# Phrases you'd think people would know **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 15, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178 "2009-09-15T15:19:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/1 "2009-09-15T15:19:15Z")
I’ll admit that I sometimes speak in a rather singular manner, interjecting accents, words and phrases from countless sources, yet sometimes there are things I’d think most everyone would get - especially by context. I was offered some simply splendid cake from the break room this morning and as I left I told the baker - a middle-aged woman who is an ad/sales rep who many years ago was a school teacher, “That cake was the bee’s knees.” She not only hadn’t heard the phrase before, despite it’s use since about the 1920s, but apparently didn’t realize from context it meant ‘good’. Anyone else run into situations like this with what you think are phrases in the common collective? How about phrases you use or know others use that really are rare gems? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/2 "2009-09-15T15:24:09Z")
I once told a woman that she was a good egg. She looked at me funny and said “And you’re a… good sperm?” ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/3 "2009-09-15T15:27:24Z")
> [@Gorgon\_Heap](#): > > She not only hadn’t heard the phrase before, despite it’s use since about the 1920s Correction: its use _in_ the 1920s. OK, I’ll admit I’ve heard the phrase but it’s not really something the cool kids are saying anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/4 "2009-09-15T15:28:09Z")
I said something to my boss’s boss (formerly my direct boss) the other day that lately work was like being “bit to death by ducks.” She’s a very smart person, older than me, and had never heard it before. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/5 "2009-09-15T15:29:43Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > I said something to my boss’s boss (formerly my direct boss) the other day that lately work was like being “bit to death by ducks.” She’s a very smart person, older than me, and had never heard it before. I’ve heard all the phrases so far in this thread but yours. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/6 "2009-09-15T15:30:22Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Correction: its use _in_ the 1920s. OK, I’ll admit I’ve heard the phrase but it’s not really something the cool kids are saying anymore. Yah, but it something most people have heard, and I’ve certainly used it. Same with “groovy” and “hip” and “square” and “cat’s pajamas” etc. It’s not what your average 15-yr-old would say, doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t know what they mean. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/7 "2009-09-15T15:39:31Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I once told a woman that she was a good egg. She looked at me funny and said “And you’re a… good sperm?” That’s excellent. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/8 "2009-09-15T15:56:19Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Correction: its use _in_ the 1920s. OK, I’ll admit I’ve heard the phrase but it’s not really something the cool kids are saying anymore. Well, no… it’s still used today, which is why you know it. It may not be what the cool kids are saying, but I’d expect them to recognise it if they heard it. If he’d said “the bullfrog’s beard” or “the elephant’s adenoids”, you’d have had a point – they _really_ haven’t been used since the 20s. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/9 "2009-09-15T15:58:34Z")
I am familiar with bee’s knees because I use it and I’m only 43. I am trying to bring back “Oh my stars and garters!” Because I really got tired of my just-turned-5 grandson running around saying Oh My God! I’ve been working on this project for about a year now with limited sucess. Won’t someone jump on my bandwagon with me? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/10 "2009-09-15T16:06:38Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Correction: its use _in_ the 1920s. OK, I’ll admit I’ve heard the phrase but it’s not really something the cool kids are saying anymore. Oh come on ! “The bee’s knees” is the cat’s pajamas of idioms ! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/11 "2009-09-15T16:08:43Z")
My cat doesn’t wear pajamas, so the phrase ‘cat’s ass’ or ‘buttocks of the feline’ applies. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/12 "2009-09-15T16:11:55Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > My cat doesn’t wear pajamas, so the phrase ‘cat’s ass’ or ‘buttocks of the feline’ applies. Now that’s just a _catas_trophe! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/13 "2009-09-15T16:16:49Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s excellent. It was very cute. Since I hear that phrase all the time on TV, and since we watched a lot of TV together, I figured that eventually it’d come up. Nope. Not once in 3 years. “Bee’s knees” was said in School of Rock, so it hasn’t fallen completely out of use. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/14 "2009-09-15T16:34:34Z")
A lot of youngish people know “the bee’s knees” from The Simpsons, but it’s only used in a ‘god, this is such ridiculous slang’ way - so it’s not surprising if others don’t know it. ---
**Author:** ![Heckity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Heckity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heckity)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/15 "2009-09-15T16:38:26Z")
Well, a couple of olde tyme phrases have gotten me into trouble. The expression Tally Ho seems to be gone. I was gathering a number of staff to walk together to a meeting room a distance away. Jennifer (typically) was lagging a bit - so I called out, “C’mon, Jennifer, Tally Ho”. In shock a younger employee asked me, “Did you just call Jennifer a Ho?” My youngest son was blessed with abundantly curly hair. He also went through a phase of dyeing said locks in outrageous (unnatural) colours. Apparently one of his grade 7 buddies called him a sno-cone. My suggested response, “Well I may be a sno-cone, but I can lick you”. It was perfectly acceptable back in the forties. Clearly not so advisable in the school yard now. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/16 "2009-09-15T16:38:39Z")
I agree with **WotNot** on your semantics, **Rigamarole**. You’re all washed up, fella. Go soak your head. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/17 "2009-09-15T16:46:14Z")
I read a lot more old books than I speak to living people, so my speaking style reflects it. I can’t name any one incident of antique-speak, but I know that I’m forever getting odd looks for phrases that I use that aren’t the parlance of our times. I guess I should leave off the Patrick O’Brian and go hang out at a mall to learn how to speak properly. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/18 "2009-09-15T16:57:12Z")
I recently used the phrase, “He’d still bitch if you hung him with a new rope” and my 36 yo g/f had never heard the phrase. \ ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/19 "2009-09-15T16:59:58Z")
“bit to death by ducks.” One of the reasons no one recognizes this is because it’s not quite right. The phrase is ‘pecked to death by ducks’, I believe. Now, merrily onward… ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178/20 "2009-09-15T17:05:42Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > I recently used the phrase, “He’d still bitch if you hung him with a new rope” and my 36 yo g/f had never heard the phrase. \ I’ve never heard this one. 44, female. > [@elbows](#): > > “bit to death by ducks.” > > One of the reasons no one recognizes this is because it’s not quite right. > > The phrase is ‘pecked to death by ducks’, I believe. > > Now, merrily onward… I’ve always heard it as ‘\*\*nibbled \*\*to death by ducks.’ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youd-think-people-would-know/510178.md?page=2)