Come dahn ta Picksburg n'at, we show ya how to rilly talk funny.
Can I Please Just Say...
by AGuest 89 Replies latest jw friends
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Mad Sweeney
"Off the hook" doesn't come from fishing, I don't think. I think it comes from the telephone.
When you call someone who's phone is "off the hook" you get a "busy" signal. So off the hook = popular.
That's my take, anyway.
Off the chain comes from the Mike Vick types. A dog that gets off the chain is out of control, wild, dangerous.
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serenitynow!
"Off the hook" doesn't come from fishing, I don't think. I think it comes from the telephone.
When you call someone who's phone is "off the hook" you get a "busy" signal. So off the hook = popular.
That's my take, anyway.
Off the chain comes from the Mike Vick types. A dog that gets off the chain is out of control, wild, dangerous.
Wow. I learn something new every day on this board. I must really be old and out of touch with the vernacular, cause I didn't really know what that stuff meant.
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Nickolas
to be off the hook in my part of the world is no longer to be on the hotseat - ie accountable for some wrongdoing. As in, "Ok, Bugsy, you're off the hook this time, but be careful to keep your nose clean." (Do I have to explain what keeping one's nose clean means?)
It gets even worse when you switch languages. Here in Canada, if you ask a question to a French speaker that he can't answer, he will more likely than not shrug his shoulders and say "Je donne ma langue au chat" which translates directly in English to "I give my tongue to the cat." Figure that out.
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kazar
Ah, Shelby,
Thank you , thank you, thank you for the jew elry topic. I have been so frustrated to hear hosts and guests on radio and television pronounce the word jool ery 'til I could scream. How could those in the public eye mispronounce words? Obviously, they never bothered to look up the word for pronunciation.
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serenitynow!
to be off the hook in my part of the world is no longer to be on the hotseat
That meaning is known here in the US too.
I think for the other meaning, in reference to a party (some kind of event) or something you are supposed to say "off da hook."
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clarity
I see the word prolly on here so often, I've started to think it's just blog spell! prolly = probably.
Mad Sweeney, you're right, it is about the telephone!
c
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Nickolas
Yes, the telephone can be off the hook, too, because the original telephone receivers were literally suspended on a hook. I think that was the origin of the other meaning, not connected with the wrongdoing. To be "off the hook" is to be disconnected.
Ain't linguistics grand?
Got to get to bed. Up early to go fishing tomorrow. Sometimes the fish get off the hook, too. Maybe that was the original idiom? Good night.
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AGuest
Yawn... uh, wha... hey, huh? You dear folks still here (peace to you all!)? Well, meds wearin' off so coming out of the fog for a sec (just a sec, 'cause I just took another). Thank you all for your responses, though. Great fun reading your comments. Yes, dear Kazar (peace to you!) - that's what bothers me, too. I really don't have a problem with the average Joe mispronouncing words. Or even with TV personalities, when the term is unfamiliar. But I was thinking that if one is the HOST of a jewelry show, one should be able to SAY "jewel-ry." Again, I'm just sayin'...
As for "off the hook" (SA nods toward the lads)... I always thought it was the "next" level after "off the wall" (which means something similar to beyond explanation or so far "out there")... and just beyond "off the charts" (again, beyond... perhaps even indescribable)... but not as far as "off the chain" (meaning, something gone "mad dog" or similar).
But it's all beyond my time, really (okay, except "off the wall/charts")... and my itty bitty brain (which is how it feels just now). When I use it, it's 'cause I stole it from the young folks.
Ennywho... PEACE, all, and again, thanks all for the fun! As for me, it's Miller... er, med time, again...
SA, who dims the lights and backs out... on her own...
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watson
It's "wash", not worsh..