# 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:** 14
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/21 "2009-06-15T00:51:04Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#):
>
> 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.
Which do you choose?
---
### Author:  [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/22 "2009-06-15T01:58:24Z")
“Cheap at twice the price” is the correct saying. Meaning, that it’d still be inexpensive given the worth.
If I were to hear “cheap at half the price,” I’d imagine that something were a piece of junk, given the other meaning of cheap as being a piece of junk. That is, it’s junk, even if it only cost half as much. Again, though, the common use is “cheap at twice the price.”
---
### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/23 "2009-06-15T02:39:48Z")
And why do so many people standing IN line insist on describing themselves as standing ON line?
---
### Author:  [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/24 "2009-06-15T02:59:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> And why do so many people standing IN line insist on describing themselves as standing ON line?
I knew it was a regional usage thing, and a quick search suggested that it was a New york or otherwise northeastern US thing.
And for what it’s worth, I am very annoyed by the transformation of “cheap” to mean merely “inexpensive” instead of “of lesser worth”.
---
### Author:  [@snowmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowmaster)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/25 "2009-06-15T03:25:29Z")
Stop, Children what’s that sound?
Everybody look what’s going down.
---
### Author:  [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/26 "2009-06-15T07:53:05Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> And why do so many people standing IN line insist on describing themselves as standing ON line?
One that bugs me around here is the traffic report..“there is slow traffic on lane three”
That would be IN lane three you moron.
Another one I hate (although I am not sure about the correctness or otherwise) is AT the weekend. I always thought it should be over, during or even on would be preferable…
---
### Author:  [@bagga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bagga)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/27 "2009-06-16T14:06:13Z")
> [@bengangmo](#):
>
> One that bugs me around here is the traffic report..“there is slow traffic on lane three”
>
> That would be IN lane three you moron.
>
> Another one I hate (although I am not sure about the correctness or otherwise) is AT the weekend. I always thought it should be over, during or even on would be preferable…
Isn’t that one legitimate, though? I mean, the traffic is sitting upon the physical lane.
---
### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/28 "2009-06-16T14:10:13Z")
> [@JBENZver2](#):
>
> 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.”
Are you suggesting that it’s unrelated to “I couldn’t care less?”
Because I’m quite sure “couldn’t” predates “could”.
---
### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/29 "2009-06-16T14:29:32Z")
Sound as the dollar"-always made me laughthe USD has been “unsound” for over 40 years!
---
### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/30 "2009-06-16T14:30:05Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#):
>
> 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.
That’s odd. When I Googled them I got 19,600 for the phrase with “half” and 29,200 for the phrase with “twice.”
Did you search for them as phrases (with double quotes around the whole thing) or just as loose words?
---
### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/31 "2009-06-16T14:34:26Z")
Here’s one that was explained for me here on the dope.
Pure as the driven snow.
I assumed that this was an insult - snow that has been driven on is dirt and sullied.
However, \*driven \*in this case means driven by the wind and is pure.
---
### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/32 "2009-06-16T14:43:57Z")
> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> Sound as the dollar"-always made me laughthe USD has been “unsound” for over 40 years!
Eh? For 40 years it’s been the _de facto_ global currency. The fact that it isn’t backed by gold anymore is meaningless; if the US government collapses (or defaults), chances are none of your money will be worth anything anyway.
---
### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/33 "2009-06-16T14:58:56Z")
> [@DesertDog](#):
>
> 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.”
It’s “glisters,” and it’s Shakespeare (from _Merchant of Venice_). I think it’s pretty clear what the intent is, and he was trying to fit the line within a specific rhythm.
---
### Author:  [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628/34 "2009-06-16T15:13:08Z")
…
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-colloquialisms-that-seem-to-make-no-sense/499628.md?page=1)