# Terms/phrases you hear all the time, but don't \*really\* know what they mean. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294 "2005-06-07T14:28:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/121 "2005-06-13T14:53:37Z")
Many thanks, **Askance** The hat trick thing was really bugging me! Sadly, upon reading your post, I realized that I did indeed know the usage of “et al” vs “etc”, etc. I just didn’t remember them. I swear I am checking into an old folks’ home any day now. Now I just have to _remember_ what ad homnimen means. As for the analogies–it’s one way I think. Probably a very sucky debate tactic, but I never took a debate class. I understand that likening one situation to another does not prove supportive or detrimental to the original, but it helps clarify things for me. Maybe I’ll just stay out of GD… ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/122 "2005-06-13T15:16:36Z")
I’ve never entirely understood “thinking outside the box.” I’m under the impression it refers to being original and creative, but I’m stumped on what “the box” is supposed to be. ---
**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:** [June 13, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/123 "2005-06-13T15:26:35Z")
In this case “the box” is the standard way of thinking about the problem. I’ve always thought about it as the box you got the answer in, as in from school, your boss, whoever taught you about problems like this…so thinking outside the box is starting over from the beginning with no assumptions about how it is “supposed” to be done. ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/124 "2005-06-13T15:38:03Z")
**Cub Mistress** , that’s a great explanation. Thanks ---
**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:** [June 13, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/125 "2005-06-13T16:10:03Z")
> [@Landshark](#): > > **Cub Mistress** , that’s a great explanation. Thanks You’re welcome. It was much easier than trying to explain the meaning of the term “cameltoe” to 9th grade girls. ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/126 "2005-07-07T19:58:11Z")
> [@Cub Mistress](#): > > You’re welcome. It was much easier than trying to explain the meaning of the term “cameltoe” to 9th grade girls. Huh. Try having to explain that one to your mother so she can tell your sister it was visible in words the sister would understand. Because “vertical smile” wasn’t doing the job. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/127 "2005-07-07T21:32:51Z")
> [@Priam](#): > > In reality? No. The campaign for Richmond stalled quite a bit, especially in trench warfare around Petersburg, Virginia. To be completely on the up and up, Grant’s army never really took Richmond in the sense of a stand-up fight for it. Lee’s army surrendered before Grant even reached the capital city. Then again, when compared to his predecessors at the helm of the Army of the Potomac, Grant _was_ a model of speed and efficiency… The better civil war simile for something done quickly (with a slight connotation of heedless destruction) is: Like Sherman through Georgia. As in: guys, lay off the TP. We’re going through that stuff like Sherman through Georgia! ---
**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:** [July 7, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/128 "2005-07-07T21:36:20Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > The gift horse thing: you can tell how old a horse is by counting its teeth. The more teeth, the older it is. So, basically, you’re telling someone not to inspect a gift for flaws when you say that. I know the gift horse question has been answered by a half-dozen people, but I didn’t want to let this one stand. Horses don’t keep growing new teeth. A 10-year-old horse and a 15-year-old horse have the same _number_ of teeth, but they’ve grown out more on the older horse. > [@lorene](#): > > Also, what’s this “value add” thing? Why are the words in that order and not “add value”? It’s people misusing the term “value added.” If you buy unfinished furniture and stain it, the stain you apply is your value added. It’s a noun phrase. > [@ouryL](#): > > Let them have cake and eat it too. 😕 That’s a combination of two different phrases. “If they have no bread, then let them eat cake!” is a quote (mis)attributed to Marie Antoinette that supposedly demonstrated how out-of-touch she was with the man on the street. “Wanting to have your cake and eat it too” has been explained by another doper. Once you eat it, you don’t have it any more. > [@eleanorigby](#): > > and is it, “I couldn’t care less” or “I could care less”? “I _could_ care less” is a sloppy misstatement, which makes no sense. Unfortunately, so few people stop to think about what they’re saying that it’s become even more common that the correct phrase, “I _couldn’t_ care less.” What you’re really trying to say with that phrase is that you care so little it would be impossible to care less. I’m still waiting to see someone else jump in and explain “bat out of hell.” I’ve been curious about that one myself. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/129 "2005-07-07T22:24:20Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > I’m still waiting to see someone else jump in and explain “bat out of hell.” I’ve been curious about that one myself. I don’t have an explanation, but I have a guess. When bats fly out of a cave at dusk, they fly really really fast. If you’ve ever been standing at a cave mouth when the bats come out, it’s pretty intense. If they were leaving a horrible place, they’d be going even faster–like a bat outta hell. ? ---
**Author:** ![Grits\_and\_Hard\_Toast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Grits\_and\_Hard\_Toast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grits_and_Hard_Toast)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/130 "2005-07-08T14:23:06Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > In soccer it is one player scoring three goals in a match, in cricket (the oldest reference) it is a bowler getting three batsmen out in successive balls (roughly the equivalent of a baseball pitcher getting three batters out in three pitches). Why, no-one knows exactly; there have been explanations such as a bowler achieving this was awarded a hat as a prize, but