Re: Define phrases

Mike wrote:
>
> "Richard Herring" <junk@[127.0.0.1]> wrote in message
> news:I6V8nnF0IElCFwY7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > In message <11971n5s2ijnm83@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Mike
> > <bakerdivert@xxxxxxxx> writes
> > >* green eye mascara - heard it used politically but never understood it.
> >
> > Never heard of this one.
>
> Usually referred to in budget solutions; may be interchangeable with 'smoke
> and mirrors'. If I had to guess it would be a naive (green) dressing up of
> something. Don't know though.

I suddenly wonder whether this could be some sort of mistranslation of
"green eyeshade" -- metonymically referring to accountants,
number-crunchers, who used to use such a thing (basically a capless
transparent baseball cap visor) to protect their eyes from the glare of
harsh office lighting.

It could have been mistaken for "green eyeshadow," and "eyeshadow" is a
cosmetic in the same semantic range as "mascara." (Eyeshadow goes around
the eyes, I think, and mascara on the eyelashes.)

> > >* ripping yarn - > Not so much a colloquialism as outdated schoolboy
> slang. But nowadays
> > from a British speaker it might well be a facetious reference to a TV
> > series:
> >
> > http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/r/rippingyarns_7775455.shtml
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075568/
>
> For the non Britspeak, it would then mean literally, a Pythonesque hilarious
> episode?
>
> Separately, the definition of colloquialism escapes me. OED gives the
> example 'all the rage'. <Red tape> derived to the historical filing system
> but now means any useless delay. <Bootlegger> came from someone illegally
> sneaking alcohol onto Indian reservations in high boots; now meaning any
> contraband. Are these and the two original bullets of this post
> 'colloquialisms' or just metaphorical expressions?

--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@xxxxxxx
.

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