American Expressions That Still Confuse You After All These Inane Years Here ?

Started by mongers, June 14, 2011, 05:15:09 PM

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mongers

What actually is a 'keeper' ?

I thought it's a woman* whom you in retrospect realise was the near perfect partner, but you, for whatever reason let get away. Or a wife/partner of someone else whom you recognise as a good catch for them, a women they'd be daft to let go of.
I sort of assume you can't actually be dating or married to 'The Keeper' or at least you are, but you don't recognise it.

Can there only ever have been one keeper in a man's life or are they even rarer ?

So how far off am I on this expression ?

And what other American expressions confuse you ?





* I'm guessing women use the same expression about men.
"We have it in our power to begin the world over again"

Slargos

A keeper is a thing or more commonly a person which you need to, unsurprisingly, keep.

An object of high value that you shouldn't let go unless you absolutely have to.  :hmm:

Jacob

It's also a small cup shaped rubber device touted to be a reusable environmentally friendly alternative to the tampon.


Barrister

Quote from: mongers on June 14, 2011, 05:15:09 PM
What actually is a 'keeper' ?

I thought it's a woman* whom you in retrospect realise was the near perfect partner, but you, for whatever reason let get away. Or a wife/partner of someone else whom you recognise as a good catch for them, a women they'd be daft to let go of.
I sort of assume you can't actually be dating or married to 'The Keeper' or at least you are, but you don't recognise it.

Can there only ever have been one keeper in a man's life or are they even rarer ?

So how far off am I on this expression ?

And what other American expressions confuse you ?





* I'm guessing women use the same expression about men.

You've basically got it, except it doesn't have to be in retrospect.  My wife is a keeper, and I was smart enough to recognize it. :thumbsup:
Posts here are my own private opinions.  I do not speak for my employer.

Caliga

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Razgovory

A "keeper" is a fish.  Specifically a fish that is worth taking home and cooking.  By extension it means anything that is worth keeping, especially a mate.  In the US the dating process is often compared to fishing.  Similar expressions "She's a good Catch!", and "there's plenty of fish in the sea".
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

Josquius

A keeper isn't American is it? I've heard that in Britain.

The American expression that really gets me is "I'd hit it". Only ever heard it on languish and to a lesser extent elsewhere on the net. Its like...you'd hit a woman? What? I get that it means "I'd do it" but it just sounds odd.
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garbon

"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

garbon

Quote from: Tyr on June 14, 2011, 05:55:43 PM
The American expression that really gets me is "I'd hit it". Only ever heard it on languish and to a lesser extent elsewhere on the net. Its like...you'd hit a woman? What? I get that it means "I'd do it" but it just sounds odd.

What do you think it is like when you are slamming into someone? :unsure:
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Habbaku

The medievals were only too right in taking nolo episcopari as the best reason a man could give to others for making him a bishop. Give me a king whose chief interest in life is stamps, railways, or race-horses; and who has the power to sack his Vizier (or whatever you care to call him) if he does not like the cut of his trousers.

Government is an abstract noun meaning the art and process of governing and it should be an offence to write it with a capital G or so as to refer to people.

-J. R. R. Tolkien

The Brain

Women want me. Men want to be with me.

garbon

"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Slargos


garbon

"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Monoriu

I can't think of any at this moment, but I am sure there are too many for me to list.  Recently I was quite surprised to learn that "biking" (what happened to cycling anyway?) can mean both cycling and motorcycling.