Duncan Idaho said:

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Win At Life said:

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Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

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Which is completely misunderstood and almost exclusively used incorrectly.

It is supposed to say that something is impossible and cant be done without some external assistance.

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Your explanation nearly misses the paradox entirely.

Potcake said:

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HBCanine08 said:

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When something isn't my problem/decision - "Not my monkey, not my zoo"

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The king of the trees, the treemeister

"Looks like your cheese done slid off your cracker!"
"Poor as Job's turkey."

Lost as a goose in a hail storm
More than you can shake a stick at
My belly button is rubbing a blister on my backbone (hungry)
Grandma's slow, but she's old

Ark03 said:

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Devil's beating his wife: raining while the sun is out
Fair to middling (response to how are you doing): means I'm doing pretty good

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Those are good ones. And I'll add:
Devil's beating his wife with a silver chain = raining with lightning and/or thunder while the sun is out

My dad always says "fair to midland," so that's what I say. I didn't realize others said middling.

Eliminatus said:

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I took the Wonderlic test floating around premium and did pretty well. 38. Ahem, no big deal.

But two of the questions dealt directly with what I would call American idioms. And that seemed kinda dumb to me for an intelligence test. Maybe to test how broad your culture is? I consider myself as red blooded as they come but one did escape me. "Hitch your wagon to a star". Had to google that one afterwards.

Now, I have heard some strange and obscure idioms in my time but that one was new to me. I know I missed that question.

So curious as to what some of yall would judge to be common idioms in your world that are also somehow not common globally or easily understood. Things like "Don't pet a burning dog" are not as prevalent and clear as "As the crow flies" for example.

Mine would be, "Reap what you sow". I use this all the time and it has honestly shocked me how many people are puzzled by that one. Always figured that was universally understood. Guess not. Like I am sure someone out there is perplexed that I did not know the wagon star one.

ETA: Anyone take one of these in the professional world and have idiom based questions on them? And not just one but they were compare or contrast 4 different idioms per question. Like, "Which one does not fit" kinda question.

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For such a smart guy you sure are a long winded summbeetch.

lead said:

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Duncan Idaho said:

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Win At Life said:

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Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

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Which is completely misunderstood and almost exclusively used incorrectly.

It is supposed to say that something is impossible and cant be done without some external assistance.

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Your explanation nearly misses the paradox entirely.

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Do you guys not forum 16 at all, bro?

It's an old cotton term. Middling cotton is average quality.

Sometimes the f-ing you get isn't worth the f-ing you get.

Which means roughly the same as

The juice isn't worth the squeeze.

et98 said:

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My dad always says "fair to midland," so that's what I say. I didn't realize others said middling.

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I think the "midland" thing is a funny change of the saying, like "rocket surgery".

Or he's from west Texas. Either way.

From the dumbest show ever, and I've watched every episode:

Give your balls a tug titf***er

Pitter patter let's get at 'er

Hard no

Not my pig, not my farm

I suggest you let that one marinate

Figure it out

You're made of spare parts aren't you bud?

It's a hard life picking stones and pulin' teats, but as sure as God's got sandals, it beats fightin' dudes with treasure trails

Buddy you couldn't wheel an effing tire down a hill

I see the muscle shirt came today. Muscles coming tomorrow? Did ya get a tracking number? Oh I hope he got a tracking number. That package is going to be smaller than the one you're sportin' now.

Closest you're gettin' to any action this weekend is givin' the dairy cow's teets a good scrubbin

Does a duck with a boner drag weeds?

You naturally care for a companionship, but I guess there's a lot worse things than playing a little one-man couch hockey in the dark

For a hot day:

It's hotter than a honeymoon deek.

For something that's hard to do or actually hard like glue:

That's harder than a honeymoon deek.


That's what she said.

Two I use way too often:

"Is that as clear as mud?" after explaining something.

"I doubt it is going to hair lip Texas." when someone make a minor mistake that the think is huge.

"Hotter than two mice ****ing in a sock"

Is this one common? I have heard it from multiple sources over the years but does seem a little more....niche.

"Lightning in a bottle in Tuscaloosa"

Eliminatus said:

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"Hotter than two mice ****ing in a sock"

Is this one common? I have heard it from multiple sources over the years but does seem a little more....niche.

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Switch mice with rats and make the socks wool.

Also, "it's colder than a witch's titty out here"

on balance

faster than s*** through a goose

taxpreparer said:

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Two I use way too often:

"Is that as clear as mud?" after explaining something.

"I doubt it is going to hair lip Texas." when someone make a minor mistake that the think is huge.

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To harelip something is interesting to me. DAC sings "if that ain't country, it'll harelip the pope."
The only other time I had heard that is in Dr. Strangelove when Slim Pickens says "I'm going to get those bomb doors open if it harelips everybody in Bear Creek!

Haven't got sense enough to pour piss out of a boot.

lower than a snake's ass in a wagon rut

faster than a jack rabbit on a date

You can have your head in the oven and ass in the freezer and on average you're doing alright.

It's colder than a witches titty in a brass bra.

It's hotter than a well diggers but in the middle of July

Detmersdislocatedshoulder said:

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It's colder than a witches titty in a brass bra.

It's hotter than a well diggers but in the middle of July

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I always heard "colder than a well digger's ass"

I always heard, "it's hotter than two rats ****ing in a wool sock."

"I'm going to cloud up and rain all over you." My dad if I didn't so what he told me.

Too many chiefs, not enough Indians.

like herding cats.

Well butter my butt and call me biscuit.

smells like death in here

when helping someone else with a project they don't know how to do, but want you to take the lead...

It's your goat, I'm just holding the tail.

When you are no longer willing to help:

Hold the tail your damn self.

When you're feeling overburdened:

Stick a broom up my ass and I'll sweep too.

When the kids are whining they want something:

And the people in Hell want ice water.

Great Beard of Zeus said:

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Detmersdislocatedshoulder said:

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It's colder than a witches titty in a brass bra.

It's hotter than a well diggers but in the middle of July

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I always heard "colder than a well digger's ass in the Klondike"

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FIFY