MISUNDERSTANDING STUFF
Until about six months ago, I would blithely refer to a lacklustre person/event as "a damp squid". Someone pointed out my error, but 'squid' seemed more logical. I had thought the idiom meant a squid that had been out of water and which was no longer tough/muscular/supple, but which was beginning to dehydrate, wither and wilt - like a neglected houseplant. It seemed particularly reasonable given that a squib is a chink of light, and light is 'dry'.
Just marking a paper and a student had written of a character "[he's] like a gardening angel". Now, I can only begin to guess at the logic behind this. I'll have to ask him. Presumably he envisages a host of angels tending a heavenly garden.
Until about six months ago, I would blithely refer to a lacklustre person/event as "a damp squid". Someone pointed out my error, but 'squid' seemed more logical. I had thought the idiom meant a squid that had been out of water and which was no longer tough/muscular/supple, but which was beginning to dehydrate, wither and wilt - like a neglected houseplant. It seemed particularly reasonable given that a squib is a chink of light, and light is 'dry'.
Just marking a paper and a student had written of a character "[he's] like a gardening angel". Now, I can only begin to guess at the logic behind this. I'll have to ask him. Presumably he envisages a host of angels tending a heavenly garden.
