh, it’s a great word.

Lagin - pronounced la-jin. Means rubbish. Like, “your pushknacker is lagin!”

Weeny - really, as in “that’s weeny lagin”

Chava - pronounced char-va, a derogatory term, to be honest I never had any idea what the actual meaning was but it’s an insult, as in “ya fuckin chava!”. I was confused when the word “chav” suddenly became a thing years later and I’ve always wondered if they are related or if it’s a coincidence.

Ding - what people would now call a chav, also used ad a general insult.

Dingraff - either the full for of ding, or an extension of it, no idea. General insult.

Styxia,
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