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BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW THE SOURCE OF THESE IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS
email | 8-29-13 | no idea

Posted on 08/30/2013 1:39:08 PM PDT by B4Ranch

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1 posted on 08/30/2013 1:39:08 PM PDT by B4Ranch
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To: B4Ranch

An entertaining email, to be sure, but at least three are not true: Brass Monkey, Save Face, and Gossip. I didn’t have the time to look up the rest.


3 posted on 08/30/2013 1:46:16 PM PDT by paterfamilias
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To: B4Ranch

I did know most of these.


4 posted on 08/30/2013 1:46:33 PM PDT by TBP (Obama lies, Granny dies.)
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To: B4Ranch

Cool...thanks for sharing.


5 posted on 08/30/2013 1:47:12 PM PDT by Sergio (An object at rest cannot be stopped! - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight)
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To: B4Ranch
Printers also used the watch your ps and qs as they were hard to sort after a print job.
6 posted on 08/30/2013 1:47:52 PM PDT by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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To: B4Ranch

“balls to the wall”

First time I heard that expression it was a Navy guy saying it.

And he wasn’t a pilot.


7 posted on 08/30/2013 1:47:58 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: B4Ranch

” Did you know the saying “God willing and the creek don’t rise” was in reference to the Creek Indians and not a body of water? It was written by Benjamin Hawkins in the late 18th century. He was a politician and Indian diplomat. While in the south, Hawkins was requested by the President of the U.S. to return to Washington . In his response, he was said to write, “God willing and the Creek don’t rise.” Because he capitalized the word “Creek” it is deduced that he was referring to the Creek Indian tribe and not a body of water.”

I read a long site a day or so ago, disputing this. Gave lots of examples, and sited lots of research.


8 posted on 08/30/2013 1:48:16 PM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ( Ya can't pick up a turd by the clean end!)
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To: B4Ranch

Thanx. This will keep my smartass liberal sister-in-law busy for quite a while fact checking all this stuff.


9 posted on 08/30/2013 1:49:20 PM PDT by shove_it (long ago Orwell and Rand warned us about 0bama's America)
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To: B4Ranch

The only one up there that I know to be true is the 27 feet of ammo and the expression “the whole nine yards.” But it only applied to the P-51 Mustang. Other aircraft had differing amounts.

And the most common use of the phrase was after a young pilot got caught sneaking onto the base after a night out with his English girl friend. To a common question, “well, did you get into any trouble?” The usual reply was, “yea, they brought me up in front of the old man and he gave me the whole nine yards.”


10 posted on 08/30/2013 1:55:04 PM PDT by I cannot think of a name
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To: shove_it

Since when do libtards care about facts?


11 posted on 08/30/2013 1:55:38 PM PDT by Slump Tester (What if I'm pregnant Teddy? Errr-ahh -Calm down Mary Jo, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it)
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To: B4Ranch

bookmark


12 posted on 08/30/2013 1:56:01 PM PDT by Pajamajan (Pray for our nation. Thank the Lord for everything you have. Don't wait. Do it today.)
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To: B4Ranch

This stuff is almost as bad as the ‘pluck yew’ email that makes the rounds every couple of years.


13 posted on 08/30/2013 1:56:13 PM PDT by Ol' Dan Tucker (People should not be afraid of the government. Government should be afraid of the people)
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To: B4Ranch

The Las Vegas triple-A baseball team has a nickname of the “Las Vegas 51’s.” Now, is this a reference to Tin-Foil Hatness (as in Area 51), or a reference to being one card short of a full deck?


14 posted on 08/30/2013 1:58:53 PM PDT by cookcounty (IRS = Internal Revenge Service.)
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To: Slump Tester

This one does. Snopes is her Bible. And we know how unbiased Snopes is.


15 posted on 08/30/2013 1:59:31 PM PDT by shove_it (long ago Orwell and Rand warned us about 0bama's America)
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To: I cannot think of a name
My favorite pilot line is the one I've always used with my girlfriend: "Stick with me, and you'll be farting through silk."

She just commented the other day about how the people who know where came from are dying off. (Pilots had access to silk when it was hard to find.)

16 posted on 08/30/2013 2:01:34 PM PDT by Slump Tester (What if I'm pregnant Teddy? Errr-ahh -Calm down Mary Jo, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it)
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To: B4Ranch

I always thought “balls to the wall”, or “balls out”, referred to the governor on a steam engine running full speed. Pretty sure “losing face” is wrong, as it has been used in Asian cultures for ages. Fun to talk about these things anyway.


17 posted on 08/30/2013 2:06:54 PM PDT by bk1000 (A clear conscience is a sure sign of a poor memory)
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To: B4Ranch
At local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from pint and quart-sized containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in 'pints' and who was drinking in 'quarts,' hence the phrase 'minding your 'P's and Q's'.

I heard a different story about 'minding your 'P's and Q's'.

The story I heard was that the British Royal Navy used to give its sailors a rum ration everyday.

If a sailor was on duty, he got a pint of rum. If he was off duty, he got a quart of rum. Hence the saying, 'mind your 'P's and Q's'.
18 posted on 08/30/2013 2:08:33 PM PDT by Ticonderoga34
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To: B4Ranch

I thought ‘balls to the wall’ was in reference to ball speed governors for steam engines. The balls spin and centrifugal force makes the balls go out and this action can be used to limit a throttle.


19 posted on 08/30/2013 2:09:49 PM PDT by posterchild
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To: B4Ranch
During WWII , U.S. airplanes were armed with belts of bullets which they would shoot during dogfights and on strafing runs. These belts were folded into the wing compartments that fed their machine guns. These belts measure 27 feet and contained hundreds of rounds of bullets. Often times, the pilots would return from their missions having expended all of their bullets on various targets. They would say, �I gave them the whole nine yards, meaning they used up all of their ammunition.

Most fighters of the day in WWII fired .50 BMG ammunition. The average ammunition load per machine gun was 300 rounds per gun. For example, the P-51 Mustang carried 4 - .50 M1 machine guns and a total of 1260 rounds or 315 rounds per gun.

The base of the .50 BMG is .804" in diameter.

315 X .804" = 253".

253" / 12" = 21'.

So, a belt of 315 rounds of .50 BMG ammunition is actually, at minimum, 7 yards, not 9.

Calculations for .30-06, which is the other commonly used aircraft ammunition, comes up with a similarly different number than 9 yards.

20 posted on 08/30/2013 2:13:31 PM PDT by Ol' Dan Tucker (People should not be afraid of the government. Government should be afraid of the people)
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