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Literal Takes On Popular Phrases

Harry_Dangler said:
"I could care less"
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A classic there, Mike!
“Oh really? So you DO care?” Lol

  
Nulle said:
English is not my language but I've often wondered about the use of the words 'reduce down' when watching a US or UK cooking show.
 
Maybe one of you native English speakers can tell me why you add the word 'down' when 'reduce' alone should be enough. Using 'reduce down' is what we in Danish would call dobbeltkonfekt (a pleonasm). Or or are you magically able to reduce up also ;)
 
Another thing I've been wondering about is the fact that you call our neighboring country Sweden and the inhabitants Swedes but you call my country 'Denmark' and my people 'Danes'. Logically it should be either Danmark (which is the name we use) and Danes or Denmark and Denes or..??
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That’s amazing to me, Nulle! You pronounce your country as DANEMARK? Yes, that’s all definitely screwy.
And I’m noticing that my punctuations are not being posted on here. Everything I write looks incorrect.

Pleonasm, I just had to look up, Is:
the use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning.

In English, we would call REDUCE-DOWN a
Redundancy: the state of being not or no longer needed or useful. OR
The inclusion of extra components which are not strictly necessary to functioning.
I think of it as using synonyms back to back. No need. Why use 7 words when 5 will do?
Technically, pleonasm is correct/closer because it’s about language and words. English, to me, is just a mash-up of every other language. We always say: “That’s French for.......” or “That’s Latin, meaning......” So we TRY to sound like we know what we’re talking about, when in actuality, we have no idea what the meanings of the words we actually use, are.

Oxymorons are the greatest smart-sounding, idiotic compounded terms.
We all know jumbo shrimp, but:
Pretty-ugly
Awfully-good
Original-copy
Guest-host
Civil-war

Thank you, Nulle! And good afternoon!
 
Yes, in Danish my country is called Danmark and a native is called en Dansker (a Dane) which is why the change from e to a in English confuses me greatly. But I guess being the owner of a Great Dene would sound pretty strange :P
 
And a great day to you, too, Bhuter.
 
Nulle,
 
The word "up" is also often applied (and I say it as well) but have no clue as to "why" or the origins. Seems to be mostly, as I recount here, for descriptions of things "not so good" (depending if this is the desired outcome of the activity or not.)
 
Examples:
 
Look at that paint job, it sure is "fu*ked up."  Or use "screwed up," "messed up," "fouled up," "dicked up" etc.. All bad.
 
Conversely or not (depending) "I went to the party last night and got fu*ked up" or "screwed up" "messed up..."       Perhaps you get the point. 
 
I've not researched it and cannot explain why the usage of "up."  However, I am now curious.
 
A little levity of "ups" and "downs." A bit dated but on point anyway... Hope you can view it in your country.
 
 
https://youtu.be/0q6Gc23ZtPA
 
WarrantMan said:
Nulle,
 
The word "up" is also often applied (and I say it as well) but have no clue as to "why" or the origins. Seems to be mostly, as I recount here, for descriptions of things "not so good" (depending if this is the desired outcome of the activity or not.)
 
Examples:
 
Look at that paint job, it sure is "fu*ked up."  Or use "screwed up," "messed up," "fouled up," "dicked up" etc.. All bad.
 
Conversely or not (depending) "I went to the party last night and got fu*ked up" or "screwed up" "messed up..."       Perhaps you get the point. 
 
I've not researched it and cannot explain why the usage of "up."  However, I am now curious.
 
A little levity of "ups" and "downs." A bit dated but on point anyway... Hope you can view it in your country.
 
 
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Oddly enough, Reggie......
I just happen to be watching this right now, for the umpteenth time, so I found this clip:

 
Good one Adam!
 
On "international" stuff using English.
 
I am perplexed at this one. I hear it in the media frequently.
 
He is from "the Ukraine." The congressman went to "the Ukraine." The accused terrorist was from "the Ukraine."
 
