Common sayings which don't make sense

[nevernotstruggling]

Dd1 (11) has just said 'mummy you know how you don't like it when people say ATM machine??? Because the M is for machine?? Well what about baby chick? Chick is the baby version of chicken so you are just saying oh look a baby baby!'

She's right. Any more like this?

@Anordinarymum Incandescent with rage isn't wrong though - you can be incandescent with joy, excitement, any strong emotion, it's just a more colourful way of saying, 'I was absolutely raging'. (And paragon just means a model of perfectness of that thing, so you could also be a paragon of beauty, of strength, etc.)

River Avon - Avon means river.

There are loads of rivers around the world whose name basically means 'river' in one language or another. I suppose, before the days of mass travel, people generally stayed in one area all of their life and the river (by which most civilisations historically sprung up) was a very important part of that. There would have been no reason for them to give it a name, any more than to call it 'the Sky Percy' or 'Mount Linda' (if there was just one mountain for miles around).

@PopsicleHustler

I turned around and said....And then she turned turned around and said...

So two people stood having an argument or a conversation basically spinning around

Similarly when people say:

'She was like '[ quotes uninteresting comment]', and I was like '[ quotes equally uninteresting response]'

In what way did either of them resemble what they said?

@millenialblush

Hell for leather - wtf does that even mean?

Hell for leather is going fast. "Hell bent for leather" meaning that the animal was hell bent to become a leather good.

"cheap at half the price"

If its cheap at half the price, it isn't bloody cheap at the full price!

Pre booked, as in when people say 'I pre booked my seat' It doesn't matter how far in advance you've done it, you just booked it.

@DentonsFringeArnottsWaistcoat

I’ve never liked ‘same difference’ - I get what it’s trying to say but it sounds all wrong

Amen!

@BibBobb

New and improved... if it's improved it can't be new, it already existed.

That's a real bugbear of mine too.

@Talipesmum

Lake Windermere. “Mere” means lake. No need to say it twice

You know about Torpenhow Hill, I am guessing?

Tor = Hill
Pen = Hill
How = Hill

Hillhillhill Hill

We encountered a number of visitors to Wales who read the road signs and clearly assumed that they were at 'the Ysbyty Hospital', 'the Gorsaf Station' or the 'Ysgol School' - thinking that the first word was the specific name for that particular site, rather than just a direct translation.

Must have been irritating for taxi drivers, if they received effectively this call:
"Hello, I'm at the station and I need a ride to the hospital, to visit my friend, please."
"Sure, which station are you at?"
"The railway station railway station."
"Yes, but which station? And which hospital is your friend in?"
"Ooh, I know this one, I made a note of the sign when I was last there - it's the hospital hospital."
"Yes, but which hospital?!"
"Eh?!?!"

HSBC Bank plc. Ahh - the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank Bank plc!

These are so satisfying to my inner pedant! Great thread :)

Not commonly used (thank goodness!) but DH once photographed an advert which said, “Exclusively for everyone.” He sent it to me with the comment, “As good as a free gift”. That did make me laugh!

2 things that offend me but arent sayings as such

Traffic reporter on the radio often reports a "nasty accident on ". Surely any road accident is pretty nasty...? You dont get pleasant accidents!

And the other thing is after a period of bad weather, the weather reporters often predict "quieter" weather. I know thunder, hail, wind and rain can be noisy (the latter 2 arent always) but sometimes it includes stuff like snow, fog or ice which are not in any way noisy!!

@WeatherwaxOn

Torpenhow Hill
Hillhillhill Hill

🤣🤣
it won't get better than this!

Has anyone said "Global Pandemic" yet? It's everywhere but it is tautologous. Global Endemic, yes, but adding "Pan" means "worldwide", rendering the "Global" completely unnecessary.

I am also completely baffled as to why flammable and inflammable mean ... the same thing.

@honeylulu

Has anyone said "Global Pandemic" yet? It's everywhere but it is tautologous. Global Endemic, yes, but adding "Pan" means "worldwide", rendering the "Global" completely unnecessary.

I am also completely baffled as to why flammable and inflammable mean ... the same thing.

Pan does not mean worldwide and you can have a pandemic that is not global. Pan means all or everything, and you can have a pandemic in a single country.

Hence, global pandemic.

"you can't prove a negative"

yes you can: a negative pg test and no baby in 9months will do nicely

Very unique. Well, it's either unique or it's not

Talipesmum
Lake Windermere. “Mere” means lake. No need to say it twice
You know about Torpenhow Hill, I am guessing?

Tor = Hill
Pen = Hill
How = Hill

Hillhillhill Hill

@WeatherwaxOn yes I was going to mention that too, but when I searched for it to get the right quote, I found a few places saying they’re not sure it’s really true, ie all the maps etc didn’t call it torpenhow hill, just torpenhow, and that “tor and penn” might mean more “top or breast of a hill” rather than being truly tautological etc etc. So I was a bit upset it was possibly debunked and decided not to mention it!

Don't look at me in that tone of voice 🥴

The camera adds 10lb? Wtf stop eating cameras!

"talk to the hand coz the face ain't listening"

where do I even start with this one?🤣

"Believe you me"

The fuck?

Its the American corruption but, she 'could care less.' how can they not not hear that it makes no sense unless its 'couldnt care less'!?!

I am also completely baffled as to why flammable and inflammable mean ... the same thing.

Flammable and inflammable don’t mean the same thing. If something is flammable it means it can be set fire to, such as a piece of wood.

Inflammable means that a substance is capabble of bursting into flames without the need for any ignition.

The opposite of both words is non-flammable.