Phrases and sayings you just don't understand

[Remieatscake]

Such as:

'Life isn't a bed of roses you know''
Well, yes I think it is really because roses have thorns - the tough bits of life but they also have the beautiful petals of the flower - the good parts of life...overly simplistic but you get my drift.....

''Oh, I slept like a baby'' - surely this is meant to mean I slept badly but people seem to say it wen they have slept well. Not a mum (yet) but I am an overnight nanny amongst other things so know that babies do not generally sleep well!

Will think of some more I'm sure but in the mean time anyone else think of sayings that don't really make sense?

Talking of funny expressions, in a way. I had radio 4 on in the car this morning and they were saying that Beavers were going to be protected in Scotland - at first I thought of all the little boys in their Beavers uniform

Aaw, heehee! Yes, my mind conjures up mad images of things when I listen to stuff. I asked my DH if he does this, but he doesn't he says.

I've heard it as "She's no better than she ought to be" in reference to a woman of (perceived) loose sexual morals. Mainly by older members of the family, it must be said.

It looks like I've misunderstood "no better than she ought to be" for years.

I thought it meant, a person who was snobbish (Hyacinth Bucket) who thought she was better/a cut above, but who in fact was no better than she ought to be (for her social position).

I have been wrong about that all these years Not that I've ever said it to/about anyone so that's something.

"Over my dead body"

You can't do it or you can't have it.

My older dsis is always saying "It's horses for courses" and "It's swings and roundabouts" - I just nod along in agreement but I haven't a clue what she is on about!!

Over my dead body

"That can be arranged..." is always the answer in the movies.

Comparing apples with oranges

They are both fruits and roughly the same size. Pretty similar, I'd say!

the one I don't get is when they say 'a dead body' - aren't all bodies dead? They'd say a man/woman/child whatever if they were alive

Dead body makes perfect sense to me. We label parts of the body at school. Ask kids to name parts of their body. Their bodies are alive. A dead body is a body that is no longer alive.

I think horses for courses is that different people are suited to different things and swings and roundabouts is that it doesn't matter which one you choose as neither choice will have a different outcome - like six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Regan that makes sense but when they say in the paper 'Police found a dead body' then the dead is superfluous isn't it?

On the apples/oranges thing, perhaps they mean although they have many similarities, there ARE differences? Aargh, so confused now

Comparing Apples and Oranges mean trying to compare two things that may have some basic similarities but are vastly different.

No, your body now is alive Regan!! Unless you are a disembodied spirit with no corporeal presence, that is.

It means "You'll have to kill me before I let you do that".

Swings and roundabouts =there are both swings and roundabouts, they are different but each good for different kinds of play.
Horses for courses = you choose the horse for the specific course, one horse may win on a certain terrain, another on a different course.

Both are useful expressions when you have two alternative choices that are both good but in different ways.

On the BBC site the other day I saw the phrase "killing her dead" .

Well, in common parlance we'd say person if they were alive, body for dead, but technically, body could refer to something alive, so I suppose it's to avoid any ambiguity.

NameChangeSameRage

That makes sense, thanks.

Loving this thread.

My DP and his work mates always say "keep your hand on it" at the end of their phone calls. I asked him once what it meant but he said he didn't know either😂😂

@downcasteyes

I think you may have confused me with someone else.

Pull your finger out

Where has your finger been?

Ooh, anyone know the origin of 'keep your eye in'? Meaning keep your skills up to date. Like, 'I'm doing some temp jobs just to keep my eye in'.

As mad as a brush

I've always wondered just how mad is a brush? And who discovered brushes were mad??

@lookingelsewhere

Up your backside, I believe. Why it would be there in the first place, I don't know. But I've definitely heard it as, 'pull your finger out your arse'.

lookingelsewhere The full saying "pull your finger out of your arse" I think. I have no idea of the origin, though!

Many, many suggested origins for "pull your finger out" here www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-26685,00.html