# Phrases you're surprised people aren't familiar with **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974 "2011-09-20T18:44:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/101 "2011-09-21T21:45:35Z")
Okay, maybe I know this one because I’m a Nottingham, and men in my family sometimes are called “Sheriff.” Robin Hood and his Merry Men lived in Sherwood Forest, a big place. So, to go 'round Robin Hood’s barn is going the long way instead of going straight to your destination. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/102 "2011-09-21T21:45:39Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > No, cheaters are reading glasses. > > [Corrective lens - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_glasses#Reading_glasses) Do people still use the term Four Eyes. I haven’t heard it in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/103 "2011-09-21T22:06:09Z")
Could someone explain the Carter’s pills thing? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/104 "2011-09-21T22:08:06Z")
Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach. Those who can’t even teach, why, those are the critics. I thought I remembered bumbershoot came from one of the languages of India. No, it doesn’t. Several sources said the bumber part was based on umbrella, and the shoot part came from parachute. Not willing to give up, I looked up umbrella. No luck there, either. That came from Latin. :smack: I like to tweak old sayings. For example, _If beggars were choosers, then horses could ride._ ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/105 "2011-09-21T22:17:09Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > Could someone explain the Carter’s pills thing? Okay. When I was a kid (born in 1949,) drugstores sold Carter’s Little Liver Pills. At one point, the Food and Drug Administration cracked down on over-the-counter drugs that could not do what they claimed to do. For a while, they were sold as Carter’s Pills, and they claimed to help back pain, but Carter’s Little Liver Pills are a part of the dim past. The only thing that remains is the saying, “He’s got more \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ than Carter’s got little pills.” ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/106 "2011-09-21T22:18:07Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > Could someone explain the Carter’s pills thing? [carters little pills](http://http://www.drugs.com/mtm/carters-little-pills.html) I always heard that x has more x than carter has little liver pills. Since the pills were little the assumption is he has a lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/107 "2011-09-21T22:23:22Z")
Here’s a |Yorkshire one for you all: it’s black over Bill’s Mother’s ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/108 "2011-09-22T00:59:45Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > Well.. > ..would you mind explaining it just one more time? If you say “He/She’s a real dog in a manger” you’re saying they keep others from having or enjoying something that they theyselves don’t want or cannot use. > **[The Dog in the Manger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dog_in_the_Manger)** > > The story and metaphor of The Dog in the Manger derives from an old Greek fable which has been transmitted in several different versions. Interpreted variously over the centuries, the metaphor is now used to speak of one who spitefully prevents others from having something for which one has no use. Although the story was ascribed to Aesop's Fables in the 15th century, there is no ancient source that does so. > The short form of the fable as cited by Laura Gibbs is: "There was a dog lying in a mang... ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/109 "2011-09-22T02:45:23Z")
> [@Kingspades](#): > > My mom likes to use “cattywumpus” to mean the same thing. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone else use even a variation on it before. I use “kittywumpus” “boondoggle” is the word I’ve had to explain to foreign co-workers. I had two coworkers arguing for something for months and it finally calmed down. Someone (not one of the original players) brought it up again and I said “oh, no, lets not open up that can of worms…we’ve finally reached detente over that one.” And none of my coworkers knew what I meant. Both “can of worms” and “detente.” I use a lot of phrase idioms…and I have to be really careful at work since we are international and most of my coworkers don’t have English as a first language. I’m not as bad as our CEO - who Corporate Communications has to keep reminding that only the Americans get the football (NFL) analogies. Everyone else…not so much. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/110 "2011-09-22T03:02:01Z")
“Who put the nickel in you?” is one I like (I’m 36), but most seem to be unaware of. Speaking of coin-based idioms, I was surprised that “dropping a dime” is not universally understood, either. