Sayings and there origins

[Gripper]

Does anyone know what the saying "Once in a blue moon" means

I do :)

Anyone got any others?

[manker]

I presume that it means hardly ever because moons are normally white :unsure:


Does anyone know the origin of 'Oi! What you lookin' at?!'

If so could someone please tell me the correct answer, 'cos I always seem to give the wrong one no matter what my response :(

[Guillaume]

In one of the internet newsgroups I regularly read, one of the local pedants maintains that a blue moon is the second full moon of a calendar month--a rather rare occurrence. While the descriptivist in me acknowledges that is certainly one of the meanings, the original meaning is more general, referring to any rare occurrence.

The original sense is that of an absurd event that can never occur. The moon is never really blue and once in a blue moon is akin to when pigs fly. (Well actually, when a lot of dust is kicked up into the atmosphere, the moon can appear blue. The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 caused the moon to turn blue, as did late Indian monsoons in 1927, and Canadian forest fires in 1951.)

The term dates to a 1528 work by William Barlow, the Bishop of Chichester, the Treatyse of the Buryall of the Masse, more commonly known by its first line, Rede me and be nott wrothe, For I say no things but trothe:

Yf they saye the mone is belewe,
We must believe that it is true.

The modern formulation "blue moon" first appears in 1821. Modern usage holds that a blue moon is a rare, but not impossible, event.

The astronomical definition began in 1932 with the Maine Farmer's Almanac. That periodical defined a blue moon as a season with four full moons rather than the usual three. Given that the seasons are defined by the equinoxes and solstices and not the months, this means a year can have twelve full moons, and each month one, yet have one season with four--a blue moon. In 1946, amateur astronomer James Hugh Pruett published an article in which he misinterpreted the Maine rule to mean two full moons in one month. From there the error seems to have propagated--even being repeated in the original game of Trivial Pursuit, which is probably the primary reason for this definition to have spread so widely and quickly.

Two articles on the origins of blue moon appear in Sky and Telescope magazine by folklorist Philip Hiscock and by astronomers Don Olson, Rick Fienberg, and Roger Sinnott respectively in the March and May 1999 issues.

Source (http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorb.htm)

[JPaul]

Where's Dimsdale.

[S!X]

Where's Dimsdale.

Good question :blink:

[Gripper]

Where's Dimsdale.


It's off a cartoon what my boy watches called "Fairly odd parents"

@ Guillame: Well googled :)

[bigboab]

Where's Dimsdale.

In Canada(Alberta). Though Killie may be in for a name change. :lol:

[100%]

I presume that it means hardly ever because moons are normally white :unsure:


Does anyone know the origin of 'Oi! What you lookin' at?!'

If so could someone please tell me the correct answer, 'cos I always seem to give the wrong one no matter what my response :(

I have a suspicious feeling tha Elvis was is the creator of blue moons

[Gemby!]

I presume that it means hardly ever because moons are normally white :unsure:


Does anyone know the origin of 'Oi! What you lookin' at?!'

If so could someone please tell me the correct answer, 'cos I always seem to give the wrong one no matter what my response :(


I find ignoring them works fine, and if they start to walk over, run ! :01:

[uNz[i]]

I presume that it means hardly ever because moons are normally white :unsure:


Does anyone know the origin of 'Oi! What you lookin' at?!'

If so could someone please tell me the correct answer, 'cos I always seem to give the wrong one no matter what my response :(
The correct response is :
"I don't know, the label's fallen off."
An optional addition could be along the lines of "but whatever it is, it sure looks stupid/ugly/etc"

Any adverse reactions to such a rebuttal can be suppressed with a stout stick.

[Gripper]

Ok new one for ya "Its cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey",do you know the origins to this one

[Tikibonbon]

I dunno, but I hear yer ugly 'nuff to make a freight train take a dirt road tho. :-P

[Lilmiss]

I'm as bored as fuck.


No really, I am. :mellow:

[Tikibonbon]

I'm as bored as fucking.

Apparently yer not doing it right, trust me, it's only kinky the first couple of times.

[peat moss]

I always liked "who gives a rats ass " . :)

[thewizeard]

...back to square one....I know it's origins, but do you?

[peat moss]

...back to square one....I know it's origins, but do you?



Nope , wish I did .

http://www.idiomsite.com/

[JPaul]

I still like "clichés are ten a penny"

The origin is a bloke I used to know, who said it in all seriousity. With nary the slightest hint of irony.

[Rat Faced]

Ok new one for ya "Its cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey",do you know the origins to this one

Thats a naval/military one, belonging to the artillery I believe.

[Gripper]

Well done Ratface in the old days cannonballs were stored on a brass monkey,which when it gets cold shrinks and the balls go rolling away

[Rat Faced]

Well done Ratface in the old days cannonballs were stored on a brass monkey,which when it gets cold shrinks and the balls go rolling away

Only in the sea forts though, like Gibralta.

They wouldnt work on a ship, although I think a couple had them fitted for some strange reason. On ships they used some wooden storage system.

If they'd used the Brass Monkeys, the balls would have cause serious damage during bad weather. Its a myth that they were used on ships themselves, although the boys that carried the powder were called Powder Monkeys on ships.

Come to think of it, there are a lot of the parts of old ships having slang names to do with Monkeys.. probably 'cause they had to act like monkeys in the rigging :P