If you mentioned to someone that you hoped to find a really good boyfriend or girlfriend within the next year, and their reply was…“You can’t catch a whale with a bream hook”…What would you take that to mean??
Thank you!!
I would take it to mean that I can’t just say I want to find a boy/girlfriend, that I actually need to do something proactive to make it happen, otherwise it won’t happen.
And I’d take it to mean that the prospective mate-finder was being assessed as under-equipped for the task in hand. A bream is a small coarse fish that might weigh a few pounds at best, fished for with a hook measuring a fraction of an inch - tackle that’s useless to the point of contemptibility for whale-fishing.
I would take it to mean that the person being told that is, to the understanding of the person telling, underequipped, either physically, emotionally, or financially, to actually find a good mate.
I’ve never heard the expression before so I’ll give an “IMHO” answer. Without reading the replies, I agreed with Malacandra’s interpretation, but it could easily be the alternative suggested by sandra_nz as well. Like most sayings, it probably depends on the speaker and/or how it was said.
Yes, if it was from somebody who is not known for their kindness, I would probably take it as an insult. If it was from a good friend that has a habit of mindlessly tossing out such folksy expressions, I wouldn’t think much of it.
I’d take it to mean you’ve been dissed! Your “hook” isn’t big enough to catch a really good boyfriend or girlfriend.
**Interpretation: **If you go fishing, and you want to catch a whale, then you should have went mammaling, because everyone knows that whales ain’t fish.
That’s what I get out of it.
Either that or you’re stone-cold ugly and have the personality of a fish.
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A bream hook isn’t something used in whaling. I wouldn’t translate it into anything relevant to the situation.
I’d interpret it to mean that the lure you’re using is completely unsuited to the task at hand. Granted the phrasing does strongly suggest “completely inadequate,” but I’d hope it wasn’t meant maliciously, hence the more neutral translation.
That’s the point of the expression, isn’t it? Meaning either that the boyfriend/girlfriend you’re planning to catch is way out of your league, or the method you’re using to go about “hooking” them is totally inadequate.
If you are a guy, you were probably insulted. A bream hook is for catching smaller fish. Apparently your …uh… “friend” thinks your equipment is not of sufficient size for the task in hand.
Of course, by using such an archaic saying, your friend was able to insult you and then saunter away before you socked him one. Your friend may not think too much of your manhood, but this person still fears your flying fists of fury.
Didn’t know what a bream hook was before reading the thread, but I would have interpreted the comment as meaning the person thought that for some reason I would fail in my endeavor, probably related to my own personal qualities.
Not sure what your location is, but my New Hampshire relatives use this phrase in a similar way to how the Georgia ones use “You’ll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”
It is usually said with a gleam in the eye, as a humorous hint that you’d need to make some changes in your approach.
You can’t catch one with a whale-hook either. Unless it’s on the end of a harpoon. But do you really want a whale in the first place?
Or that someone who expects to find a really good boyfriend or girlfriend within the next year better start thinking about lowering those expectations to a boyfriend or girlfriend sometime!
CMC fnord!