‘And all those exclamation marks, you notice? Five? A sure sign of someone who wears his underpants on his head.’ – from Maskerade by Terry Pratchett.
‘And all those exclamation marks, you notice? Five? A sure sign of someone who wears his underpants on his head.’ – from Maskerade by Terry Pratchett.
You’re gorram right.
I knew about the honor-culture bit, but I’m now curious about what other languages use it as an insult.
I actually might be able to provide some insight to this. My wife is Balkan and the first time I called her a “Silly Goose” she became madly upset. It turns out in her language the phrase “Glupova Gusko” (Stupid Goose) is a common insult. It is considered incredibly harsh in her culture. My guess is that the phrase “Silly Goose” is borrowed from a Slavic Language and lost its harshness when it moved into English.
These fall under the category of “Half-baked Idea”. This includes any idea that obviously hasn’t been thought all the way through. Half-baked ideas can range from the absurd (e.g. “The Earth is flat.”), to the benignly optimistic (e.g. “Everything works out for the best.”)
Translation: “We refuse to bring Michael Kirkbride back to the project.”