What weird idioms/phrases does your language have?
What weird idioms/phrases does your language have?
In Finnish we have "kissanristiäiset" (literally means a cat's christening), which means some trivial and meaningless celebration/event.
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(American) English ones that come to mind:
- it's raining cats and dogs (it's pouring rain)
- I really shit the bed on this one (I fucked up really bad -not sure how widespread this is)
- a turd in the punch bowl (someone is singlehandedly ruining something, usually an event)
- don't blow smoke up my ass (be honest with me)
- a walk in the park (pleasant/easy task)
don’t blow smoke up my ass (be honest with me)
alternative form: don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining
"Someone screwed the pooch" - Someone made a big mistake, same as the "shit the bed" idiom.
Both are also common in Canada. Edit, actually every one of the parent's idioms are common in Canada to varying degrees.
All of those are widespread in the northeast US if not across the entire US.
I've never heard number 3. Never lived in the northeast US though.
"Raiining cats and dogs" is not of American origin. The precise origin is unknown, but the first recorded uses are British, dating from the early to mid 17th century (Earliest uses are raining "dogs and cats" and "dogs and polecats".) although it's possible the phrase is significantly older than this.
The phrase is well known and widely used in the UK, and I doubt anyone here would consider it an American phrase.
Language is alive and I can't see anyone requesting origins specifically. Phrases like this can be part of 2 cultures at once. You even share the same base language, and don't even have hard proof one way or the other but still took the time to say 'nay'. Pretty boring..
Language is alive
Where did I say it wasn't? But language being alive doesn't change history -- the phrase was used by British writers before the USA even existed.
and I can’t see anyone requesting origins specifically.
So? I offered the origin as it was presented alongside a number of phrases that are of American origin, and that one stands out as not (also as being suspected far older in origin than the others). I've simply added some additional information to the discussion. If you find it "boring", you are free to ignore it.
I didn't request your reply, yet you still wrote it.
Phrases like this can be part of 2 cultures at once.
Where did I say it couldn't? I merely stated that the phrase was not of American origin. I didn't say it wasn't used in the US, or that the UK somehow has some special exclusive licence to it.
and don’t even have hard proof one way or the other
I didn't post sources because I was short on time, but here, have some... (as I apparently now have time to waste...)
- "Dogs and Cats rain'd in showre", from the poem Upon a Cloke in Olor Iscanus (1651) by Henry Vaughan
- "...and it shall raine... Dogs and Polecats", from The City Wit, or, The Woman Wears the Breeches (1653) by Richard Brome
- "it should rain Dogs and Cats", from Don Juan Lamberto: or, a Comical History of the Late Times (1661) by Thomas Flatman
- "Made it rain down dogs and cats", from Cataplus, or Æneas, ... (1672) by Maurice Atkins
- "When it rains Dogs and Cats in Hell" from Maronides; or, Virgil Travesty, ... (1678) by John Phillips
- "raining cats and dogs", from A Description of a City Shower (1710) by Jonathan Swift
- "rain cats and dogs", from Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation (1738) also by Jonathan Swift
You will note that these are all British works by British authors. I can provide even more if you need them.
While the ultimate origin is unknown (there are many theories), any claim to it being American in origin is surely nonsense. There is no evidence for this at all. If you have some, please provide it.
What proof have you provided? Indeed, what has your comment added at all to the discussion? You could have looked up those sources and extensive etymological research on Google with less effort than you took to write your comment.
Pretty boring...
And what about your own comment? It adds absolutely zero additional information to the conversation, is rude, and you clearly misconstrued and misinterpreted my comment (apparently with the most negative interpretation possible), without even bothering to research anything for yourself.
Personally, I think some may find it interesting that a phrase they might have thought was of modern American origin is actually from another country and of far more ancient origins they expect. To me, that is interesting. If it isn't to you, why do you bother to read and comment?
In the future, I suggest you simply ignore comments you find boring and move on instead of posting insulting low-effort replies.
“Raiining cats and dogs” is not of American origin.
Nobody said it was of American origin. You're putting words in the parent commenter's mouth and then choosing to argue against them. That's why people take issue with your comment. If you want to contribute to the conversation without coming off as argumentative then frame your point as adding to the conversation not as an argument against something that wasn't said.
Nobody said it was of American origin
I know. Go back and read what I wrote. The only argument here was started by you. The only person putting words in others' mouths is you.
The phrase is well known and widely used in the UK, and I doubt anyone here would consider it an American phrase.
Yes, and it's used in many other places in the world that isn't America either. That doesn't change the fact that it is widely used in America. You may not have intended for your comment to come off as argumentative. But it did. You're the one that joined the conversation by explaining that it's not an American saying. It is a common saying in American English which is all the parent comment asserted.
And I didn't assert otherwise. Perhaps improve your own reading comprehension before wading into a discussion of the English language.