Unrelated Curiosities

[underused]

Bits of interesting whatevers that piled up in my "maybe this could be a post" list:

Like the dickens
The "dickens" in this expression is a euphemism for the devil.

Three sheets to the wind
The "sheets" in this expression (a euphemism for drunkenness) refer to the ropes that hold the sails, not the sails themselves.

Sof ha'olam, smolah
A Hebrew expression translating to "at the end of the world, turn left." It means "in the middle of nowhere." (It's also the title of a movie.)

Weaved or Wove?
If you were weaving through traffic, you "weaved"; if you were making cloth, you "wove." The latter variant only applies to textiles.

Bonus nerdiness: Verbs with past tenses resulting in a vowel change (as "wove") are called "strong verbs"; verbs with past tenses ending in "ed" (as "weaved") are called "weak verbs." They were so named by Jacob Grimm. Yes, that Jacob Grimm.

Comments

[full_metal_ox]

I've had occasion to escalate the second phrase to "three sheets to the wind and hoisting the fourth"--often to describe my fellow passengers aboard the Bus in the Rain.

The literal meaning of sof ha'olam, smolah recalls the turn of events that launched many of Bugs Bunny's adventures--and yet most of the Termite Terrace gang were Gentiles; here's a discussion of the infamous Left Turn at Albuquerque(1) from Quora:
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-origin-of-the-statement-in-the-Bugs-Bunny-cartoons-I-knew-I-should-have-made-that-left-turn-at-Albuquerque

(David Kaufman of the Jewish Forward, however. proudly claims a Media Mirror in Bugs: http://forward.com/culture/11337/carrot-and-shtick-00265/)

(1) Which I used to assume was a mythical place specific to the Looneyverse, along with Kalamazoo and Cucamonga.

[thedaughteroftyr]

Oh! I always assumed "dickens" was from Charles Dickens. Interesting!