Page 1 of English...very strange language !!!

Okay guys (girls), I thought I had mastered this English language soemtime ago but
I`ve just come across some phrases that`s doing my head in. Care to explain them.

1st Refusal
I used to live in a small bedsit and when I found out that my landlady`s self contained
flat was up for rent then I approached her as quick as possible to let her know that I
was interested. "Thanks for letting me know" she said "I`ll make sure that you get 1st refusal". I was dumbstuck. 1st refusal???, I thought. What was the point of me approaching her if I was going to be the 1st one to be refused. Strange....

Anal
The company I work for asked me to prepare some paperwork for a very difficult customer of ours. The customer wanted every detail to be written. After spending a few long hours my boss said that I should write any old rubbish because "if the company is going to be anal about it then they deserve it". I still haven`t figured out what he meant by that. Strange...

Dogs Bollucks
Exactly what do people mean when they say "this is a `dogs bollucks` of a TV or HI-FI unit". What association (if any) has a dogs testicles to a fine TV or HI-FI unit.


Any other stange phrases any of you guys have come across

State of the art Why does that mean it is technoligically advanced?

All the best,

The 42%er.

Blow Job

Who blows?

1st Refusal She is offering you the chance to turn her down first not the other way round.

Dogs Bollocks Something thats on show that you could be proud of.

I don`t know about Anal.

All the best,

The 42%er.

1st refusal - Means you would be the first person (in the queue) to have the option of refusing/decling an offer made to you.

Anal - New one on me, but I think it could mean that the said company are a bunch of a***holes.

Dogs B*****ks. Don`t know where this is from but seems to me to be of London/Essex origin and means the same as "The bee`s knees" or "Numero Uno"

Agree it`s all a bit strange to somehow who`s first language isn`t English. All part of life`s rich pattern I suppose. If you`re looking for strange phrases, look no further than Cockney rhyming slang, for instance - "Going for a Ruby (Murray) = curry" or He`s wearing a right dodgy "Syrup" = "Syrup of figs" = wig, to mention just two examples.


JohnF

And if A building falls down they say its been raised to the ground why do they say raised when its actually fallen down

to be anal about that last one, buildings are razed to the ground - different word...

Actually I think you`ll find the word is "razed" (destroyed completely). Still sounds strange though.

JohnF

Homophone corner:

razed to the ground (demolished), not `raised`

Also, `anal` is a shortened form of the phrase `anally retentive`, meaning excessively particular or fussy.

I myself have always wondered about the following:

(a) surely `if it ain`t broke, don`t break it` makes more sense than `if it ain`t broke, don`t fix it` ;-)
(ii) if money talks and talk is cheap, does that mean money is cheap?

Quote:
If it ain`t broke, don`t fix it

This isn`t so silly as it sounds, since sometimes people trying to make something better end up making it far worse. :)

Editor
DVD REVIEWER