Sayings

Sayings, like parables, are meant to convey an idea in a simpler way using mental images rather than verbal descriptions.

“It’s all Greek to me.”

This saying means the speaker does not fully understand what is being discussed. For example, most people might have a high-level understanding of a wiring schematic. However, only experts likely will understand all the significant details, like magnetic fields and interference. If I were to look at it, I might say, “It’s all Greek to me,” meaning I’m not an expert. This saying was popularized by William Shakespeare in “Julius Caesar.”

“Pardon my French”

This is usually said to apologize for using profane or offensive language. For example, in the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Cameron said, “Pardon my French, but you’re an a** h***”, when he was on the phone with the dean of students. This phrase came about when William the Conqueror invaded England and brought the fancier French language with him.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”

This phrase suggests following the local customs. For example, when we lived in Wisconsin, we tried lutefisk because “when in Rome.” It is believed to have been coined in a conversation between St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, who had just arrived and was shocked to find the clergy did not fast on Saturdays as they did in Rome.

“Going Dutch”

Going Dutch implies each person pays for their own expenses at a gathering. For example, the Men’s Breakfast a month or two ago was a gathering at a restaurant where we “went Dutch” and each paid for our own meal. The saying is believed to have started with an influx of German, Dutch and Swiss immigrants near the beginning of the 1900s, and indicated each family would bring their own food to a potluck.

“Then the disciples came and said to him, 'Why do you speak to them in parables?’ And he answered them, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.’ Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.’ For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” - Matthew 13:10-17 ESV

Sayings, like parables, explain concepts in a way that people intuitively grasp even when they’re not equipped to understand the concept without the mental image.

The next time someone uses a saying as part of their response, don’t groan. Understand that whatever they are trying to communicate is so important they want to use a mental image to help explain it.