tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post5712992154728632714..comments2024-03-28T16:56:27.956-05:00Comments on Althouse: Nice paraphrase.Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-66894794057794856332017-04-05T21:07:59.935-05:002017-04-05T21:07:59.935-05:00Roughcoat said:
"Oh come on. Think of them as...Roughcoat said:<br />"Oh come on. Think of them as idioms and figures of speech that enrich the language and communication." <br /><br />Indeed. In college I had a part-time job for a year, tutoring ESL (English as a second language) students. Part of the tools provided to me were illustrated booklets of English idioms. I remember one was titled "It's raining cats and dogs." I had to instruct the students on how to use the phrases in everyday conversations. So I am partly responsible for keeping these idioms alive, at least among non-native English speakers.Night Owlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04210637382517485619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-74168779345270483232017-04-05T19:04:03.123-05:002017-04-05T19:04:03.123-05:00This thread on Trainorders.com seems to address th...This thread on Trainorders.com seems to address the well known locomotive throttle switch which had 8 notches <br /><br />http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1086850. Leorahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14855141178189188764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-10717745168097094422017-04-05T18:59:55.699-05:002017-04-05T18:59:55.699-05:00I proffer that "kick it up a notch" and ...I proffer that "kick it up a notch" and "kick it into high gear" both have their origins in motorcycle slang. On a motorcycle, you put your toe under the shifter and lift to upshift, and press down with your toe on the shifter to downshift. The upshift is a similar motion to a gentle kick, and one can imagine that if your bike had a stiff transmission you might actually have to kick it. Up a notch would be a gear, from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, etc.<br /><br />As an aside, finding neutral can be cruel. On most manual transmissions, it's supposed to be "halfway" between 1st and 2nd. But very easy to miss. <br /><br /><br />Left Bank of the Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04494310302328322830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-42122195934509598112017-04-05T17:29:49.702-05:002017-04-05T17:29:49.702-05:00Or, more aptly, would you think that the word &quo...Or, more aptly, would you think that the word "rocket" came from "Rockettes"?!Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-12088434967386834072017-04-05T17:28:59.568-05:002017-04-05T17:28:59.568-05:00"Rockettes: http://nypost.com/2007/05/04/rock..."Rockettes: http://nypost.com/2007/05/04/rockette-hopefuls-kick-it-up-a-notch/<br />I rest my case!"<br /><br />That's a back formation, like endless corny headlines. If the headline said "The Rockettes Rocket to Fame" or "The Rockettes Rock" would you think the Rockettes' name was related to rockets or rock? Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-44532639899834417192017-04-05T16:29:46.489-05:002017-04-05T16:29:46.489-05:00Rhymes with niche. (Brits say Neesh)
I will concu...<b>Rhymes with niche. (Brits say Neesh)</b><br /><br />I will concur that Brits say 'neesh' for niche [so do I, for that matter] but they don't say 'cleesh' for cliché. mockturtlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10507310332014103437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-39415941428600206692017-04-05T15:04:03.233-05:002017-04-05T15:04:03.233-05:00"TAKE it up a notch" is just as common, ..."TAKE it up a notch" is just as common, in my opinion, as "KICK it up a notch." I don't think kicking has anything to do with the origin. There are probably thousands of machines that have power or output calibrated in fixed increments, with a control lever or dial set to move in discrete amounts by having a spring-loaded tab drop into a notch cut into the surrounding or backing metal.Bob91827https://www.blogger.com/profile/16571040037371248938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-53592226618196924602017-04-05T14:55:12.692-05:002017-04-05T14:55:12.692-05:00I do hate french words though, like "cliche.&...<b>I do hate french words though, like "cliche." I might like it better if it was "clitch."</b><br /><br />Rhymes with niche. (Brits say Neesh)tcrossehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13861315905142017219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-66728692505517830852017-04-05T14:26:34.474-05:002017-04-05T14:26:34.474-05:00Shakespeare was the world's worst for using cl...Shakespeare was the world's worst for using cliches. I don't have time to list them, but there are literally hundred of cliches in his work. So what's up with that. How's that make him a great writer? Seriously? Just askin'.Steven Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11430645803810847730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-49067606830392864372017-04-05T14:08:42.977-05:002017-04-05T14:08:42.977-05:00I do hate french words though, like "cliche.&...<b>I do hate french words though, like "cliche." I might like it better if it was "clitch."</b><br /><br />The Brits probably pronounce it CLEE-shay. mockturtlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10507310332014103437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-39487072700333452222017-04-05T13:52:23.880-05:002017-04-05T13:52:23.880-05:00P.S. Not the half-booths that became prevalent in ...P.S. Not the <i>half-booths</i> that became prevalent in recent years, but the full-size, Clark-Kent-can-change-into-Superman <i>booths</i>.Robert Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06951286299515983901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-45973158869807307392017-04-05T13:50:47.853-05:002017-04-05T13:50:47.853-05:00"Dropping a dime on someone, requires you to ...<i>"Dropping a dime on someone, requires you to understand the history of pay phones. Who even sees pay phones anymore?"</i><br /><br />There are still four working, well-maintained, out-on-the-street <i>pay phone booths</i> in Manhattan.Robert Cookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06951286299515983901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-23802920048359094752017-04-05T13:09:17.440-05:002017-04-05T13:09:17.440-05:00At the end of the day, all these tired old war hor...At the end of the day, all these tired old war horses plodding the well trodden paths know the way home and don't have any to be reined in. It's a safe way to communicate.Williamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07837540030934495651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-21377391465772842222017-04-05T11:58:13.314-05:002017-04-05T11:58:13.314-05:00neither overused or outdated metaphors nor cliches...neither overused or outdated metaphors nor cliches are something to get your panties in a wad about.