Old saying - What do they mean?

9 Oct 2012

Tonight in the chat room I was talking about something and the words "flogging a dead horse" just rambled onto the page. rolleyes

I know its an old saying that I have picked up along my lifes journey but haven't a clue what it means and where it comes from.
Do you use old saying?
If so which ones?
Do you know where they originate from?

9 Oct 2012

There used to be a slot on 5Live in the early hours when a geezer used to come in
and give some of the stories behind some of the sayings we have.
This site may help as a reference, it's quite good and it does carry a reference to your
quoted 'flogging a dead hoss'

10 Oct 2012

"Do as you would be done by"

10 Oct 2012

:twisted: Never give the Devil a ride.. He will always want to drive.

15 Oct 2012

Flogging a dead horse is an easy one......it won't get you anywhere/complete waste of time and effort.
You can't teach your granny to suck eggs! that's an old 'un.

15 Oct 2012

You cant make silk purse out of a sows ear!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

15 Oct 2012

6's and 7's always got me
six of one half a dozen of another, know that one though

15 Oct 2012

Are we there yet dunno

15 Oct 2012

Is it in?

15 Oct 2012

I'm desperately trying to think of some of the "eggccorns" that used to be on the Adam and Joe show on the radio. Ones where people have got popular sayings wrong...
Can anyone help me out?

16 Oct 2012

never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly (don't know where it came from but it sounds good)
Hang on to the bitter end :- the "bitter end" is the end of the anchor rope which for safety reasons is not attached to the boat so once the anchor is released, if it is not held on to the anchor is lost

16 Oct 2012

Lame man's terms : Layman's terms.
Jar dropping: jaw dropping
Not seen Adam and Joe around since their TV show..good to see they are still going strong.

16 Oct 2012

Quote by London_Olympian
I'm desperately trying to think of some of the "eggccorns" that used to be on the Adam and Joe show on the radio. Ones where people have got popular sayings wrong...
Can anyone help me out?

I think you have just dropped an eggcorns in that I think it could be popular words wrong in sentences.
I think I have dropped a few of those in my time on SH. For instance talking about music on a thread once someone pointed out the fact I had said about Jazz Fuck instead of Jazz Funk. :shock: redface

I just said who put the c and n so close together on the key board?. wink

16 Oct 2012

Quote by Theladyisaminx
I'm desperately trying to think of some of the "eggccorns" that used to be on the Adam and Joe show on the radio. Ones where people have got popular sayings wrong...
Can anyone help me out?

I think you have just dropped an eggcorns in that I think it could be popular words wrong in sentences.
I think I have dropped a few of those in my time on SH. For instance talking about music on a thread once someone pointed out the fact I had said about Jazz Fuck instead of Jazz Funk. :shock: redface

I just said who put the c and n so close together on the key board?. wink

:laughabove:

19 Oct 2012

I like those which contradict each other.
Too many cooks spoil the broth: Many hands make light work.
Look before you leap: He who hesitates is lost.

19 Oct 2012

Quote by dsfrancetoo
Hang on to the bitter end :- the "bitter end" is the end of the anchor rope which for safety reasons is not attached to the boat so once the anchor is released, if it is not held on to the anchor is lost

Have you ever tried to hold on to an anchor lol

A bitt is a post fastened in the deck of a ship, for fastening cables and ropes. When a rope is played out to the bitter end, it means there is no more rope to be used.

19 Oct 2012

hey up trev it is just a saying lol
not suggesting anyone should actually hold on to the bitter end
though have known one or two people that should not have been on the quay let alone on deck anywhere near the anchor lol

2 Nov 2012

Quote by Theladyisaminx
Tonight in the chat room I was talking about something and the words "flogging a dead horse" just rambled onto the page.

Ah, equine sado-beastial necrophilia eh? ;)
This is one I always wondered about, so thanks for prompting me to look it up:

Interesting. :thumbup:

1 Dec 2012

Quote by Theladyisaminx
Tonight in the chat room I was talking about something and the words "flogging a dead horse" just rambled onto the page.
I know its an old saying that I have picked up along my lifes journey but haven't a clue what it means and where it comes from.
Do you use old saying?
If so which ones?
Do you know where they originate from?

Many old sayings are based on nautical terms, such as:
"Letting the cat out of the bag" : referring to the cat 'o' nine tails they used for punishment aboard ships; it was apparently kept in a bag.
Similarly "couldn't swing a cat in here!" is the same reference to the whip, in that it had to be done outside and couldn't be swung in enclosed areas due to the lengths of rope.
But for the OP question: this is what wikipedia, that font of all knowledge, has to say about the term "Flogging a dead horse":
"Flogging a dead horse (alternatively beating a dead horse, or beating a dead dog in some parts of the Anglophone world) is an idiom that means a particular request or line of conversation is already foreclosed or otherwise resolved, and any attempt to continue it is futile; or that to continue in any endeavour (physical, mental, etc.) is a waste of time as the outcome is already decided.
The first recorded use of the expression with its modern meaning is by British politician and orator John Bright, referring to the Reform Act of 1867, which called for more democratic representation in Parliament, an issue about which Parliament was singularly apathetic. Trying to rouse Parliament from its apathy on the issue, he said in a speech, would be like trying to flog a dead horse to make it pull a load. The Oxford English Dictionary cites The Globe, 1872, as the earliest verifiable use of flogging a dead horse, where someone is said to have "rehearsed that lively operation known as flogging a dead horse".
Personally I use most of the known ones and can't think of any at the moment ...off the top of my head - oh no, there's another one! :doh:
smile

1 Dec 2012

Light a Shuck meaning to leave, originated in the Western areas of North America, probably the lowlands of Tennessee, when people moved around at night they would set fire to a shuck of corn to use as a torch to show illuminate thier way back to the barn.
Countdown on TV have a section everyday explaining how some words, phrases and sayings came about, sometimes it is very interesting and surprising.

4 Dec 2012

Quote by Onthebeach_1
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

I thought that was: Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder!
smile