# Favorite Idioms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 23, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497 "2011-10-23T02:00:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/1 "2011-10-23T02:00:37Z")
Inspired by the [Most Hated Idioms](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=627011) thread, how about favorites? One I’ve always liked is: “Even a clock that doesn’t run is right twice a day.” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/2 "2011-10-23T03:11:55Z")
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/3 "2011-10-23T19:06:22Z")
“I yam what I yam” - Popeye ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/4 "2011-10-23T19:09:26Z")
“You can’t have your Crown of Thorns AND your 30 pieces of silver”. ---
**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 24, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/5 "2011-10-24T00:38:02Z")
> [@slowlearner](#): > > “I yam what I yam” - Popeye _Cogito ergo spud._ ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/6 "2011-10-24T01:06:03Z")
My old friend Jim used to say,_“Ain’t that some shit?”_ A saying that can be used in many situations. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/7 "2011-10-24T03:49:29Z")
“He’s a couple fries short of a happy meal.” “He couldn’t pour piss out of a boot with instructions on the heel.” Kind of gross, but the picture is so absurd I have to chuckle. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/8 "2011-10-24T11:00:10Z")
“As drunk as a Lord” “As pissed as a newt” “Three sheets to the wind” “Brahms and Liszt” all have the same meaning but put it a little more creatively than just “hammered”. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/9 "2011-10-24T15:49:55Z")
When describing someone who’s a bit nuts, my old dad used to say, “She’s (or he’s) not wrapped too tight.” He’d also say, when finished with something (it could be reading an historical marker, or at the end of a movie, dinner, or even when leaving a site like the Grand Canyon), “There’s your deal for you.” He always appreciated things, and loved learning about and seeing new things, but I always got the impression he was hard to impress. Saying “there’s your deal for ya” said to me he was satisfied, but underwhelmed. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/10 "2011-10-24T16:44:28Z")
My all-time favourite: “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.” “Well that’s better than a poke in the eye with a hot stick.” similar to: “Well that’s better than a kick in the ass with a frozen boot.” From the _Dukes of Hazzard_, Uncle Jesse: “He’s as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/11 "2011-10-25T19:40:06Z")
“Boy, are you in the wrong church”–Whenever anyone makes a statement about me that isn’t true. “Shoot them all and let God sort them out” ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/12 "2011-10-25T20:10:39Z")
“Leading the lemmings to the light” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/13 "2011-10-25T20:56:04Z")
> [@slowlearner](#): > > “I yam what I yam” - Popeye And its corollary: “I sweet potato what I sweet potato.” Anyway, one of my faves, which I learned in med school: “ **You can see a lot just by looking**.” Also: “ **Give a hoot, don’t litter**.” ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/14 "2011-10-26T14:36:00Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > “ **Give a hoot, don’t litter**.” When I was a kid it was “Give a hoot, don’t pollute.” Made the rhyme. I love the Internet Meme sayings: “And not a single fuck was given that day.” “Well THERE’S your problem.” “Looks legit.” etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/15 "2011-10-26T16:03:38Z")
My all-time favorite is anything Foghorn Leghorn says. “Nice boy, but about as sharp as a sack of wet mice.” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/16 "2011-10-26T18:17:29Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > When I was a kid it was “Give a hoot, don’t pollute.” Made the rhyme. Whoosh! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/17 "2011-10-26T18:36:35Z")
My favorite: “We have met the enemy and he is us!” By Walt Kelly, of course… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/18 "2011-10-26T21:47:16Z")
My newest one, because of a true story a friend of mine told me. “don’t build your hammock over the horseshit.” ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/19 "2011-10-27T01:02:48Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > “Shoot them all and let God sort them out” That one’s actually as “old as dirt” (I’ll do you a favor and not link to TVTropes). It goes back to some Babylonian general (IIRC, it’s been a long time since I read about it) who said “Kill them all. The Gods will recognize their own.” Which is, of course **my** favorite answer for the OP. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497/20 "2011-10-27T08:00:12Z")
“Barking up the wrong tree.” Vividly paints a funny picture which metaphorically matches the situation perfectly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-idioms/600497.md?page=2)