# Metaphorical phrases that just irk you. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2010, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932 "2010-04-13T07:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/41 "2010-04-14T05:09:21Z")
> [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](#): > > I can’t stand the phrase “this music is making my ears cum” or something similar to that. My ears are not sexual. They do not have orgasms. They do not ejaculate semen. Just, no. No. Human beings actually say this? I think if someone said this in my presence, I would open-palm slap them. That’s such a grotesque mental image. I have heard “eargasm” which isn’t terrific, but the visual image of a twitching ear oozing spooge makes me want to retch. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/42 "2010-04-14T07:10:12Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Human beings actually say this? I think if someone said this in my presence, I would open-palm slap them. That’s such a grotesque mental image. I have heard “eargasm” which isn’t terrific, but the visual image of a twitching ear oozing spooge makes me want to retch. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it at least twice. I’m not saying that it’s really common. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/43 "2010-04-14T07:22:30Z")
“mom’s the word” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/44 "2010-04-14T07:37:43Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](#): > > Well, then, that renders the expression “Have your cake and eat it too,” even more nonsensical. > > ETA: What HenryGale said. You can’t eat a cake, then after you have eaten it, still have a cake. That’s what the expression is supposed to mean - you can’t eat your cake and also still have a cake. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/45 "2010-04-14T07:39:43Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > You can’t eat a cake, then after you have eaten it, still have a cake. That’s what the expression is supposed to mean - you can’t eat your cake and also still have a cake. Yes you can, as I explained in my post on the topic. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/46 "2010-04-14T07:48:07Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > “mom’s the word” I believe mum’s the word. And mum means [to be quiet](http://www.dictionary.net/mum). I always assumed it came from the concept “the word of the day is \_\_\_\_”. It meant that concept is one you are supposed to remember. Therefore, “mum’s the word” means “Remember to stay mum about this.” I think all these metaphors are cute, so I’m sorry I can’t answer the OP. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2010, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/47 "2010-04-14T07:50:59Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Yes you can, as I explained in my post on the topic. Geez. The portion of the cake you ate you cannot have. The portion you did not eat you can still have. And as long as you ate any of it, you cannot have the entire cake. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/48 "2010-04-14T09:16:00Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Geez. The portion of the cake you ate you cannot have. The portion you did not eat you can still have. And as long as you ate any of it, you cannot have the entire cake. This. You can’t eat something and still have it afterwards. (except in the sense of having it inside your stomach, for a while). This is not an exercise in deliberately and obtusely trying to misunderstand the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/49 "2010-04-14T09:24:01Z")
“Lemme axe you somethin’.” No. Don’t. No axing. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/50 "2010-04-14T10:03:39Z")
I don’t know if this qualifies but I hate the term ‘Good thinking Batman’ with a passion. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/51 "2010-04-14T10:05:23Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > This. > > You can’t eat something and still have it afterwards. (except in the sense of having it inside your stomach, for a while). > > This is not an exercise in deliberately and obtusely trying to misunderstand the phrase. The point I’m making is that it’s possible to hedge your bets on the subject; ie there’s a middle ground. Not just “Having Your Cake” or “Completely Eating Your Cake” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/52 "2010-04-14T10:23:25Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > The point I’m making is that it’s possible to hedge your bets on the subject; ie there’s a middle ground. Not just “Having Your Cake” or “Completely Eating Your Cake” Well, OK, but the whole point of the idiom is that you _can’t_ have it both ways. If you want it both ways, you have to change or misinterpret the idiom. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/53 "2010-04-14T12:00:13Z")
This is why we need _Star Trek_ian Replicators. With a Replicator you can “have”\* your cake, and eat it, and do any number of other things with it. \*I still loathe this phrasing. Aside from a spouse (“to have and to hold”), what else do people “have”? Generally people _own_ or _keep_ something, or _collect_ it or _hoard_ it, or use some other term. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/54 "2010-04-14T12:29:02Z")
The reason that I hate the phrase is that the reason to _possess_ a cake is to _consume_ it. I’ve never felt, eating my cake, as though I was someone missing the joy of merely owning it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/55 "2010-04-14T12:36:33Z")
> [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](#): > > The reason that I hate the phrase is that the reason to _possess_ a cake is to _consume_ it. I’ve never felt, eating my cake, as though I was someone missing the joy of merely owning it. Well, quite. I think it’s implied that the wish to still possess it after consumption would follow from the desire to consume it again at some later time. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/56 "2010-04-14T12:46:53Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Well, quite. I think it’s implied that the wish to still possess it after consumption would follow from the desire to consume it again at some later time. Right, but isn’t the line “you can’t have your cake and eat it too” used to emphasize the fact that you can’t use a disposable good for two different purposes at the same time? For example, that one cannot use an hour to both do homework for an hour and play soccer for an hour? If I’m wrong, well, I’m wrong. But if I’m right, the metaphor is pretty bad, because the only reason to have the cake would be to eat it again. So it really all comes down to eating the cake. Which is actually what I believe about life in general: it all comes down to eating the cake. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/57 "2010-04-14T14:04:20Z")
> [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](#): > > The reason that I hate the phrase is that the reason to _possess_ a cake is to _consume_ it. I’ve never felt, eating my cake, as though I was someone missing the joy of merely owning it. Well, J. Peterman can’t have his antique cake if Elaine eats it. He’ll have to settle for the Entenmenn’s. ---
**Author:** ![HenryGale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b782af/32.png) [@HenryGale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HenryGale)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/58 "2010-04-14T16:40:13Z")
> [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](#): > > The reason that I hate the phrase is that the reason to _possess_ a cake is to _consume_ it. I’ve never felt, eating my cake, as though I was someone missing the joy of merely owning it. You’ve never eaten your cake, and then gone “Aww, I wish I had more cake?” You’d have more cake if you hadn’t gone and eaten it all. But you can’t… Well, you know the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/59 "2010-04-16T15:35:36Z")
Not strictly within the terms of this thread but… Never assume, because if you do it makes an ass out of you and me. I make assumptions all of the time, I assume that I’m going to be alive in an hours time, that the sun will come up tomorrow, that I won’t be attacked by zombies on my way home. I think that some annoying little twat thought up that saying when he had to do a departmental presentation and other equally twattish individuals decided that they would borrow the saying as it sounded witty to them. Also another pet hate,there is no me in team. Sorry matey but the team is made up of individuals who look on themselves as “me”.(Not me personally you understand ) ---
**Author:** ![Arglefraster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@Arglefraster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arglefraster)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932/60 "2010-04-16T19:35:24Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I detest what I call _Corporate Latin_. It’s probably nothing in and of itself so much as the overuse when I worked in a cubicle farm. > > “Let’s touch base here, run this up the flagpole see how it flies, have a win-win situation, I’ve got a full plate, etc.” Or: You need to reach out to this customer. No. I’m not doing it. Because it’s fucking creepy. If I were the customer and a customer service rep reached out to me, I’d be creeped the fuck out. I _will_ on the other hand call and/or email this customer. Another phrase I hate is “the exception that proves the rule”. The [actual meaning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule#Original_meaning)of this does make sense. But I’ve never actually heard anyone use it properly. Not once! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metaphorical-phrases-that-just-irk-you/535932.md?page=4)