# Common English phrases that, when you really think about it, don't make sense **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 28, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080 "2011-10-28T15:35:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/41 "2011-10-30T07:42:46Z")
Okay, here’s my case: Not a phrase, but just a word: My peeve is writers (this is seen often in news articles, etc.) using either the word **stanch** or **staunch** where the other should be, as if those words are interchangeable. (Yes, I’ve seen it mentioned in some descriptivist fictionaries that one or both of these words can be used with both meanings. But that merely _describes_ the way people are mangling the usage. That doesn’t convince me of anything useful.) I also wonder about the word disgruntled. What does it mean to be gruntled? Is gruntle also a verb? ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/42 "2011-10-30T08:09:53Z")
I still hate the word ‘extraordinary’. I get it is ‘extra’ like ‘outside of’, but it still _sounds_ weird. Extra-terrestrial doesn’t invoke that response from me, but extraordinary does. Maybe because of that song - can’t think of all the lyrics now - but he pronounces is extra…ordinary. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/43 "2011-10-30T08:16:21Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > OK, two more then. > > One, half assed. What does your ass have to do with how much effort you put into something? Oh, and I already looked at Urban dictionary first before posting this, so :p. > > Two, laughing your ass off. Uhm, it’s your head that does the laughing, so laughing your head off makes sense. The former I’ve always assumed was just the insertion of profanity into a phrase, like abso-fucking-lutely. It’s just used for emphasis. The latter makes sense to me: You laugh so hard that you fall out of your chair, as if you no longer have an ass. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/44 "2011-10-30T08:19:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, yeah, “half-assed”. Whoever coined that one obviously didn’t know very many mules-- They _never_ do anything in a half-assed way. ♪The mink who lost her furry scarf, she said it was stolen. The shoe salesman wanted to help because he had so much sole, but then his whole left side fell off so he’s all right now. A pregnant heifer saw it happen and yeah, she had a cow. And the CO[sub]2[/sub] delivery guy always gives me gas and I really hate mules because they’re so half-assed.♫ [quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:40, topic:601080”] Okay, descriptivists, is the target on my back big enough now? 😃 [/QUOTE] I’m resisting so many posts in this thread, it’s almost become a real physical effort. But if guizot can’t make you reconsider your starting assumptions there’s nothing I can do. CP, ♪L is for the way you look at me. O is for the only one I see. V is very very EXTRA ordinary. E is even more than anyone that you adore♫ ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/45 "2011-10-30T09:42:17Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “Turned up”, as in “He turned up missing.” I’ve occasionally suspected “turned up” was possibly derived from cards. As in flipping a face down card over to reveal what it is; I’ve seen that referred to as “turning up the card”. So “turned up” could have evolved into a term for “revealed”; “he turned up missing” meaning the same as “he was revealed to be missing”. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/46 "2011-10-30T09:47:06Z")
My theory about “I could care less” is that the phrase started out as “ **As if I could care less** ”, with people eventually dropping the first two words and thus inadvertedly reversing its meaning. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/47 "2011-10-30T10:24:55Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The former I’ve always assumed was just the insertion of profanity into a phrase, like abso-fucking-lutely. It’s just used for emphasis. > > The latter makes sense to me: You laugh so hard that you fall out of your chair, as if you no longer have an ass. Or perhaps even “your ass is off the chair.” It fits with the other acronym ROTFL, which is where you’ve not only fallen out of the chair, but are actually rolling on the floor, laughing. Then there’s the idea that you are moving so much that you will lose weight, and the ass is one of the stores of fat. In other words, there are a lot of ways to make it make sense. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/48 "2011-10-30T11:24:18Z")
_“Have your cake and eat it too.”_ What!? \*Of course \*if you (first) have some cake, you can then (second) eat it too. Nothing very interesting about that. The proper phrase has it the other way around: _“Eat your cake and have it too.”_ When you say it that way it correctly expresses the intent-- ie: someone who consumes something, yet still possesses it afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/49 "2011-10-30T16:53:52Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > My theory about “I could care less” is that the phrase started out as “ **As if I could care less** ”, with people eventually dropping the first two words and thus inadvertedly reversing its meaning. Everything I’ve ever read says it started as “I couldn’t care less,” which is still how I hear most educated people use the phrase. “I could care less” is used by people who are mimicking the original phrase without thinking about what it means. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/50 "2011-10-30T19:51:21Z")
