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[-] Strayce@lemmy.sdf.org 106 points 10 months ago

If you're up for something, or down for something, it means the same thing.

If you fill in a form or fill out a form, it means the same thing.

English is fucked.

[-] Chriszz@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago

Think about filling in a form, though. Filling in a form—“to fill” is unambiguous. In/out isn’t even necessary when you think about it. “I’m going to fill a form” means the same thing too.

[-] Strayce@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 10 months ago

I feel like you're technically correct, but saying "fill a form" just sounds weird to a native English speaker.

[-] s1ndr0m3@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

The alarm went off, so I turned it off.

[-] ezures@lemmy.wtf 11 points 10 months ago

Also try this inflammable table with flammable chairs.

[-] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 2 points 9 months ago

I hate this one, it confuses Dutch people from time to time, so they think “inflammable” means “fire resistant”.

Extra scary when there's only an English-language warning on this

[-] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 11 points 10 months ago

Don't forget you might already be in the right place and don't need to go up or down. Then you can say you're "there for something"

[-] someguy3@lemmy.ca 61 points 10 months ago

I guess fat chance is said sarcastically.

[-] seitanic@lemmy.sdf.org 31 points 10 months ago

I've never not heard it said sarcastically.

[-] Strayce@lemmy.sdf.org 11 points 10 months ago

There are words and phrases in English that get used sarcastically so often they lose their original meaning. There is a word for this and I swear I've seen a whole list somewhere but my google fu is weak today.

[-] thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 10 months ago
[-] Firefly7@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

No - semantic satiation is when you read or hear a word so much in a short timeframe that it stops feeling like a real word, and briefly feels like just a jumble of letters/sounds.

[-] Cethin@lemmy.zip 4 points 10 months ago

I hate semantic satiation. It happens all the time while programming for me. I'll have a variable name with some common word and, after typing it a few times my brain just stops recognizing it as a real word. This sometimes sends me into etymology dives to figure out why the word "jump" (or whatever) looks so strange.

[-] hemmes@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago

Row•ads, that is a freaky word

[-] GarytheSnail@programming.dev 6 points 10 months ago

There's a fat chance you're gonna be eating those words.

[-] PetDinosaurs@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Now, I expect to be down voted.

I don't care, but I'm going to piss a lot of people off.

I say "I could care less".

That's sarcasm. It's what my nineties, heroin chic, grunge music adolescence gave me.

I could care less. It would just require that I make an effort. That's not caring less. That's caring about something.

It's like how the biggest homophobes always seem to be closeted. They care too much.

[-] Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works 11 points 10 months ago

You think "could care less" is actually legit? Fat chance!

[-] hemmes@sh.itjust.works 4 points 10 months ago

You think it isn’t? Slim chance!

[-] Nekobambam@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

I remember we used to say “like I could care less” sarcastically back in the late 80s. I moved to a non-English speaking country in ‘89 so I have no idea when “I could care less” shifted from sarcasm to incorrect grammar, but I was surprised the first time I encountered people online mention it as a grammatical pet peeve.

[-] topscientist@lemmynsfw.com 3 points 10 months ago

With you 100%

[-] thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 10 months ago

I only down voted you, so you'd be right 👍

[-] confluence@lemmy.world 27 points 10 months ago

You can make profit on and profit off

[-] andrew@lemmy.stuart.fun 7 points 10 months ago

I could build on your point or build off of it.

[-] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 2 points 10 months ago

But if you’re hardly working, you’re not working hard.

[-] EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works 6 points 10 months ago

Alarms can go off and be turned off

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 21 points 10 months ago

Yup. And one means it via sarcasm.

[-] Synthead@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

Yeah, with this argument, "excellent" and "terrible" means the same thing.

[-] darcy@sh.itjust.works 15 points 10 months ago

one is just said sarcastically

[-] lugal@sopuli.xyz 12 points 10 months ago

Fun fact: awful and awesome used to be synonyms

[-] moistclump@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

Antiautonyms! https://people.sc.fsu.edu/~jburkardt/fun/wordplay/antiauto.html

Or contronyms. I don’t funny understand the delineation between the two.

[-] Cableferret@lemmy.tf 5 points 10 months ago

I've always loved Mace Windu telling someone "your chances come in two sizes: slim and fat" in an old Star Wars Novell called Shatterpoint.

[-] Suspicious@lemmy.wtf 2 points 10 months ago

Fat chance is a sarcastic phrase, so they don't actually have the same literal meaning

[-] TheGreenGolem@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago
this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2023
310 points (95.3% liked)

Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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