I’ve seen people using “that’s what she said” in a very serious setting, as a way to say “good point/touché”. They had no idea it was from the Office.
“That’s what she said” is way older than The Office.
Running “balls out”.
I assumed it was somehow referring to testicles. It’s not.
It refers to the operation of a centrifugal governor.
“It’s a doggy-dog world.”
I went like 20 something years of my life thinking that’s what people were saying.
I grew up thinking “sympathy” meant the ability to feel sorry for someone while “empathy” meant relatably feeling sorry for everyone, as in you could flashback to the experience someone was going through.
This is not a default attribute of mine, so when people would ask me about having empathy, I’d say “no, I don’t have that”. This grew into a misunderstanding which grew into a bad aspect of my reputation.
That said, even with the misunderstanding in mine, I still think our worth comes from our character and that alone. Whether someone mentally is actually in-tune to how everyone else thinks is irrelevant.
I learnt the German word “geil” from context to mean something like “awesome” or " really good".
At some point I went to some mega fancy restaurant, like dressed up fancy and everything. The waiter asks how the entrees were, and I respond “geil”. My wife burst out laughing and later explains to me that while “geil” is used to mean “awesome”, it’s very much slang and actually means “horny”.
I bet the waiter told the cook and it made both their days, though.
Case and point.
I thought it was like “I made my case, and my point”.
But it’s case in point
Holy crap! I thought that until I just read your comment. Thank you!
“Nuff said”
I was maybe 14 before I figured out that “Nuff” is a shortened form of “Enough” rather than someone’s name. XD
I thought kid gloves were for dealing with kids but actually they’re made from the skin of kids.
Also of note, I thought the kids were children.
I’ve seen people using “that’s what she said” in a very serious setting, as a way to say “good point/touché”.
As in there was a literal she who literally said that? Otherwise I can’t understand this.
There is, indirectly.
“That’s what she said,” is a descendant of a line that began with “said the actress to the bishop”. And that is, according to folklore, a real event in which a named actress (I forget her name) asked a real bishop (again, don’t know the name anymore) about his “prick” to which the bishop responded that it was “throbbing”. (And according to that same folklore the butler, having overheard that upon entering the room, dropped his tray.)
The backstory being that the bishop had been gardening and injured his thumb on a rose. She was asking about the injury.
But that is supposedly the beginning of the expression “said the actress to the bishop” which is the phrase used in writing for “that’s what she said” as far back as the old Charteris “The Saint” novels at least.
I mean in the context of a serious setting where it’s not being used as a joke.
“That’s what she said” long predates the office. I feel like it was used in SNL in the 80’s.
That’s what she said appears in print as early as Edmond Addeo and Robert Burger’s 1973 book EgoSpeak: Why No One Listens to You: “The cheapest shot of all, of course, is the ancient one-liner, ‘That’s what she said.’ This reply can be used after virtually any remark, however innocent, and the speaker can summon up some hint of double-entendre.”
As an ESL: “IKR” aka “I know, right?”. I thought it has kind of passive-aggressive/sarcastic undertext, meaning something more of a “bro cmon this is obvious/trivial”, while it’s actually seems to be quite the opposite - emphatic affirmation of someones excitement about something. Keep in mind, I’ve never heard it IRL as I rarely talk to native speakers IRL, it was just a wrong impression from chats and online discussions.
As a non native English speaker it took me some time to fully grasp the meaning of “i couldn’t care less” it’s quite tricky
Don’t worry, plenty of people in the US get it wrong.
“I could care less”
blink
it’s definitely not from the office, lol. it’s an old old joke that probably predates television.
the joke was really that he was so out of touch he was using a quite dated sexist joke.
For the longest time I thought “limp wristed” meant ineffective, like if you were to hold something with a limp wrist you were more liable to drop it.
That was a fun day at work when I found out what it actually meant… after using the term in the middle of a meeting to describe a vendor’s poor performance.
Same with using the phrase “raw-dogging” (I think there was a cartoon about it.)
My father in law kept using “raw-dogging it” when we last moved. For example:
Should we strap down the couch? Nah, just raw dog it.
All but impossible and next to impossible.
how were you misusing them?
Fortunately, didn’t get to misuse them. Just took a while to figure out what they really meant. When something is “all but impossible” it shouldn’t be taken literally. Actually just invert the apparent meaning and you get the actual one.
Indefinite leave to remain.
English is a very weird language.
What did you think it meant?
I didn’t know what to make of it. I had to read and double that it means what it is used for.
