My favorite words / phrases

caitlin1214

caitlin1214

tPF Bish
O.G.
Jul 7, 2006
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#1
These are words and phrases that I've used often and I love using them:


Chaste - morally pure; modest
For some reason, I find that word funny.
I'll say something like, "When Harry and Cho kissed, the first thing that popped into my head was the opening notes to Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On, even though, I know the students at Hogwarts are more chaste than that."


And so forth
It's the equivalent of saying, 'blah, blah, blah' or 'yada, yada, yada' but it's not as dismissive.





Come Hell or high water
In the Bible, God's punishments ranged from water (Noah's Ark) to fire (Hell). This phrase is a reference to these two opposite elements of trouble and destruction, meaning that against all odds, whether it be fire or flood, the person's will will see him through.

I love it because it sounds so determined: "Come Hell or high water, I will lose weight!"





I'll be damned
It could either be used as surprise, "I did not expect that to happen" or determination to prevent something.

I like the second one. Again, it sounds so determined.

"I'll be damned if she, once again, makes it all about her!"


These are what I have so far, but I will add others.
 
#6
I like "Big Hat, No Cattle" - a phrase used to describe someone who spends all their money trying to look rich, when really they aren't.

Also, keel-haul. An old naval punishment which consisted of dragging the offending sailor under the keel of the ship from one side to the other. Often fatal. You can use it to refer to a drastic punishment "I will be keel-hauled if I don't get that report out on time!"

I also recently found the origin of the phrase "one-upsmanship". It was coined by author Stephen Potter, a British author who wrote a series of books starting with Gamesmanship - about devious ploys one can use to win without actually cheating. He went on to write "upsmanship", which he states something like 'on the ladder of life you are either one rung up or one rung down from the other fellow' - okay that's a poor paraphrase, but I can't find the exact article that I read. The article also stated that this led to the addition of "manship" to many words, one of them being "brinksmanship" used by Eric Severied in the sixties to describe the cold-war. The Potter books are available on Amazon.com, but are very dry humor and somewhat dated. A movie based on "Upsmanship" was recently released - "A School for Scoundrels" with Billy Bob Thorton.

Sorry for the long post. Got carried away. Love words. Don't use them too well. :P
 
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