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 #17 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 2:42 am Phrase "tired as a newt" |
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| I see. Certainly if an American says something like 'get pissed/pissed off/pissed at', they would all refer to the feeling of anger. BTW, I am not very sure but could 'piss off' also mean 'get away/lost'? Sorry for all these bad languages. |
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Haihao
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 Nessie
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| #19 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:42 am Phrase "tired as a newt" |
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| It's an idiom, nessie. Owl was the symbol of Athens. |
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Haihao
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| #20 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:47 am Phrase "tired as a newt" |
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Athens was supposed to be the seat of wisdom, since the Western philosophers of ancient times lived there. In Western folklore, the owl is supposed to be a "wise" animal, so bringing owls to Athens means you're bringing wisdom to the place where people are already wise. It means that you bring something to a place where it's not needed.
It's more common to say "bring coals to Newcastle", or since most Americans don't know anything about Newcastle, we say "bring refrigerators to Eskimos".
We also use that last one to describe someone who is very persuasive or is a very good salesperson: "He could sell refrigerators to Eskimos!" |
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Jamie (K)
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| #21 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:55 am Phrase "tired as a newt" |
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Eskimos are supposed to live in area(s) cold enough.  I suppose Newcastle is a city in Engliand where a lot of coals were traded? |
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Haihao
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| #22 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:01 am Phrase "tired as a newt" |
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| Haihao wrote: |
| Eskimos are supposed to live in area(s) cold enough. I suppose Newcastle is a city in Engliand where a lot of coals were traded? |
Coal was mined near Newcastle. |
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Jamie (K)
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| #23 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 11:07 am Phrase "tired as a newt" |
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| Jamie (K) wrote: |
| Coal was mined near Newcastle. |
I see. That figures. Thank you! |
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Haihao
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| #24 (permalink) Thu Jun 05, 2008 23:41 pm Phrase "tired as a newt" |
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| Jamie K wrote: |
It's obviously local British slang.
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Yes; and probably "pissed as a newt" would be the most immediately comprehensible, to BrE speakers, and "tired as a newt" the least.
| Haihao wrote: |
could 'piss off' also mean 'get away/lost'? Sorry for all these bad languages.
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In BrE, yes. It can also mean "I strongly doubt what you have just told me!".
MrP |
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MrPedantic
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| #25 (permalink) Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:51 am Phrase "tired as a newt" |
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| MrPedantic wrote: |
| Haihao wrote: |
could 'piss off' also mean 'get away/lost'? Sorry for all these bad languages.
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In BrE, yes. It can also mean "I strongly doubt what you have just told me!". |
An American would never be able to get that last meaning from it unless specifically schooled in British local slang. |
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Jamie (K)
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| #26 (permalink) Fri Jun 06, 2008 14:42 pm Phrase "tired as a newt" |
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| Jamie (K) wrote: |
| MrPedantic wrote: |
| Haihao wrote: |
could 'piss off' also mean 'get away/lost'? Sorry for all these bad languages.
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In BrE, yes. It can also mean "I strongly doubt what you have just told me!". |
An American would never be able to get that last meaning from it unless specifically schooled in British local slang. |
Really? Would you never hear someone say stop it, get away with ya or f*ck off to imply that you don't believe what the speaker's just said?
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Ralf
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| #27 (permalink) Fri Jun 06, 2008 18:30 pm Phrase "tired as a newt" |
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| Ralf wrote: |
| Jamie (K) wrote: |
| MrPedantic wrote: |
| Haihao wrote: |
could 'piss off' also mean 'get away/lost'? Sorry for all these bad languages.
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In BrE, yes. It can also mean "I strongly doubt what you have just told me!". |
An American would never be able to get that last meaning from it unless specifically schooled in British local slang. |
Really? Would you never hear someone say stop it, get away with ya or f*ck off to imply that you don't believe what the speaker's just said? |
Yes, and we also say, "Get outa here!" when we don't believe someone. But because "piss off" means to make someone angry, saying, "Piss off!" when you don't believe someone doesn't make any sense to our ears. It sounds like the person is saying, "Go make someone angry!" |
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Jamie (K)
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| What kind of job vs. what kind of work? | someone greasing next to me? |
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