Phrases which make no sense

[WhereTheFuck]

It has just occurred to me that the phrase 'one in one out' (like when you go to a club and it's really busy) doesn't make sense. It should be 'one out one in' because you don't get to go in until someone comes out.
For some reason this is now really annoying me! Does anyone else have examples of everyday phrases that actually make no sense when you think about them?

[NEE1302]

'I turned around and said' - why were you facing the other way?

'At the end of the day' - why not at the beginning or middle of the day?

[MistandMud]

‘He went head over heels’ — well, yes, that’s the usual way up for a human, surely?

[CaptainMyCaptain]

@Mermaidpool

It was in the last place I looked/it will be in the last place you look. Annoys me because of course it will be as you will stop looking when you've found it

I worked with a Teaching Assistant who complained that the staple gun always ran out of staples when she was using it.

[SinisterBumFacedCat]

When something very very expensive is described as “priceless”. Surely something without a price is free?

[BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand]

@PurpleSapphire

"I could care less" rather than "I couldn't care less".

The original saying was "I couldn't care less". "I could care less" is a bizarre corruption of it.

[CaptainMyCaptain]

@NEE1302

'I turned around and said' - why were you facing the other way?

'At the end of the day' - why not at the beginning or middle of the day?

'At the end of the day, when all is said and done' i.e. when whatever has happened is over and you can see the consequences. It does make sense.

[CaptainMyCaptain]

@SinisterBumFacedCat

When something very very expensive is described as “priceless”. Surely something without a price is free?

Not if it's either something money can't buy or is so expensive you can't imagine how much.

[AlphabetAerobics]

I’d say 99% of English language ones are not nonsensical, there’s just a large lack of comprehension.

You want nonsensical? The Dutch “helaas pindakaas” literal translation is “oh well, peanut butter”.

Make of that what you will.

[HereForThis]

Needs must.

It makes sense because you know what it's supposed to mean but if you've never seen the phrase before, it just doesn't make sense. Looks like someone forgot to finish their sentence.

[SleepingStandingUp]

@ginandbearit

"No better than she ought to be ".....I think it's meant to be condemnatory but can't get me head around it ..

It's a condemnation of her upbringing. Well yes of course she's X or did Y, look at how she was raised / where she comes from.

[HereForThis]

Boils my piss.

It gives a funny mental image but is nonsensical.

[thisplaceisapigsty]

The one I can't stand is when people say 'to be fair' at the end or start of everything they say when they aren't saying anything connected with fairness or judgements at all, just random things. As in 'to be fair it's really sunny today' or 'the bus is due soon, to be fair.' Rubbish examples but if you've come across it you'll know what I mean.

[NoSquirrels]

@MistandMud

‘He went head over heels’ — well, yes, that’s the usual way up for a human, surely?

This means you fell over - you took a tumble. You head went down, like a somersault.

Think of it as ‘fell head over heels’

[NoSquirrels]

@SinisterBumFacedCat

When something very very expensive is described as “priceless”. Surely something without a price is free?

It’s meant to indicate that not everything of value has a price.

It cannot be sold for money, you cannot buy it, it is too valuable.

[PeonyTime]

@Fizbosshoes

Sleeping like a baby or I slept like a baby.

This annoys me since having a baby usually means years months of disrupted sleep!!

I much prefer the Chinese version of this, which is sleeping like a pig.
I too had babies that didnt sleep!

[PurpleEchoLamp]

The one that really gets my goat is 'Bless'
I have a colleague who uses it a lot. Usually after something negative has been said about someone, she says "awww, bless".

Why??!

[dementedma]

Needs must is only part of the idiom which should be " needs must when the devil drives".
Its a very old saying meaning you have to do something even if you dont particularly want to.

[Fizbosshoes]

Are there any south African MN who can explain starting a sentence with the word "Shame" or using as a response to something.

Eg seeing a puppy or small child
"Shame, they're so cute!"

[CaptainMyCaptain]

One phrase which annoys me and has been used wrongly since the 70s is 'winter of discontent'. It is a quote from Richard III and means practically the opposite to the way it is used.

writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/the-winter-of-our-discontent

[MrsPelligrinoPetrichor]

@PurpleSapphire

"I could care less" rather than "I couldn't care less".

Thay just wrong( in the UK) though because it IS 'I couldn't care less'

Americans seem to use could care less.

[daisym00n]

“It's always in the last place you look” Of course it is. Once you’ve found it you stop looking!

[NovRainbow5]

Believe you me.

Makes no Seneca at all 😩

[waybill]

@Daisyhoney

I hate the expression ' getting your ducks in a row ' - what does that really mean ?

It comes from the fairground and the shoot-em-up pellet gun game, where you have a row of little ducks along the back that need to be shot down to win the prize.

[NovRainbow5]

• sense

[careerchangeperhaps]

When we talk about an alarm or timer 'going off' when it's actually coming ON.
It was my 3 year old that told me it made no sense!