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/111 "2011-09-22T04:21:42Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Angel] And when someone mentions that I got a haircut, they seem not to know what to do with “I got 'em all cut.” [/QUOTE] What do they say if you tell them you had your ears lowered? [QUOTE=pulykamell] “Who put the nickel in you?” is one I like (I’m 36), but most seem to be unaware of. [/QUOTE] When our dog gets herself wound up, she starts running around like an E-ticket ride. (another idiom I’ve had to explain to people!) and we’ll wonder who put a quarter in her. Inflation, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Hogfather65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hogfather65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogfather65)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/112 "2011-09-22T14:52:46Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > (Raises hand) I did, and I’m pretty sure I learned it from one of those books by Unca Cece. > > . > Edit: re Post #38- Oh. Me too Came from the same place as swinging the lead meaning to skive or bunk off - old navel term - to check the depth you would throw a waited line with knots on it over the side and when it hit the bottom you would pull it up and count the knots - giving depth - to swing the lead you would not throw it in and have a break cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey a brass monkey is the square on the ship that used to hold Cannon Balls - if it got too cold the cannon balls would get coated with ice and with the movement of the ship they would slide off not that i’m complaning but dont you find these phrases as usfull as an ashtray on a motorbike ---
**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:** [September 22, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/113 "2011-09-22T17:29:15Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > My mother used to say “all around Robin Hood’s barn” to describe going someplace in a roundabout fashion, difficult to reach, etc. I have asked lots of people if they ever heard this and no one has. Did my mom make it up? > [@tdn](#): > > No. But I heard it as Robinson’s barn. My mother was an Old New Englander and born a Robinson. She used both variants of the expression. I often use “going around the baaarn” (broad New England “A”) is a figurative sense; i.e. taking the long route to an obvious conclusion (When will I pick up you? You say you’ll be home by 5:00. Well, we have to be there at 6:30 and I have to make two stops before picking you up and three after, but if I don’t eat lunch I can leave work at 4:00, which gives me enough time to shower and change before I pick you up at 5:15. Okay?) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/114 "2011-09-22T17:32:05Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > My mother was an Old New Englander and born a Robinson. She used both variants of the expression. The people I knew that said Robinson’s barn were New Englanders too, so maybe that’s the local variation. ---
**Author:** ![Teufelblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@Teufelblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teufelblitz)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/115 "2011-09-22T17:34:40Z")
> [@Hogfather65](#): > > not that i’m complaning but dont you find these phrases as usfull as an ashtray on a motorbike A lot of them make about as much sense as glow in the dark sunglasses. ---
**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:** [September 22, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/116 "2011-09-22T18:02:33Z")
A quick Google lead to this 2005 thread: [Robin Hood had a barn?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343177) I love this place! ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/117 "2011-09-22T18:43:59Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > A few weeks ago I overheard a woman tell her daughter “First we’ll \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ then we’ll \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, that way we can kill two birds with one stone.” The daughter looked apalled, and said “That’s so mean!” It was adorable. Off topic, but anyway… At work we sell various breaded chicken breasts, that all come from the kitchen as the full “butterfly,” both sides still together. A woman with her little kid in the cart came up and decided to get two butterflies instead of the three singles she had intended. The kid was almost in tears about killing butterflies until we finally convinced him it was really chicken that just _looks_ like a butterfly’s wings. It’s time she had a long talk with him about metaphors. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/118 "2011-09-22T18:54:41Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > > > [@Raygun99](#): > > > > > > In one of my education classes the other day, we were asked to consider the meaning of the phrase “Those who can, do, those who can’t, teach”, in small groups. > > > > May I assume you’re familiar with the addendum: “…and those who can’t teach, teach teaching”? > > The version I heard ends with “…and those who can’t teach, administrate.” In the electronics biz in Silicon Valley in the 80s and 90s, I always heard, “Those who can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, consult.” ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/119 "2011-09-22T20:13:47Z")
Just the other day, I mentioned buying a new pair of waffle stompers to my son. He looked at his girlfriend; his girlfriend looked back at him. Son said, “Uh, Mom, we really don’t know what that means…” _sigh_ I said, “Hiking boots. You know, how the sole of the boot is textured…” The light bulb went on over both their heads. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974/120 "2011-09-22T20:57:22Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > A quick Google lead to this 2005 thread: [Robin Hood had a barn?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343177) > > I love this place! For a moment I was afraid I had posted in there and STILL didn’t remember it. Anyway thanks for the link; I too love this place! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-youre-surprised-people-arent-familiar-with/596974.md?page=7)