this post was submitted on 25 May 2025
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96
What are commonly used idioms/metaphors that make no sense to anyone who knows about the topic they come from? (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 days ago by polysexualstick@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
79 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

What I mean is like for example, a person having "gravitational pull" or someone making a "quantum leap" makes no sense to anyone who knows about physics. Gravity is extremely weak and quantum leaps are tiny.

Or "David versus Goliath" to describe a huge underdoge makes no sense to anyone who knows about history, because nobody bringing a gun to a sword fight is going to be the underdog but that's essentially what David did.

I'm looking for more examples like that.

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[โ€“] Squorlple@lemmy.world 49 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (3 children)

There are a number of idioms that MythBusters tested, some of which were disproven and some of which were confirmed/plausible.

It is easy to punch out of a paper bag.

10 pounds of poop will not fit in a 5-pound bag.

People can easily recognize the backs of their own hands.

Taking candy from a baby is not as easy as it sounds.

People may literally get cold feet when they are scared/timid.

If poop hits a fan it can indeed create a large mess.

You can teach an old dog new tricks.

With an enormous amount of force, it is possible to literally knock someone's socks off.

In a race, it is not literally better to hit the ground running.

You can polish poop.

Shooting fish in a barrel is fairly easy; the shock wave from a bullet can be enough to kill the fish.

A bull in a china shop will actively avoid hitting the shelves.

A rolling stone truly gathers no moss.

Finding a needle in a haystack is difficult, even with modern technology.

[EDIT: a couple of other idioms not in the idiom section of the link.

It is possible to make a balloon out of lead.

It is not possible to herd cats.

A goldfish's memory is not limited to three seconds.

]

[โ€“] shneancy@lemmy.world 27 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

if a poop hits the fan it can indeed create a large mess.

๐Ÿ˜ญ thanks for testing that, Mythbusters, never would've known. what was that quote of theirs? the difference between screwing around and science is writing it down?

[โ€“] drbluefall@toast.ooo 8 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Believe that can be credited to Adam Savage in particular.

[โ€“] palordrolap@fedia.io 8 points 5 days ago

He attributes it to someone else, but saw its potential where its originator didn't.

Source: A quick web search turns up the originator's name as Alex Jason. Savage has talked about it numerous times in YouTube videos and livestreams, which are somewhat harder to dig through.

[โ€“] capital_sniff@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Why are so many about poop?

[โ€“] CanadaPlus 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Humans are still monkeys. We're a couple laws and an evolutionary blink away from throwing it around.

I can think of even more, actually, like "shit rolls down the hill" (meaning blame naturally shifts to inferiors) and "hope in one hand, shit in the other and see which fills faster".

[โ€“] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

My partner and I went to the zoo for one of our first dates (13 years ago, holy poop) and when we approached the gorilla, he slowly pooped out a giant log into his hand, slowly brought the poo around to the front, stared us directly in the eyes, and took a big ol bite, moving it around with his tongue and teeth.

Everyone was mortified. We couldnโ€™t stop laughing. I wish I had taken a video of it.

[โ€“] CanadaPlus 2 points 3 days ago

Lol, I think we were the entertainment that day.

[โ€“] Freshparsnip@lemm.ee 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

They also tested the thing about toast landing butter side up

And also whether exotic meats taste like chicken