# Without looking it up do you know what the term "pass remarkable" means? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519 "2010-07-21T22:09:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/21 "2010-07-22T11:38:34Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Lived in Scotland for seven years. Never heard of it. Lived in Scotland for eight years. Never heard of it. can we get a nine here? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/22 "2010-07-22T11:45:20Z")
English born and bred, never heard of it. > [@elfkin477](#): > > I thought passing meant very in that construction. There is a song by Edward Elgar called [Is she not passing fair?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_she_not_passing_fair%3F), which seems to be the same usage. [Dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/passing) agrees with you, according to sense 6 of the first definition. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/23 "2010-07-22T11:58:45Z")
I wonder if Irishgirl, Pushkin or any other Nordie dopers is familiar with the term. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2010, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/24 "2010-07-22T12:17:40Z")
American. Never heard it, and wouldn’t have guessed the meaning. The thoughts that were running through my head were either “a REALLY good Backstage Pass” or “an amazing (American) Football play” ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/25 "2010-07-22T12:25:43Z")
Irish and I know it well. I also thought it was something that was well known elsewhere. Interesting. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/26 "2010-07-22T12:26:32Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I thought passing meant very in that construction. The OP never actually explained what his phrase meant. Maybe it means “very remarkable”. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/27 "2010-07-22T12:36:03Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The OP never actually explained what his phrase meant. Maybe it means “very remarkable”. Sorry, from wiktionary Adjective 1. (pejorative, Scottish, Northern Irish English) Of a person, making belittling or snide remarks. from the BBC Pass-remarkable - means critical or judgmental, always ready to pass critical remarks. as in: “You’re awful pass-remarkable, so you are.” ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/28 "2010-07-22T12:57:33Z")
The only thing that I could think of was Terry Bradshaw to Franco Harris, as in “wasn’t that pass remarkable”? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/29 "2010-07-22T13:01:04Z")
Jeez, I lived in Scotland and Northern Ireland and have never heard the term. Mind you, I was a wee lad when I came to Canada, but my parents still hung around with a lot of Scottish and Irish ex-pats and the term never came up. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/30 "2010-07-22T14:44:52Z")
Yep, another American who’s never heard it, and I wouldn’t have guessed the meaning. I thought it might be “very remarkable” or “beyond remarkable” (past -\> “pass”), along the lines of “passing strange” and “passing fair” as mentioned upthread. I’ve certainly heard “making a remark in passing” or “making a passing remark”. Those are pretty common phrases here. But to me, neither of them have an inherently negative connotation. They just mean an offhand comment, or possibly a non sequitur. For example, my coworker might walk by my office, and remark in passing, “Hey, good job on those TPS reports!” Or, my friend might make a passing remark about hating cilantro while we’re chatting about our favorite restaurants. The thing is, now that I know the meaning, I still don’t quite get it - I’d think that if someone is “pass-remark_able_”, then they’re the _subject_ of these snippy comments. The person making them should be “pass-remark_ing_”, or “a real pass-remark_er_”, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/31 "2010-07-22T14:51:02Z")
English, never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/32 "2010-07-22T14:53:06Z")
I’m 50+ and lived in Scotland most of my life; never heard the term used at all. Maybe it’s a west coast thing. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/33 "2010-07-22T14:53:21Z")
Dutch, but lived in the Republic of Ireland (Co. Clare) for eight years and have never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/34 "2010-07-22T15:21:09Z")
I’ve heard it, it was used by some students from Belfast who were here taking their gap, I had to ask what it meant, they actually had a hard time explaining it. We were pissed, of course. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/35 "2010-07-22T15:49:16Z")
English, lived in Ireland for 10 years, never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![zelie\_zelerton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@zelie\_zelerton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zelie_zelerton)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/36 "2010-07-22T16:52:24Z")
Scottish, never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/37 "2010-07-22T17:01:06Z")
> [@Hrududu](#): > > Irish and I know it well. I also thought it was something that was well known elsewhere. Interesting. Indeed. I was very surprised when I found out that only Irish people use the term “to give out” e.g. If you do that your mother will give out to you. It means to reprimand BTW. It’s a term that every Irish person would be very familiar with but it blew me away when I found out that it was a Irish thing as I assumed it was a common English term that at the very least British people would know but I was met with confused looks when I first used it around Brits. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/38 "2010-07-22T17:03:26Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > English, lived in Ireland for 10 years, never heard of it. Really? That’s mad. I’m very surprised you and **PookahMacPhellimey** never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/39 "2010-07-22T18:18:10Z")
Irish, more or less, know it and love it, but I kind of figured no one else would have a clue what it meant. I’m actually kind of surprised it’s used in Scotland - I thought it was exclusively Irish (maybe even exclusively Dublin). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519/40 "2010-07-22T18:39:21Z")
Looking at the Google hits for “pass remarkable” I wonder if the pass is related to passive-aggressive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-looking-it-up-do-you-know-what-the-term-pass-remarkable-means/547519.md?page=3)