Popular sayings you just don't understand

[Easy 10]

"Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth" - eh ?
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" - what ?

I genuinely do not have the faintest idea what these sayings actually mean. I'm sure there's more as well, but I can't think of them right now as I have been temporarily distracted by my Chicken & Mushroom Pot Noodle (some of the soy sauce has leeked on the desk and has got onto the mouseball). Anyway, if anyone could shed some light on these two at least, I'd be grateful.

 

[clippedgull]

"Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth" - eh ?

Ice Cold Bitch?

 

[Dave the OAP]

"Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth" - eh ?
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" - what ?

.

having a bird in the hand, ie so you can put it in the pot and feed yourself with it, is better than having two of them hidden in a place where you have to catch the things.

 

[clippedgull]

Google

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Meaning

It's better to have a small actual advantage than the chance of a greater one.
Origin

It isn't until the 19th century that we find the phrase in its currently used form. The earliest I've located is in a US newspaper The Huron Reflector, from January 1833:

"But few persons, so prone are we to grasp at the shadow at the expense of the substance, bear in mind the good old adage, 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.'"

This refers to the phrase as old. How long the current version predates 1833 isn't clear, but variations of the phrase have been known for centuries. The earliest English version of the proverb is from the Bible and was translated into English in Wycliffe's version in 1382, although Latin texts have it from the 13th century:

Ecclesiastes IX - A living dog is better than a dead lion.

Alternatives that explicitly mention birds in hand come later. The earliest of those is in Hugh Rhodes' The boke of nurture or schoole of good maners, circa 1530:

"A byrd in hand - is worth ten flye at large."

John Heywood, the 16th century collector of proverbs, recorded another version in his ambitiously titled A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue, 1546:

"Better one byrde in hande than ten in the wood."

bird in handThe Bird in Hand was adopted as a pub name in the UK in the Middle Ages and there are still many pubs of that name there. This refers back to mediaeval falconry where a bird in the hand (the falcon) was certainly worth more than two in the bush (the prey).

The term bird in hand must have been known in the USA by 1734, as that is the date when a small town in Pennsylvania was founded with that name.

 

[clippedgull]

I wasn't far off

Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth

Meaning

Prim and proper, with a cool demeanor

Origin

The allusion in this expression is to people who maintain such a cool demeanor that they don't even have the warmth to melt butter. This is an old phrase - here's a citation from 1530, in Jehan Palsgrave's Lesclarcissement de la langue françoyse:

"He maketh as thoughe butter wolde nat melte in his mouthe."

The phrase is usually used in a derogatory and critical sense and, in the past at least, was most often applied to women. Occasionally, it was used to denote a quiet meekness and sweetness of temper rather than emotional coldness. For example, this description of Mr Pecksniff in Charles Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit:

"It would be no description of Mr Pecksniff's gentleness of manner to adopt the common parlance, and say that he looked at this moment as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. He rather looked as if any quantity of butter might have been made out of him, by churning the milk of human kindness, as it spouted upwards from his heart."

 

[clippedgull]

I forgot the link

Sayings and Phrases - meanings and origins

 

[Everest]

"Stand up if you want Falmer"

 

[Perry Milkins]

Happiness is a dry fart.

 

[Trufflehound]

玉不琢不成器

 

[Vankleek Hill Seagull]

玉不琢不成器

"The jade does not carve good-for-nothing"

I totally agree.

 

[NMH]

"he played the square ball ....."

Excuse me??

 

[Perry Milkins]

Milly molly mandy

 

[the wanderbus]

As dry as a nuns crotch

how does anybody know how dry a nuns crotch is?

 

[Gully]

The dogs' bollocks...supposed to mean something that is really good, but I always thought that was the cats whiskers...different animal, opposite end...and a little too close to its arsehole for my liking.

 

[Heffle Gull]

I just had to explain the saying "As much use as a chocolate teapot" to someone!

He is American though, so maybe I should let him off.

 

[the wanderbus]

The dogs' bollocks... and a little too close to its arsehole for my licking.

each to his own

 

[Munkfish]

the badgers nadgers

 

[NMH]

As dry as a nuns crotch

how does anybody know how dry a nuns crotch is?

Maybe a nun thought that one up?

 

[Tubby Mondays]

Whats the saying about not being able to pull stoats because you keep your light under a bush?

 

[Badger]

As Happy as Larry

Who is this Larry Fella?