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Idioms and Slang

I have no real issues with most idioms. I don't have problems with slang, though as time goes on I pay less attention to the most recent slang as opposed to older slang which seems to last through the decades.
 
Yes, I struggle with some. One that confounded me until relatively recently was, "you can't have your cake and eat it too." I always thought that what's the use of having cake if you can't eat it... lol
Same! It took a while to figure this one out, but I guess it's saying that once you've eaten the cake, then you don't have it anymore. But then why do I want it if not to eat?

Yes^^^
Noam Chomsky espouses this theory in the "language doesn't exist theory"
Hence that people surely use spoken and written words to communicate but language does not exist.
Through accentation and slang,language is ever changing and not absolute.
True, and I love that. I really enjoy looking at how words and languages change over time.
 
I sometimes like interactions with older clients who like dropping idioms (e.g. water under the bridge) though admittedly I sometimes go scrambling to look them up.

I don't think I've encountered "tight" but I recall "phat" become very confusing the first several times I heard it.
"Water under the bridge?" Hmmm. It is sad that only older people would use that because it is a brilliant analogy. Maybe it is because young people have not yet figured out the idiocy of relitigating the past.
 
I'm 46, I'm at that age now where English sounds like a foreign language to me. Now I know how adults felt when my generation went around saying something like, "that dude thinks he's like, totally rad, but he's really a major bum-out. Whatever, I think he's awesome... not!":cool:

Especially internet slang. When I first starting going on the internet I was pretty clueless about a lot of slang or references used in the early 2000's that everyone else seemed to get, and I was in my late 20's. Everyone was saying "the cake is a lie" or "he took an arrow to the knee", and since I had never even heard of the games that came from I was like, "what the hey"?

When I was younger I read that "tight" either meant "drunk" or something that's NSFW.
 
I d never realised what can't have your cake and eat it meant until now... I thought it meant the person shouldn't be greedy and was like a Victorian style admonition. I also find the one about the half a glass strange. It's half a glass of liquid. It is both half full and half empty. Whatever!?!?!

:sake::coffee::sake::coffee::sake::coffee::sake::coffee::sake::coffee::sake::coffee::sake::coffee::sake::coffee::sake:
 
I wonder why neurotypicals use so many idioms.
I live in Scotland, my family and friends don't use all the Scots slang so sometimes I don't what some Scots slang words mean.
 
Yesterday I was watching an episode of a show where there was going to be a competition, and the winner gets a nice teapot as a prize. One contestant declared "That teapot is mine!" And my first thought was, "Oh, well it was nice of her to donate it to be offered as a prize!"
Took me a second to realize she was just bragging about how she expected to win it. I'm usually pretty good at these sayings, but sometimes it does take me a second to get what they really meant.

It's half a glass of liquid. It is both half full and half empty. Whatever!?!?!
Exactly! They mean the same thing! I know it's supposed to demonstrate whether you're a pessimist or an optimist, but it's both!
 
I also find the one about the half a glass strange. It's half a glass of liquid. It is both half full and half empty. Whatever!?!?!

upload_2021-4-7_10-35-47.webp
 
Yesterday I was watching an episode of a show where there was going to be a competition, and the winner gets a nice teapot as a prize. One contestant declared "That teapot is mine!" And my first thought was, "Oh, well it was nice of her to donate it to be offered as a prize!"
Took me a second to realize she was just bragging about how she expected to win it. I'm usually pretty good at these sayings, but sometimes it does take me a second to get what they really meant.


Exactly! They mean the same thing! I know it's supposed to demonstrate whether you're a pessimist or an optimist, but it's both!
Loved the autistic mindset teapot story
 

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