| squirmydad | 23 Apr 2008 6:28 p.m. PST |
Hi all, I have friend who is deaf and teaches ASL at the College level. One of the things she like to do is collect metaphors and hearing idioms and then have her students attempt to 'sign' them. She has been very amused by sayings like,
"Nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs."
"Easy as cake."
"Not enough room to swing a dead cat." Which is my personal favorite too. What are your sayings? Thanks!
Eric |
 John the OFM  | 23 Apr 2008 6:40 p.m. PST |
Dumber than a box of rocks. |
| bloodeagle | 23 Apr 2008 6:45 p.m. PST |
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| jizbrand | 23 Apr 2008 6:50 p.m. PST |
"Cake and pie" (Piece of cake; easy as pie) |
| doc mcb | 23 Apr 2008 6:57 p.m. PST |
My granddad used to say something was "as keen as horseradish." |
| lugal hdan | 23 Apr 2008 6:59 p.m. PST |
Technically those are similies. ;-) |
| lugal hdan | 23 Apr 2008 7:00 p.m. PST |
"Happy as a mosquito in a nudist colony" |
| Mrs Pumblechook | 23 Apr 2008 7:03 p.m. PST |
"sandwich short of a picnic" |
| Cpt Arexu | 23 Apr 2008 7:57 p.m. PST |
Describing the degree of difficulty:
"Like nailing Jello to a tree."
"Kicking the dead whale down the Beach." |
| RavenscraftCybernetics | 23 Apr 2008 8:00 p.m. PST |
one fry short of a happy meal |
| rddfxx | 23 Apr 2008 8:39 p.m. PST |
As was said of Achilles "He is a raw meat eater, not to be trusted" raw meat eater = a predator, typically a dog, who will turn on you, eat you, if given a chance. |
Wyatt the Odd  | 23 Apr 2008 9:47 p.m. PST |
Busier than a one-legged man at a butt-kicking competition. Slower than a snail in molasses. Shinier than a dime in a goat's butt (cleaned up from the original drill sergeant's words circa 1966) Wyatt |
| Jay Arnold | 23 Apr 2008 10:34 p.m. PST |
Simile is a type of metaphor. "Slicker than snot on a glass doorknob." "Sharp as a bag of wet mice." (apologies to Mr. F. Leghorn) |
| highlandcatfrog | 24 Apr 2008 2:34 a.m. PST |
"A pallet short of a load." (that's one we use in the freight industry) "A walking waste of oxygen." "Happy as a clam (at high tide)." "So old (his or her) social security number is 3. Just 3." "Sharp as a ball of wet leather." (Foghorn Leghorn again) "Bright as a 10 watt bulb." |
| Col Scott 2 | 24 Apr 2008 3:16 a.m. PST |
"Like a hog looking at a wrist watch."(describing a stupid look) "On it like white on rice." "Fair, is a place to get a hog a ribbon."(to a whinner complaining about something being unfair) |
| streetline | 24 Apr 2008 5:50 a.m. PST |
"On it like a donkey on a waffle" was a perticulary odd one from a techy list some years ago. It predated Shrek's donkey, we never did find an origin for it. |
| rddfxx | 24 Apr 2008 10:47 a.m. PST |
"Simile is a type of metaphor" Maybe so, or is it vice versa? Regardless, some have had to fight this battle with generations of English teachers. I'm inclined to see and use metaphors in a larger context, such as the myth of Sisyphus is a metaphor for man's struggle against forces beyond his control, etc. |
| rddfxx | 24 Apr 2008 10:53 a.m. PST |
Thus, I keep rolling the die, with results that make Sisyphus cry. |
| Neotacha | 24 Apr 2008 2:13 p.m. PST |
link Tell your friend to have fun. |
| Olaf the hairy | 24 Apr 2008 3:33 p.m. PST |
mad as a box of frogs
(that's the English mad meaning crazy) (on the quality of a gift)
better than a bag of dead puppies |
| hos459 | 25 Apr 2008 11:56 p.m. PST |
"better than a kick in the clack with a pointy shoe" |
| Last Hussar | 19 May 2008 2:02 p.m. PST |
Perhaps some Newman and Baddiel "History Today" is in order. |
| Byrhthelm | 21 May 2008 6:19 a.m. PST |
Metaphor and simile link ;-) |
| Byrhthelm | 15 Jun 2008 6:46 a.m. PST |
"Not enough room to swing a dead cat." Why a dead cat? It doesn't make sense when the 'cat' of the saying was a whip – the Cat o' Nine Tails, which took a fair amount of room to swing! (ot it used to in my day…) ;-) |
