# A Couple of Colloquialisms That Seem To Make No Sense
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 13, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628 "2009-06-13T01:36:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/1 "2009-06-13T01:36:00Z")
“For What It’s Worth” – Really lame people sometimes put this at the end of a message board post or corporate email. Does this really convey any information at all? It seems like a shortened version of “I offer the above advice for what it’s worth.” Why else would you give advice except if you believed it had worth? The only alternative seems to be, “I offer the above not for what it’s worth, but just to hear myself ramble”?
“…came to a grinding halt”. Regardless of what it is that is grinding, wouldn’t it stop grinding once it has reached the state of being in a halt? “Ground to a halt” I can understand. But the halt itself can’t be grinding, only the process of reaching the halt. The dictionary says the verb “to halt” means to come to a stop, but the noun “halt” means the condition of being stopped.
By the way, when I looked up “halt” on [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com), I accidentally typed in [dictionry.com](http://dictionry.com), and I got a page that described itself as “links to online dictioneries [sic]”. I found that rather amusing.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/2 "2009-06-13T02:49:55Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#):
>
> “For What It’s Worth” – Really lame people sometimes put this at the end of a message board post or corporate email. Does this really convey any information at all? It seems like a shortened version of “I offer the above advice for what it’s worth.” Why else would you give advice except if you believed it had worth? The only alternative seems to be, “I offer the above not for what it’s worth, but just to hear myself ramble”?
No, the general usage is: “Here is an idea. I don’t know what merit it has, but it may be useful. That can be determined later.”
> [@](#):
>
> “…came to a grinding halt”. Regardless of what it is that is grinding, wouldn’t it stop grinding once it has reached the state of being in a halt? “Ground to a halt” I can understand. But the halt itself can’t be grinding, only the process of reaching the halt. The dictionary says the verb “to halt” means to come to a stop, but the noun “halt” means the condition of being stopped.
It means “it comes to a halt making a grinding sound.” “Coming to a halt” is an action. It is not halted; it is reaching that state and makes a sound while doing so (though the image is that the brakes are suddenly being applied – and the phrase probably returns to train brakes, which were very noisy when applied.)
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### Author:  [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/3 "2009-06-13T11:25:37Z")
Lots of colloquialisms make no sense. “Cheap at half the price”, for instance, is one of my pet peeves. It seems to be used to imply that something is good value for money. But virtually anything would be considered cheap if you halved its price.
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### Author:  [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Seventh_Deadly_Finn)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/4 "2009-06-13T11:46:13Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#):
>
> “For What It’s Worth” – Really lame people sometimes put this at the end of a message board post or corporate email. Does this really convey any information at all? It seems like a shortened version of “I offer the above advice for what it’s worth.”
I think it’s more like a shortened version of “for what_ever_ it’s worth.” The speaker offers the information without any guarantee as to its value. May be worth a lot; may be worth nothing.
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### Author:  [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/5 "2009-06-13T12:02:07Z")
I always took it to mean that the person offering the advice was unsure of its worth. It’s the difference between:
“I have personal knowledge of this and what you need to do is…”
And:
“Anecdotally, I’ve heard what you are supposed to do is…”
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### Author:  [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/6 "2009-06-13T12:24:41Z")
> [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](#):
>
> Lots of colloquialisms make no sense. “Cheap at half the price”, for instance, is one of my pet peeves. It seems to be used to imply that something is good value for money. But virtually anything would be considered cheap if you halved its price.
Huh, I’d always heard ‘cheap at twice the price’ (actually, read - I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say this out loud), but a quick Google nets 19,700 for ‘half’ and 17,700 for ‘twice’. My WAG would be that it was originally sarcastic, and then lost that meaning.
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### Author:  [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/7 "2009-06-13T12:41:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> It means “it comes to a halt making a grinding sound.” “Coming to a halt” is an action. It is not halted; it is reaching that state and makes a sound while doing so (though the image is that the brakes are suddenly being applied – and the phrase probably returns to train brakes, which were very noisy when applied.)
