The English language contains some pretty strange phrases. For example, 
"there's more than one way to skin a cat". (Why in the name of God would 
anybody wish to skin a cat??)

Of course, most people know what all these phrases mean (and therefore 
to some extent don't notice them). Being a socially defective human, I 
have come across quite a few phrases that I don't actually understand 
the meaning of. For example,

   "pony up"

What the heck is that supposed to mean? I could take quite a few 
guesses, but this is the kind of thing where unless you *know* the 
answer, there's really no way to deduce it logically. Similarly,

   "put out"

Where I'm from, if somebody is "put out" it means they're dissapointed. 
However, I've seen this in sentence constructions where that 
interpretation doesn't make any sense. (For example, 
http://www.bash.org/?635032 )

And then there's things like

   "stick it to 'em!"

Now what is that supposed to mean? Similarly,

   "riding shotgun"

Wuh?

Also, what *precisely* does

   "make out"

actually mean? From context I have some idea, but I'm unsure of the 
exact meaning. Similarly,

   "third base"

and, while we're on the subject,

   "off base"

Hmm... I need to get out more. :-S

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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