There are a couple of common phrases that have always puzzled me.
"It ain't over 'till the fat lady sings" - is a common sports phrase used by announcers as an appeal to the audience to stick with the game even though the home team is behind. It seems to come from and origin where somebody said, "The opera ain't over 'till the fat lady sings".
It brings to mind the Wagerian operas where the fat lady with horns on her helmet arrives on stage to belt out the aria. But what puzzles me is that doesn't necessarily mean the opera's over - the fat lady sings throughout the performance.
What would be more accurate might be to say, "The opera ain't over 'till the fat lady dies". From the operas I've seen (or performed in), that would be a much more sensible statement.
"I/He/She could care less" - is interesting, because it's meant as a strong statement about how little someone cares about some event or topic. But "could care less" suggests that the level of caring is at least a little bit above zero.
Wouldn't it be more accurate to say, "She couldn't care less"?
I've noticed that beauty pageants involve heavily made-up contestants. Isn't that cheating? It seems to me that judging beauty should be based on actual beauty, not professionally painted changes to a young lady's appearance. The heavy makeup gives an unfair advantage to ugly, acne-scarred women to disguise those flaws, over the natural flawless beauty who needs no artificial enhancement.
Wouldn't pageants be better and fairer if there were rules against all makeup, sugical enhancements, and any other artificial cosmetic improvements? They'd certainly be more entertaining, at least from my perspective.
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