Why the "the?" 
 
The country is Ukraine. We do not say he went to "the China,"  "the France" or "the Sweden." Why the hell do journalists insist on saying "the Ukraine?" 
 
Kills me. I don't have a clue as to why. Watch/listen to English spoken news and you will hear it..... :shocked:
 
WarrantMan said:
Maybe not "popular" in the broader sense, a vocational thing , but still a phrase I have heard for many years. Particularly after a "post scuffle" arrest.  "Man these are tight, can you unloosen the cuffs a bit?" 
 
Absolutely true.   "Unloosen the cuffs."  
 
More times than I can count.
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This EXACT thing happened to me when working as a cook and the manager wanted me to come unloosen the connection to the carbonation tanks. I went over there, felt that it was tight, and said, “Done. It’s unloosened.”

Unthaw goes along those same lines.

Lmao!

Great Reggie!!!!
 
WarrantMan said:
Good one Adam!
 
On "international" stuff using English.
 
I am perplexed at this one. I hear it in the media frequently.
 
He is from "the Ukraine." The congressman went to "the Ukraine." The accused terrorist was from "the Ukraine."
 
Why the "the?" 
 
The country is Ukraine. We do not say he went to "the China,"  "the France" or "the Sweden." Why the hell do journalists insist on saying "the Ukraine?" 
 
Kills me. I don't have a clue as to why. Watch/listen to English spoken news and you will hear it..... :shocked:
Click to expand...
 
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18233844#:~:text=Countries%20like%20the%20United%20States,to%20Germanic%20and%20Romance%20languages.
 
:cheers:
 
Nulle said:
English is not my language but I've often wondered about the use of the words 'reduce down' when watching a US or UK cooking show.
 
Maybe one of you native English speakers can tell me why you add the word 'down' when 'reduce' alone should be enough. Using 'reduce down' is what we in Danish would call dobbeltkonfekt (a pleonasm). Or or are you magically able to reduce up also ;)
 
Another thing I've been wondering about is the fact that you call our neighboring country Sweden and the inhabitants Swedes but you call my country 'Denmark' and my people 'Danes'. Logically it should be either Danmark (which is the name we use) and Danes or Denmark and Denes or..??
Click to expand...
 
To reduce down is correct if you want to say "to reduce down to a certain level", but is not considered "proper language use" if you only want to say "to reduce".
 
 
WarrantMan said:
A good researcher perhaps, novice or pro? Difficult to say.
 
To the wordsmith, bedfellow challenge - is he a cunning linguist? 
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My better half says I have a sharp tongue, and also a sharp pen, and that my words come to full bloom in an unabated and free-streaming ink flow. Never been a master debator.
 
WarrantMan said:
A good researcher perhaps, novice or pro? Difficult to say.
 
To the wordsmith, bedfellow challenge - is he a cunning linguist?
Click to expand...
Dieter told me he does academic Spanish > English translation as a side income.
I felt lame because my knowledge is just photographic memory that I haven’t developed yet.
I need to get a move-on with learning.
I turned to the calendar and yelled, “Look.....your days are numbered!”
But no matter how much I push the envelope, it’ll still be stationary.
So I moved forward, walked into a bar, then screamed, “ouch!”
Held a door open for a clown because I thought it was a nice jester, but I got flipped the bird by a chick in a coupe.

I don’t know....
I’ll just sit here thinking about how lightning works hoping it doesn’t suddenly strike me.
 
Sometimes, the weather service forecasts partly sunny during the day. Why don't they forecast partly moony at night?
 
If a person is NOT being uncouth, is he being couth?
 
If a person is NOT being disruptive, is he being ruptive?
 
If baseball has a short stop, why isn't there a long stop?
 
Explain 'sanitary sewer' to me.
 
Why do we drive on a Parkway and park on a Driveway?
 
The winner of a contest was given a dollar. The one who won won one one dollar bill.
 
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