English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense

Keep the fun and games in here for now please :-)
Post Reply
User avatar
Fred
Moderator
Posts: 15431
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 2:31 pm
Location: Home sweet home!
Contact:

English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense

Post by Fred »

Enjoy, add your own!

"Have at it!" - Southern USA, still not sure of the exact meaning, despite at least three people trying to explain it to me.
"Yeah, yeah, nah!" - New Zealand, means "yeah, yeah, I understand what you're saying but nah, that's not true/ok/etc". And vice versa.
All cockney rhyming slang - http://duckduckgo.com it.
All southern USA ebonics - go there, I dare you to understand a word of it. Not possible.
"know this out" - Ben Fenner on issue 352, possible typo, I see clarification here. Inspired this thread.

I'm out of memories for the time being!

Fred.
DIYEFI.org - where Open Source means Open Source, and Free means Freedom
FreeEMS.org - the open source engine management system
FreeEMS dev diary and its comments thread and my turbo truck!
n00bs, do NOT PM or email tech questions! Use the forum!
The ever growing list of FreeEMS success stories!
User avatar
BenFenner
LQFP144 - On Top Of The Game
Posts: 360
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:15 pm

Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense

Post by BenFenner »

"Knock this out" http://issues.freeems.org/view.php?id=352
=(



I was thinking of one yesterday. Can't remember it now. Similar to "have at it". On that note, I'm sure "knock this out" has a fun etymology.
User avatar
Fred
Moderator
Posts: 15431
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 2:31 pm
Location: Home sweet home!
Contact:

Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense

Post by Fred »

Ahh, OK! :-) "Knock this out" is just short for "Knock this out [of] the door" as in, complete it and deliver it to the van/customer/user/whatever :-)

Short-fors can be confusing too, I guess, but they're correct, just partly absent.

Thanks for explaining :-)

Fred.
DIYEFI.org - where Open Source means Open Source, and Free means Freedom
FreeEMS.org - the open source engine management system
FreeEMS dev diary and its comments thread and my turbo truck!
n00bs, do NOT PM or email tech questions! Use the forum!
The ever growing list of FreeEMS success stories!
malcom2073
LQFP112 - Up with the play
Posts: 211
Joined: Tue May 01, 2012 4:17 pm
Location: Shrewsbury PA
Contact:

Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense

Post by malcom2073 »

"Have at it" I like that one ,because it has two meanings.

Typically it means "Go ahead", or "Do what you are saying you are going to do".

Often, it can be said sarcastically, so it would mean the same thing, but also have "I don't think you should do that" added to the meaning

Like saying "I don't think it's a (good|possible|worth it|reasonable thing to do, but do it, and I'll laugh when you fail"
Bangbug
QFP80 - Contributor
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2011 11:03 pm
Location: Auckland New Zealand
Contact:

Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense

Post by Bangbug »

"English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense" = I'm practiced in grammar, therefore if I do not understand it, it does not make any sense.
Fred: 2012

Yeah, nah, yeah.
User avatar
Fred
Moderator
Posts: 15431
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 2:31 pm
Location: Home sweet home!
Contact:

Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense

Post by Fred »

Structurally :-p

Here's one from England: "Give it me" instead of "Give it to me" - I heard Clarkson say this on top gear in some form "recently" (rerun).
DIYEFI.org - where Open Source means Open Source, and Free means Freedom
FreeEMS.org - the open source engine management system
FreeEMS dev diary and its comments thread and my turbo truck!
n00bs, do NOT PM or email tech questions! Use the forum!
The ever growing list of FreeEMS success stories!
AncientGeek
QFP80 - Contributor
Posts: 67
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 12:54 pm
Location: South Shithole

Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense

Post by AncientGeek »

Some variation of "Yes No" seems common in many countries but the meaning is not always the same. Here we say "Ja Nee" which literally means "yes no" but the meaning is more like "That's not always true" or "that's only partially true. Its also a good way of being non-committal.

We also have a a habit of saying "No, Fine" which actually means "yes".
And "Ja well no fine" which indicates incomprehension and/or indifference.
Post Reply