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English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 1:13 pm
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.
Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 2:33 pm
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.
Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 4:34 pm
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.
Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 1:26 am
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"
Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 5:31 am
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.
Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 12:43 pm
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).
Re: English That Just Doesn't Make Any Sense
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 10:10 am
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.