<br /><br />I do hate french words though, like "cliche." I might like it better if it was "clitch."BNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800122398628075042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-64996639175123976702017-04-05T11:42:53.709-05:002017-04-05T11:42:53.709-05:00Thanks for the shout-out to Antonioni's Blow-U...Thanks for the shout-out to Antonioni's <i>Blow-Up</i> -- the essential text for our post–1965 world.Earnest Prolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07784404737843553158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-73493235744785147682017-04-05T11:15:26.696-05:002017-04-05T11:15:26.696-05:00In "Close Encounters of the Third Kind,"...In "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," when the scientists and aliens are beginning to communicate on the mountain, one of the scientists wants the synthesizer player to increase his tempo and says "kick that mule." <br /><br />If "kick that mule" was a cliche farmers used for "must go faster," it could have easily morphed into "kick it up a notch" in the machinery era.<br /><br />David: Firemen and engineers worked as a team and often traded roles, as firemen wanted to move up to the more prestigious role and were given opportunities to learn from the more experienced engineers.Charliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16975603905568638445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-69668131788961345362017-04-05T10:56:06.065-05:002017-04-05T10:56:06.065-05:00I'm even more hostile to the phrase "kick...<i>I'm even more hostile to the phrase "kick it up a notch" now that I know it's a particular person's catchphrase. That makes it really unusable.</i><br /><br />Except when you are in the kitchen being silly and goofy.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17424384180201600935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-18003392342827988872017-04-05T10:55:07.086-05:002017-04-05T10:55:07.086-05:00"If I should call you up, invest a dime
And y..."If I should call you up, invest a dime<br />And you say you belong to me<br />And ease my mind<br />Imagine how the world could be<br />So very fine<br />So happy together"<br /><br />-- Lyrics of the Turtles "Happy Together"<br /><br />(The price went to 10 cents from 5 cents in 1951,<br /> and to 20 cents in 1973)<br /><br />Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16099940931064117337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-39097384085975772252017-04-05T10:53:09.207-05:002017-04-05T10:53:09.207-05:00"What kinds of machines are operated with a k...<i>"What kinds of machines are operated with a kicking foot?" None of them. But would a steam locomotive engineer hurtling down the track in a deafening mechanical roar casually remark to his fireman "Bill, I think we should raise the throttle lever to the next index..." or would he say, "Bill, we're running late, let's kick 'er up a notch"?</i><br /><br />How about "more coal."<br /><br />The engineer controls the throttle on a steam locomotive, not the fireman.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17424384180201600935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-43828420367194293672017-04-05T10:51:49.114-05:002017-04-05T10:51:49.114-05:00The rule against clichés in writing is like the ru...The rule against clichés in writing is like the rule against split infinitives or ending a sentence with a preposition: a useful guideline that should be dumped whenever violating the rule would make the writing stronger. In your case, nothing says shameless-shill hypocrisy quite like "turn on a dime."Earnest Prolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07784404737843553158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-19874574769533848182017-04-05T10:50:42.837-05:002017-04-05T10:50:42.837-05:00Interesting that Orwell's "dying' met...Interesting that Orwell's "dying' metaphors are all still around.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17424384180201600935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-24423110489575514882017-04-05T10:49:58.353-05:002017-04-05T10:49:58.353-05:00Rockettes: http://nypost.com/2007/05/04/rockette-h...Rockettes: http://nypost.com/2007/05/04/rockette-hopefuls-kick-it-up-a-notch/<br />I rest my case!Virgil Hiltshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15725950903829582668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-75930583532580075592017-04-05T10:48:49.828-05:002017-04-05T10:48:49.828-05:00Ann said "I invite you to consider what the &...Ann said "I invite you to consider what the "it" is". <br />Kicking also means extending the leg quickly; it does not have to include kicking an object.<br />If you google "kick it" dance or dancing (which, among other things, will reveal the dreadful "Kickit" dancing competition) you will notice that not many dancers doing "kick it" dancing are continuously kicking objects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aE-cW_oMDg<br /> Virgil Hiltshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15725950903829582668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-3766474757456005222017-04-05T10:44:08.119-05:002017-04-05T10:44:08.119-05:00The pay phone used to cost a nickel, then it went ...The pay phone used to cost a nickel, then it went up to a dime, then a quarter, and then it disappeared. "To drop a dime" on someone only worked at one particular moment in time. I have lived long enough to see the birth, the prime, and the slow fade of this cliche. Language is a living thing, and, as a living thing, certain phrases have their noon of vigor and twilight of senescence. At the end of the day everything fades to black, but some phrases glimmer in the gloaming and defy their obscurity. Let us show some respect or at least lip service to those cliches that struggle to stay alive in a world that has made them meaningless.Williamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07837540030934495651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-22189928153887131812017-04-05T10:43:53.074-05:002017-04-05T10:43:53.074-05:00I've never turned on a dime, but I once stoppe...I've never turned on a dime, but I once stopped on a dime. Unfortunately the dime was in some guy's pocket.pacwesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09818912698472924712noreply@blogger.com