these sound like folk etymology to me. I first heard the phrase “Hat Trick” used to describe a jockey winning three races on one card. Which sport actually was actually the first to mark the occasion of a player scoring 3 whatevers is still debated. But the term came about because the fans of whatever sport it was, would show their appreciation of a player’s impressive accomplishment by throwing their hats into the arena, onto the track, in the ring, on the field, whatever the game was played on. After a player scored the first time, the crowd would naturally cheer. The second time that player scored, the crowd would stand and cheer. The third time, very rare, the crowd would take of their hats and toss them at the player in respect and awe of the great achievement. At least that was what I was told. I would love know what sport actually started it. ---
**Author:** ![Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phedre_no_Delaunay)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/131 "2005-07-08T19:42:52Z")
I can’t seem to grasp the meaning of the phrase “high maintenance” when it refers to people. Like a “high maintenance girlfriend.” ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Violaceous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Miss\_Violaceous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Violaceous)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/132 "2005-07-08T20:08:58Z")
The one that always drove me nuts was “tongue in cheek.” I know what it means, really. It means you’re saying something that you don’t really mean, not serious, sarcastic, joking, something like that. But what the hell? TONGUE in CHEEK? It makes no sense. Even worse is [when someone elaborates on the saying](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/gunsmok1.htm) with something like “tongue firmly planted in cheek.” Ouch! How are you supposed to crack a joke while you’re gouging your mouth-parts, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/133 "2005-07-08T20:30:27Z")
> [@Phèdre nó Delaunay](#): > > I can’t seem to grasp the meaning of the phrase “high maintenance” when it refers to people. Like a “high maintenance girlfriend.” Oooh, I know this one! “High maintenance” refers to someone who requires a lot of effort to please. If you’ve got a car that you have to take to the shop every other week, that car would be considered “high maintenance”. If you’ve got a girlfriend who requires all your attention and wants you to buy her things and has to have the low-fat ice cream, not the non-fat, you’re going to have to take this back and get me what I _want_ … that’s high-maintenance. I myself am low-maintenance. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/134 "2005-07-08T23:26:48Z")
From my experience, girls who are high maintenance never see themselves as high maintenance. But everyone else around them do! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/135 "2005-07-09T00:35:06Z")
Two expressions I’ve read but never heard and which I’ve wondered about are “talk to the hand” and (this won’t be a proper quote but I’ve seen it posted once or twice on SDMB) “you can park that bus at the gate”. Thank you to the OP for this opportunity to redeem my ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![dare\_devil007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@dare\_devil007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dare_devil007)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/136 "2005-07-09T21:31:38Z")
> [@Miss Violaceous](#): > > The one that always drove me nuts was “tongue in cheek.” > > I know what it means, really. It means you’re saying something that you don’t really mean, not serious, sarcastic, joking, something like that. > > But what the hell? TONGUE in CHEEK? It makes no sense. Even worse is [when someone elaborates on the saying](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/gunsmok1.htm) with something like “tongue firmly planted in cheek.” Ouch! How are you supposed to crack a joke while you’re gouging your mouth-parts, anyway? Yes!! I want to know what “tongue in cheek” means. I hear and read it in movie reviews all the time. Example: This movie was a tongue-in-cheek comedy. Like, what does that mean? Does it mean that it was an unfunny comedy because your tongue is in your cheek, so you’re not laughing? Another one that I’d really like to know the meaning of is “the kettle calling the pot black”…or was it “the pot calling the kettle black”? I heard it on TV and I’ve probed my mind in an attempt to figure out what it means. I haven’t figured it out yet… ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/137 "2005-07-09T22:13:01Z")
> [@dare\_devil007\_](#): > > Yes!! I want to know what “tongue in cheek” means. I hear and read it in movie reviews all the time. Example: This movie was a tongue-in-cheek comedy. Like, what does that mean? Does it mean that it was an unfunny comedy because your tongue is in your cheek, so you’re not laughing? > > Another one that I’d really like to know the meaning of is “the kettle calling the pot black”…or was it “the pot calling the kettle black”? I heard it on TV and I’ve probed my mind in an attempt to figure out what it means. I haven’t figured it out yet… The way I understand “tongue in cheek” is that there is a bit of sarcasm in the humor. If a person has the horrible habit of picking his nose in public, and proceeds to reprimand others for picking their noses in public, that would be the “pot calling the kettle black”. Think of a pioneer kitchen where all the cookware was black iron. The pots were black and so were the kettles. ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/138 "2005-07-09T22:17:59Z")
What I would like to know is: what is the origin of the phrase “hair of the dog”? I know it has something to do with alcohol consumption, but what _exactly_ does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294/139 "2005-07-09T22:20:46Z")
“Hair of the dog that bit you.” is the whole phrase. Most from some superstition, or old wives’ tale. Basically, the idea is that like cures like. In actual usage, it means to drink a little alcohol when you have been hung-over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terms-phrases-you-hear-all-the-time-but-dont-really-know-what-they-mean/307294.md?page=6)