Figure of speech question

[cattiechaos]

I recently came across a figure of speech that makes no sense to me: "I wouldn't spit on him if he were on fire." Apparently this means that you hate someone so much, you wouldn't spit on them if they were on fire. I don't see how this makes sense; NOT spitting on that person would be the polite thing to do, no? After all, spitting on them will not

Comments

[evilstorm]

I think the angle there is that even if they were on fire, you wouldn't give them any water to put it out, not even spit.

Also, props for the tag.

[cattiechaos]

Ah, that makes much more sense now. Thank you :)

Scrolling through the tags always makes me raise an eyebrow. I notice that there is a "chicken" tag. I sincerely hope I will be given the chance to use this tag at some point in time.

[tortipede]

There's also the more taboo versions along the lines of "If he was on fire, I wouldn't piss on him to put him out."

It does mean that you hate the person: presumably the thinking is that you hate them so much that (a) you would happily watch them burn to death; (b) you would be so happy to watch them burn to death that you wouldn't save them, even if you could; and (c) you would be so happy to watch them burn to death that you wouldn't save them, even if you could do so in a demeaning and degrading way.

It's probably not something you'd say about somebody you like and admire...

[cattiechaos]

That makes more sense to me now xD Thank you!

[tinimaus]

I once heard the version - not directed at me - of 'I wouldn't cross the road to piss on him if he was on fire.'

Ah, English. Such an earthy language.

[embryomystic]

I've never actually heard it with 'spit'. I would assume, on hearing it, that it was a euphemised version of the other one.

[di_glossia]

It means "I would not do even the smallest thing to help him if he were in mortal peril". The idea is not that the spit would put out the fire, but that it would contribute to putting out the fire. Spitting on someone takes next to no effort.

Think about it as though this person were actually on fire and you wanted to help him. You'd get a bucket of water or some such thing, right? But you don't like this person, so maybe you'd just get half a bucket. Except, now that you think of it, you more than dislike this person, you hate him. A half bucket is too much. Maybe you'll give him a thimbleful. Only, he's a very odious person, and you wouldn't mind him dead. So you spit on him. Now go a little further than that. You abhor this person with your whole soul, so much that you would not extend human courtesy to him if he were dying a horrible death. You can't even be bothered to give him spit. That's how low he is in your eyes.

[cattiechaos]

That's a fantastic (and amusing) explanation, thank you!

[pauamma]

"I wouldn't make even a token, perfunctory attempt to save his life."

[muckefuck]

Stronger than that, since it's a token, perfunctory attempt that simultaneously demeans him that you wouldn't even make.

[electricdruid]

"Having their work cut out for them" has always confused me. I'm 22 and I didn't figure out until last year that I had the meaning backwards. I posted here about it and got a dozen suggestions about why it's supposed to mean that you have hard work ahead of you, but I still don't really understand it. To me, it sounds like you have an easy job ahead of you, and I still have to remind myself every time I hear it that that's not the case :(

[ditdatdo]

It's supposedly from the idea of tailors cutting out their cloth but still needing to do most of work to sew it into a garment; the cutting is merely the easy bit and there's much to be done. There are older references to someone "cutting out work" for someone else, i.e. creating a lot of work for someone else to do, like a tailor who cuts out the cloth ready for a suit but expects someone else to actually sew it together. I think that sort of usage is a bit easier to understand than how we tend to use the phrase today, but it's the same sort of idea.

[g00fball]

Awesome! I never knew that. I can confirm it is much more fun and quick to cut than to pin and sew! =) Thanks!

[sorrowis_stupid]

Huh, I always thought of it not in terms of whether the work is hard or easy, but just knowing exactly what needs to be done next.