Rather obscure figures of speech that are really cool

[Oeditpus Rex]

"Shit howdy!"

:thumbsup:

[Zomby Woof]

1. Jesus Christ on rollerblades!

A favorite I learned from a DU bud of mine. :D

[some guy]

2. that means "really painful" right?

:P

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. ...

:rofl:



Welcome to DU. :hi:

[Rowdyboy]

3. Shit fire and save matches....."

"I see said the blind man walking off the cliff backwards"

Just two I heard from my parents in the 1950's....

[Kutjara]

4. As much use as a chocolate teapot.

Tight as a cow's ass in fly season.
Three assholes short of a therapy group.
Face like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle.

[MnFats]

6. "I'm busier than a two-peckered goat."

that's really busy.

[idgiehkt]

15. that's hysterical

:rofl:

what is that one about 'busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kickin' contest'...along those same lines.

[Nicole]

7. As useful as tits on a boar

My grannie used that one a lot.

[Hissyspit]

8. Piffle!

[Kutjara]

10. Pshaw!

[Kutjara]

9. Busier than a one-legged man...

...in an ass-kicking contest.

[Kutjara]

11. Flibertygibbet. n/t

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. Vonnegut used that once

I think... yeah, in "Slaughterhouse Five."

But he spelled it "flibbertigibbet."

:shrug:

[Kutjara]

13. I did a quick Google and it looks like Vonnegut is right.

There are entries for both spellings, but 'flibbertigibbet' appears the most often and in more trustworthy sites.

It's a pity Wampeter, Foma and Granfaloons never took off in popular usage.

[Oeditpus Rex]

14. Well, he had an editor

That's one of the things I love about him, though — he comes up with some pretty weird ways to describe stuff. Like the masked skiers who rescued Billy Pilgrim after the plane crash — he called them "golliwogs."

[Kutjara]

16. Have to be a bit careful with golliwogs.

They were a character in the UK that the company Robertson's used for a long time as a mascot on their jars of jam and jelly. I post the image below to show why this character is considered...ahem...controversial. Robertson's finally relented to public pressure and retired the 'Golly' several years ago, much later than they should have.



For more on this enduring legacy of Jim Crow, see: http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/golliwog/

I can only hope that Vonnegut was unaware of the connotations.

[petronius]

19. And Shakespeare used it in King Lear - although he probably

stole it from Vonnegut, since it's the same spelling...

[ruiner4u]

17. hotter then a half fucked female fox in a forest fire...

I heard that from a coworker and laughed so hard I was crying...

[ChoralScholar]

18. Dumber than a box of chicken beaks

Slicker than snot on a doorknob
Slicker than owl shit

caution - insensitivity:

Used like a three-dollar whore

[patrick t. cakes]

20. dumber than a box of chicken beaks......

...is funnier than hell!:spray: :rofl:
i dont know why but thats funny shit.

[av8rdave]

21. Hotter than ten yards of hell

[conscious evolution]

22. Wake up and smell the grits!

This post is as fucked up as a football bat.

[Kutjara]

23. Ugly as a bag of frogs.

[Kutjara]

24. An oldie from the UK.

"I don't fancy yours much."

Used to indicate that the speaker has claimed the better-looking of a pair of potential romantic interests for themselves, thereby graciously leaving the less appealing one for his/her interlocotur.

[hotforteacher]

25. "Sharp as a sack of wet mice" n/t

[datasuspect]

26. busier than a one armed paperhanger

[lizziegrace]

27. I like

butter my butt and call me a biscuit

or Hot damn! Goodern' grits!

[kwassa]

28. Just between you, me, and the lamp post.

[seemunkee]

29. All around Robin Hoods barn

My moms phrase for having to run a lot of errands. She also frequently said
Hotter than a little red wagon
Madder than a wet hen.

At the beginning of any trip my dad would pronounce "We're off like a herd of turtles" He was also found of "I see said the blind man" He and many of his friends were blind.

[kwassa]

30. Hot enough to roast the balls off a brass monkey.

Little old lady said that to me, once.

[Bunny]

31. I am a fan of "be that as it may". I really don't even know what that

means, but I use it in conversation on occasion because I like the way it sounds.