Sayings

Discussion in 'Linguistics' started by Orleander, Dec 2, 2007.

  1. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    25,817
    I think I learned some sayings wrong, mainly because I learned them from a deaf mother.
    Is it:
    It takes two to tangle or it takes two to tango
    You have another think coming or you have another thing coming
    Ulterior motive or alterior motive
     
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  3. mrow Unless Registered Senior Member

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    tango
    thing
    ulterior
     
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  5. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    but doesn't it take 2 to tangle?
     
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  7. mrow Unless Registered Senior Member

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    Probably. But that's not the saying. Perhaps it should be.

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    But then again, you can only tango with exactly two. You can tangle with many.

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  8. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    Ah, ya got me there. Thanks mrow!!
     
  9. elsyarango Registered Member

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    yes. it takes 2 to have another ulterior motive tango thing coming.
     
  10. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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  11. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    You've got another think coming. Mrow is wrong; so is Judas Priest.

    The full joke is: If that's what you think, you have another think coming.

    It's been shortened and no one remembers that it's a deliberately ungrammatical joke. It's difficult to tell NG from NK in that position, so people assume they're hearing NG, which is at least grammatically correct even if it doesn't really make any sense.

    An earlier saying, going back at least ninety years, was: You have another guess coming. The joke was probably built upon this.
     
  12. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    25,817
    so its:
    tango
    think
    ulterior
     

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