# Phrases Which Mean The Same Thing, Except When They Don’t **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 21, 2022, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883 "2022-12-21T06:12:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/1 "2022-12-21T06:12:36Z")
For example, “I’m sorry” usually means the same thing as “I apologize”. Except at funerals. “Mind your own business” means the same thing as “Mind your own beeswax”. But you can’t “get down to beeswax”. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/2 "2022-12-21T06:58:16Z")
Fuckin’ is all about ruinin’ it, doing it in and doing that to a state of completion. Of course fuckin’ is all about getting passionate and getting laid. Different meaning, escept when they don’t. The ruinination motifs push away some subset of the (mostly) yound who haven’t participated yet. Because they aren’t out to ruin anything and dont’ approach it all as if it were a competition. This despite recognizing ways in which people can become adversarial, antagonistic. “It is not”, she says, “something we’re disposed towards”. The generalizations are sexist. The generalizations are the product of direct experience. The generalizalions apply and we need to study how and value the experiende that experiende is not as we had anticipated it ---
**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:** [December 21, 2022, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/3 "2022-12-21T08:28:18Z")
…huh? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/4 "2022-12-21T10:12:06Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > “Mind your own business” means the same thing as “Mind your own beeswax”. But you can’t “get down to beeswax”. A strange second example, given the thread title about _phrases_ and your first example (which perfectly illustrated what you meant). There is no context in which the phrase “mind your own beeswax” is not completely synonymous with “mind your own business”. The invented “get down to beeswax” is a different phrase, not the same phrase with a different meaning in a certain context. And it’s not even correct to say that “get down to beeswax” means something different from “get down to business”. The former phrase is just not used. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/5 "2022-12-21T14:21:20Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Fuckin’ is all about ruinin’ it, doing it in and doing that to a state of completion. > Of course fuckin’ is all about getting passionate and getting laid. Different meaning, escept when they don’t. See also: Shit. Usually if something is referred to as ‘shit’, it’s a bad or undesirable thing. “It all want to shit”. “My cooking is shit”. Unless it’s referring to something like a gourmet food or a fine, expensive alcoholic beverage (or in my youth an illegal herbal substance)…“that’s some good shit, man!” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/6 "2022-12-21T14:37:39Z")
Or even, “Man, that stuff’s the shit!” meaning it’s excellent. Plus of course “He’s hot shit.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/7 "2022-12-21T14:42:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Plus of course “He’s hot shit.” “Man, it’s hot as shit out there!” “Man, it’s cold as shit out there!” ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/8 "2022-12-21T14:42:52Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Fuckin’ is all about ruinin’ it, doing it in and doing that to a state of completion. > Of course fuckin’ is all about getting passionate and getting laid. Different meaning, escept when they don’t. > > The ruinination motifs push away some subset of the (mostly) yound who haven’t participated yet. Because they aren’t out to ruin anything and dont’ approach it all as if it were a competition. > > This despite recognizing ways in which people can become adversarial, antagonistic. “It is not”, she says, “something we’re disposed towards”. > > The generalizations are sexist. The generalizations are the product of direct experience. The generalizalions apply and we need to study how and value the experiende that experiende is not as we had anticipated it …what? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/9 "2022-12-21T14:43:33Z")
ETA: @The_Other_Waldo_Pepper two posts above. Which both tell us “as shit” means “excessively”. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/10 "2022-12-21T14:48:07Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > …what? ChatGPT 0.2 Alpha? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/11 "2022-12-21T15:05:21Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > …huh? > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > …what? Damn Ambien. Must’ve kicked in between start and completion of the post. I’ve had this kind of experiende before 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/12 "2022-12-21T17:17:49Z")
The examples were meant to be different to show either type of alternate meaning is acceptable in this thread. But given the title perhaps it was superfluous. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/13 "2022-12-21T17:27:57Z")
“That is one cool cat” means someone is smooth, interesting, stylish, etc. Except when you are talking about snow leopards. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/14 "2022-12-21T20:57:20Z")
“Every other item” often means the same as “every second item”, except when it means “except for the item being excluded”. You see these fence posts? Please hang up this decoration on every other post. You see this fence post with its own decoration already? Put this new decoration on every other post. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/15 "2022-12-21T21:07:45Z")
Britain went to war with France. Britain went to war with France against Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/16 "2022-12-21T21:10:39Z")
I can’t find the exact wording, but there’s a short poem about a father telling his son to “lay the axe at the root of the tree”, and the son doing so. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/17 "2022-12-22T02:09:39Z")
“Either” generally means one or the other, but not both. “You can have either soup or salad with your meal.” Unless I say “There are houses on either side of the street,” in which case it _does_ mean both. ---
**Author:** ![Feurmann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/779978/32.png) [@Feurmann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feurmann)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/18 "2022-12-22T06:34:56Z")
I think what is being discussed here are auto-antonyms or contranyms. That is, a word that can have contradictory or opposed meanings. The example that the above link points to in [The Grammarist](https://grammarist.com/words/sanction/) blog is “sanction”, which can mean either something which is approved of or subject to penalties. I also rather like the phrase “He’s got a lot to be modest about”. This can be taken to mean that the person referred to has either many positive achievements, which they are downplaying, or that those achievements are nothing to boast about. Similarly “I can’t speak too highly of him”. ---
**Author:** ![banjopatterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@banjopatterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/banjopatterson)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/19 "2022-12-22T12:03:26Z")
Some languages have different words for sorry, as in “sorry I ran over your grandmother” and “sorry about your grandfather dying”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883/20 "2022-12-22T17:33:24Z")
> **[I'm Sorry](https://xkcd.com/945/)** > > You know I've always hated her. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-which-mean-the-same-thing-except-when-they-don-t/976883.md?page=2)