Euphemisms?

I'm fairly sure that swinging the cat has to do with a cat o' nine-tails, as does "letting the cat out of the bag" and even "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours," referring to taking it easy with the flogging. A "square meal" refers to the little square plate on which food was served aboard ship, not to the nutritional value of the food, which was minimal.

If anyone's short of euphemisms - at least anything to do with bodily functions - just about every one going is collected in Roger Melly's Profanisaurus, which is readily available on the Viz website. Some of them will make your eyes water, no kidding.. and I defy anyone to say that they knew every one of them already! Of course, we should have better things to do..

Nothing wrong with being a pedant Roy! I realised after I had posted the thread that I was in error. The reason was, the original euphemism I cited I withdrew at the last moment as maybe being slightly unacceptable in view of the offence caused on other threads. But now you correct me I'll insert the original which was part of the same conversation, I seem to remember. If it wasn't I'm sure the lady in the lowlands will set the record straight. The euphemism was 'horizontal folk dancing' ! I'll take this opportunity to inform the people that have emails in my mailbox awaiting attention that I have got a problem with Outlook Express at the moment, since yesterday it has declined to open for me. The error message I keep getting is MSOE.DLL can't be loaded! Any ideas?

I've emailed you a solution.

Nope, 'fraid not...

Sorry, Missi.. it wasn't actually me being pedantic, for a change. Gotta be someone else with a yahoo account - presumably it comes up the same odd code. Why ilford? Dunno. That's more your way than mine, surely.. Oh, does anyone know where these codes come from, because everything I post comes via yahoo.co.uk.. Thought yahoo was American, not Essex.

arsebones....just checkin' to see if that would get through.

Wow!... I beat the machine!

S what's that a euphemism for Fecky? The thread wasn't about who can beat the filter, they've already removed one thread along those lines already.

Er...repetition of 'already', Missus... *rushes off grinning*

Well I never said I was perfick.

i'll get on the whatsit and get a doodah to tell me if the thingymygyg is watchamacallit.............

There! I knew someone had the answer!

Euphemisms. Where do they all come from? How about all the numerous ones for being drunk? To burn with a light blue flame. To be lit up like a Christmas tree. Lit up like times square. Owl eyed. Drunk as a skunk (have you ever seen a drunk skunk?). @!#$-faced (where on earth did this one come from?). Plastered (and this one?).

Couldn't find 'Laughed Like a Drain' anywhere. Come to the conclusion it's a 'Sippyism. Rather like this one...______________________________________________________________________ Balls to the wall Meaning: To push to the limit, go all out, full speed. Example: If you study balls to the wall from now on, you just might pass your algebra class. Origin: A very colorful phrase, one needs to be careful when using "balls to the wall". Although its real origin is very benign, most people assume it is a reference to testicles. In fact it is from fighter planes. The "balls" are knobs atop the plane's throttle control. Pushing the throttle all the way forward, to the wall of the cockpit, is to apply full throttle. Alternatively, Early railroad locomotives were powered by steam engines. Those engines typically had a mechanical governor. These governors consisted of two weighted steel balls mounted at the ends of two arms, jointed and attached to the end of a vertical shaft that was connected to the interior of the engine. The entire assembly is encased in a housing. The shafts and the weighted balls rotate at a rate driven by the engine speed. As engine speed increases, the assembly rotates at a faster speed and centrifugal force causes the weighted balls to hinge upward on the arms. At maximum engine speed - controlled by these governors - centrifugal force causes the two weighted balls to rotate with their connecting shafts parallel to the ground and thereby nearly touching the sides - the walls - of their metal housing. So, an engineer driving his steam locomotive at full throttle was going "balls to the wall". The expression came to be used commonly to describe something going full speed.

And there was me thinking it was a knee-trembler of some kind!

Well, there ya go, see? You learn summat every day...

I've heard of "going to the well once too often," but laughing like a drain, never heard of it. Are you sure it isn't "laughing like a crane," as in whooping crane? On the other hand, a drain can make a gurggling noise when the last of the water goes down it, so maybe that it the "laugh."

Laugh like a drain is very comlon - I'll look it up in the wonderful Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, they normally have an answer. I discovered the origin of 'room to swing a cat' the other day in Peter Ackroyd's wonderful book 'London'. Apparently when you went to a new house you would swing the cat round the room twice so that it would become acclimatised to its new surroundings and therefore stay.No room, no cat, lots of rats, dead of the plague. Makes sense. Sort of. pip pip just off to swing the cats

*wondering why her cat pegged it when she moved last year*

Can't get a grasp of this as I'm three sheets in the wind and down to my @!#$ bones.

You'se in a bad way tonight, Fecky. Knit one, pearl one, knit one, pearl one...

Ey up der Fecky, la. Sounds to me like a bevvy overdose. Get yer 'ead down for a bit, then have a drippin' butty and a pan of Scouse. Works every time for me Da. Ta ra la.

Interesting about the origin of Swinging the Cat, Tony. I attempted to find an alternative origin, but was unsuccessful. However, I did learn the origin for Swinging the Lamp. Apparently when a British soldier told tall stories he was accused of swinging the lamp, but the literal meaning is particularly interesting when one considers how appearances are altered by a moving light.

Yep, Karl. I thought the cat one was a naval expression: Miscreants had to be flogged on deck as there wasn't room to swing a cat (o' nine tails) below.

errr ... how i love to be pedantic ... the merrian webster suggests Main Entry: eu·phe·mism Pronunciation: 'yü-f&-"mi-z&m Function: noun Etymology: Greek euphEmismos, from euphEmos auspicious, sounding good, from eu- + phEmE speech, from phanai to speak -- more at BAN Date: circa 1681 : the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant; also : the expression so substituted - eu·phe·mist /-mist/ noun laughing like a drain and swinging a cat are not euphemisms ... kicking the bucket is a euphemism for dying ... as is passing away ... going for a "number 2" is a euphemism for defecation there are an unseemly number of euphemisms for micturition such as having a wee turning your bike round pointing percy at the porcelain shaking your lettuce there are many for sexual acts .... making love binki bonki i leave the rest to your imaginations ....