If that were true, it would be “came grindingly to a halt”, which is almost the same as “ground to a halt” which makes perfect sense. But “halt”, used as a noun, means the condition of being stopped, not the process of coming to a stop. In that sense, a halt can’t be grinding, but halting can be.
Regarding the train brakes, maybe what they mean is that the train stopped so suddenly it locked up its wheels, which I can imagine would make a grinding sound as they skidded along the rails.
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### Author:  [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/8 "2009-06-13T13:57:57Z")
For someone named **hyperelastic** , you’re pretty rigid in your definitions 😛
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/9 "2009-06-13T14:41:20Z")
“Cheap at half the price” is a scornful way of suggesting something is grossly overpriced.
“Cheap at twice the price” is an informal way of saying something is a great bargain.
I think a lot of fools use the first when they mean the second.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/10 "2009-06-13T14:46:45Z")
“I could care less.” Of course they actually _mean_ “I couldn’t care less,” but the first form has become widespread.
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### Author:  [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/11 "2009-06-13T16:13:25Z")
> [@arseNal](#):
>
> For someone named **hyperelastic** , you’re pretty rigid in your definitions 😛
Well played!
But you have to remember that this message board probably contains several megabytes of arguments over whether saying “nucular” should be a Constitutional disqualification for the Presidency, and whether execution or merely life in prison is a suitable punishment for people who don’t use apostrophe’s correctly. So around here, I’m par for the course.
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### Author:  [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/12 "2009-06-13T19:09:24Z")
What about something that comes to a halt and is making a grinding sound now because it’s jammed up?
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### Author:  [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/13 "2009-06-13T20:04:43Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#):
>
> But “halt”, used as a noun, means the condition of being stopped, not the process of coming to a stop.
Since the phrase in question includes “came to …” it isn’t a giant stretch to think that what’s being described is the process - that included grinding - of coming to a stop, rather than a state of stoppage that continues to grind.
To be sure, “came grinding to a halt” might be more precise. But it may be unrealistic to expect high precision from colloquialisms.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/14 "2009-06-13T21:34:16Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> “I could care less.” Of course they actually _mean_ “I couldn’t care less,” but the first form has become widespread.
I couldn’t care less for “I could care less”, but I’m pretty sure the saying started out as “as if I could care less”, spoken sarcastically.
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### Author:  [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/15 "2009-06-14T01:17:08Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#):
>
> IBut “halt”, used as a noun, means the condition of being stopped, not the process of coming to a stop. In that sense, a halt can’t be grinding, but halting can be.
By itself maybe. But “grinding” is a modifier which makes a noun phrase “grinding halt” which has a different meaning. See also “rolling stop” and “California stop”. “He died a slow death” is acceptable for the same reason, even though once you are dead, it can’t be said to have any speed. There are many examples of this - “a slow boil”, for instance.
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### Author:  [@JBENZver2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBENZver2)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/16 "2009-06-14T01:59:29Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> I couldn’t care less for “I could care less”, but I’m pretty sure the saying started out as “as if I could care less”, spoken sarcastically.
Close but no cigar. It’s Valley Girl Speech and a shortened form of “I COULD care less but it isn’t worth the effort.”
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### Author:  [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/17 "2009-06-14T18:42:15Z")
The one that bugs me is All That Gitters is not Gold.
“Does it glitter?”
“Yup, sure does.”
“Then it’s not gold. Let’s move on.”
I always want to mutter, “Not all that glitters, Dumas.”
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### Author:  [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/18 "2009-06-14T20:04:41Z")
Jitters.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/19 "2009-06-14T20:35:45Z")
> [@DesertDog](#):
>
> The one that bugs me is All That Gitters is not Gold.
And anyway, it’s “glisters,” if one wants to be true to the original.
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### Author:  [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/20 "2009-06-15T00:44:41Z")
Whenever I hear the phrase “grinding halt” I picture some kind of axle making a grinding noise, losing speed and eventually seizing. Grinding = grinding metal or something.
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