Sometimes it can be hilarious!
We know what is meant … most of the time, but where did these terms come from. I was talking to someone the other day and they said, “Up the ying-yang.” Well, I knew what they meant, but it struck me as funny at that moment, plus I was in a silly mood, so I said, “Where is that?” There was an awkward silence on the phone for a second or two, and the person said, “Where is what” … and I couldn’t hold it, I started laughing, and told them, “The yin-yang, where is that?” Then they started laughing, and I mean a good hearty laugh. They never answered me but boy did we have a good laugh.
I guess when we speak, much of what we say is mimicry of hearing others speak, and if others say it often enough, then it kind of seeps into our everyday language. Obviously, the term is slang and refers to people that have an excess of something like money, so we say, oh yea, they’ve got money “up the ying-yang”.
It’s like a conditioned reflex – someone asks in a socially perfunctory way, “How are you” and about 95% of the time, we reply, “Fine.” Funny stuff. I still don’t know how this term started. And does it really matter, so long as others understand what we mean?
Is there a funny expression you’ve heard lately? Please share, I could use another laugh.
PW
“Kindness is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear.” Mark Twain