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Original poster

Phrases that hit the nail on the head

287 replies

Arlanymor · 14/11/2025 15:52

Having looked at the thread about phrases/words/terms that people hate - what about the ones that just feel spot on?

I heard this earlier today in relation to the modern obsession with celebrities doing crazy things for clout to keep themselves 'relevant' and in the spotlight...

"The attention economy".

Yes! Spot on! Great term for those who monetise meaningless content for maximum exposure on social media - behaviour that pays dividends in the attention economy.

OP posts:
GameofPhones · 15/11/2025 01:40

Which one? I think both are very wise. But then, nowt so queer as folk, & all the world is queer,and even thee is a little queer.

whatcanthematterbe81 · 15/11/2025 01:26

Ddakji · 14/11/2025 16:42

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Perfect is the enemy of good.

Ugh I hate this one

Jumpingthruhoops · 15/11/2025 01:25

BlueEyedBogWitch · 14/11/2025 15:55

Every pan’s got a lid - when two ‘unusual’ people get together.

Main character syndrome.

Isn't it 'main character energy'?

GameofPhones · 15/11/2025 01:15

Putting bullets in guns for other people to shoot.

GameofPhones · 15/11/2025 01:13

None so deaf as those that don't want to hear
Once burned, twice shy
Marry in haste, repent at leisure
Sir Stifford Craps (Sir Stafford Cripps was in charge of nutrition during WW2)

GarlicHound · 15/11/2025 01:06

TenWeeCaramelJoeys · 14/11/2025 16:23

I know it’s an overused expression these days but virtue signalling. When it’s employed properly it really does sum up that performative moral smugness that makes you want to give someone a good slap (oh God, lighthearted before anybody starts🤣)

Along the same, very 21st-century lines: Purity Spiral and Oppression Olympics.

When 'purity spiral' first appeared, word was that it originated in a knitting forum that had torn itself apart over some moral question, with Professionally Offended knitters demanding humility from bewildered other knitters, only to be 'called out' themselves. A knitting forum! I can't quite imagine it, but hope it's true.

Some of them must've been Professional Victims, of whom one might say 'If they found a gold ring, they'd say it should have been a diamond ring'.

Doingtheboxerbeat · 15/11/2025 01:00

Sorry if I'm repeating but creating a safe space for both wolves and sheep means after a while they'll just be wolves.

FarmersWifeOf30Years · 15/11/2025 00:34

One golden hour of life is worth an age without a name

TrishM80 · 15/11/2025 00:08

About a lazy person:

"If there was work in the bed, he'd sleep on the floor"

Imbluedalale · 15/11/2025 00:03

You can’t heal in the same environment that got you sick

The longer you stay on the wrong train the more expensive it is to get home

The universe will never give you peace in something you were never meant to settle in

You can’t add days to your life but you can add life to your days

It only has to make sense to you

You still havnt met all the people who are going to love you

What’s yours will always find you

Let them

What your not changing your choosing

once is a mistake twice is a choice

SoManyTshirts · 14/11/2025 23:59

Allthesnowallthetime · 14/11/2025 17:24

Hanging about like a fart in a trance

And buzzing around like a fart in a colander

TheSilentSister · 14/11/2025 23:45

Build a bridge and get over it.
Were you born in a barn?
Do I look like a Minion?
He could talk a glass eye to sleep.
It's always darkest before dawn.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
If I had a £1 for everytime someone asked me that ...
You haven't got the common sense you were born with.
Is it your hill to die on ?

LaMarschallin · 14/11/2025 23:43

Musicmummy63

My DH is from the Caribbean and I love some of his sayings. My favourites are:
Stingy breeds maggots, as in use things before they go off.

My mother used the version "It's better to wear out than rust out".

I also like: "Life's uncertain so eat your pudding first"

Cherryicecreamx · 14/11/2025 23:42

BlueEyedBogWitch · 14/11/2025 15:55

Every pan’s got a lid - when two ‘unusual’ people get together.

Main character syndrome.

Ooh "every pan's got a lid" actually sounds quite sweet 😅

OhIUsedToBeDisgusted · 14/11/2025 23:39

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 14/11/2025 22:22

I really like Fuck off. It's a classic for a reason.

I think that it was Billy Connolly who said the great thing about ‘Fuck off’ was its lack of ambiguity – eg you’ll never read the line, ‘”Fuck off!”, he hinted’.

I also like the alternative, which I’ve seen on some moderated discussion groups - ‘I can’t tell you what to do – but ‘off’ is the direction in which you can do it.’

HelenaWaiting · 14/11/2025 23:29

She gets where castor oil won't go.
Champagne lifestyle, lemonade income.
She thinks her sh1t doesn't stink.
He's the original good time had by all (courtesy of my mother about a locally infamous womaniser).

FaitesVosJeux · 14/11/2025 23:29

landlordhell · 14/11/2025 22:37

On the wall in my classroom I have a poster that reads ; If you have to choose between being right or being kind, choose kind.

Show quote history

Be right. Every time. And have confidence in being right. Never be not right to massage the hurty feels of anyone else.

MinnieCauldwell · 14/11/2025 23:26

He's so slippery he could get under a snakes arse with a top hat on.

She thinks she's Lady Muck of Turd Hill

She gets where dirt can't

Screamingabdabz · 14/11/2025 23:18

landlordhell · 14/11/2025 22:37

On the wall in my classroom I have a poster that reads ; If you have to choose between being right or being kind, choose kind.

Show quote history

Please don’t tell me you’re preaching this shite to young girls? 🙄

What about when they’re being pressured into stuff they’re uncomfortable about?

Katemax82 · 14/11/2025 23:11

My mum used to say about my husband "if he had 50p he would spend a pound"

Lostuser · 14/11/2025 23:08

DoodleSquad · 14/11/2025 22:46

My husband says “ if I said I had a foreskin, they’d have a five-skin”

Show quote history

🤣🤣🤣

Vaguelyclassical · 14/11/2025 22:59

skkyelark · 14/11/2025 20:24

'You shall know a man by the company he keeps', or, when feeling a bit more blunt, 'lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.'

'The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.'

Is it cheating to use the first sentence of a moderately well known novel? (Not that I don't love that sentence!)

Praying4Peace · 14/11/2025 22:59

There is no such thing as a free lunch

PInkyStarfish · 14/11/2025 22:55

You are what you eat.

Fifiesta · 14/11/2025 22:55

FrangipaniBlue · 14/11/2025 22:23

Made of Teflon

All fur coat and no knickers

Mad as a box of frogs

Cockwomble

Like herding cats

I’ll take your ‘cockwomble’ @FrangipaniBlue and raise you Fudge monkey, (Do you read The Rivers of London books? That’s where I heard both of these.)