I find that “I could care less… but I don’t.” can be quite effective. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/51 "2011-10-30T20:30:00Z")
“Sweating like a pig.” Pigs don’t sweat. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/52 "2011-10-30T20:30:41Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > Seldom’s pet peeve…“_It’ll get worse before it gets better_” Say what?? how do you know? Well, there’s an episode of The Simpsons where Chief Wiggum gets his tie caught in a meatgrinder, or something like that. As he is being sucked in, he utters that exact phrase. He seemed to know. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/53 "2011-10-30T21:31:43Z")
When people say something is “very unique”. Uh, isn’t unique different than anything else by definition - how can it be _more_ unique by adding the word “very” to it? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/54 "2011-10-30T21:35:11Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > “Sweating like a pig.” “You eat like a bird.” That’s right, I scarf down a third of my own body weight every day - otherwise I start to feel poorly. ETA: Similarly, “Sleeping like a baby.” _Really?_ Are you sure you don’t want to re-think that analogy? Maybe after you’ve reproduced? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/55 "2011-10-31T02:18:43Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > … > I also wonder about the word disgruntled. What does it mean to be gruntled? Is gruntle also a verb? The Society for the Preservation of Tithesis commends your ebriated and scrutable use of delible and defatigable tithesis, which are gainly, sipid and couth. We are gruntled and consolate that you have the ertia and eptitidue to choose such putably pensible tithesis, which we parage. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/56 "2011-10-31T02:27:08Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > The Society for the Preservation of Tithesis commends your ebriated and scrutable use of delible and defatigable tithesis, which are gainly, sipid and couth. We are gruntled and consolate that you have the ertia and eptitidue to choose such putably pensible tithesis, which we parage. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/57 "2011-10-31T09:36:20Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > “You eat like a bird.” That’s right, I scarf down a third of my own body weight every day - otherwise I start to feel poorly. > > ETA: Similarly, “Sleeping like a baby.” _Really?_ Are you sure you don’t want to re-think that analogy? Maybe after you’ve reproduced? Some people get blessed with babies that sleep like logs. And even some of those who do things like wake up every 4 hours because they Need Milk NOW have been known to go back to snoreland right fast once fed, burped and changed; many of them can’t be awakened by noises or situations which send a grown-up into fright mode (once The Bros fell asleep in the car, no amount of curves or honking would wake them, nor would parking the car; they took some heavy-duty shaking). So, my guess is that whomever came up with that line simply had one of the comfy kids. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/58 "2011-10-31T10:03:35Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > The Society for the Preservation of Tithesis commends your ebriated and scrutable use of delible and defatigable tithesis, which are gainly, sipid and couth. We are gruntled and consolate that you have the ertia and eptitidue to choose such putably pensible tithesis, which we parage. I resemble that! (Moderators, are you going to let him get away with this? 🙂 ) May I also add that my manner of dress – and my manners in general – are thoroughly peccable. ETA: How can you be simultaneously gruntled and consolate? Is that oxymoronic or hydromoronic? (Or, og help us, even nitromoronic?) ---
**Author:** ![raskolnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47c2d/32.png) [@raskolnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raskolnik)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/59 "2011-10-31T12:19:18Z")
Drunk as a fish…works… Russian “Drunk as a horse?” screws up my mind every time. Where are these drunken Russian horses? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080/60 "2011-10-31T15:10:36Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > “You eat like a bird.” That’s right, I scarf down a third of my own body weight every day - otherwise I start to feel poorly. I chuckle about this phrase whenever I watch the birds going at the feeder. Especially the hummingbirds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-english-phrases-that-when-you-really-think-about-it-dont-make-sense/601080.md?page=4)