166
votes
Phrase for a small, legitimate fix for part of a system so broken the fix is unimportant
Rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic — Wiktionary
To do something pointless or insignificant that will soon be overtaken by events, or that contributes nothing to the solution of a ...
NVZ♦
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Why is "You’ve brought a knife to a gun fight" considered to be a mixed metaphor?
It's not a 'mixed-metaphor'. The knife/gun example doesn't fit the definition. I believe the author is simply mistaken.
A mixed metaphor, as defined by the Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Curent English (...
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76
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Is there a word or phrase for something that one might wish exists, but most certainly doesn't?
It's just a...
pipe dream - an unattainable or fanciful hope or scheme
Example usage from oxforddictionaries:
free trade in international aviation will remain a pipe dream
Origin: Late 19th century: ...
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75
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Accepted
Why is "You’ve brought a knife to a gun fight" considered to be a mixed metaphor?
To understand the mixed metaphor in this case, I believe you need to expand the scope of the article you are interested in (emphasis mine):
If anything, you are underthinking this, perhaps ...
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68
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Accepted
What does ‘If she’s a feminist, then I’m a T. Rex’ mean?
All that that is saying is that she is no feminist whatsoever, being just as much of a feminist as the columnist is a giant extinct dinosaur.
That is, not at all.
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52
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What does "darkest Africa" refer to?
In a general sense, “darkest” is used to refer to places which are hard to reach and about which little is known:
Darkest Africa/South America etc.
(old-fashioned) the parts of Africa etc about which ...
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44
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Phrase for a small, legitimate fix for part of a system so broken the fix is unimportant
In software development, this is sometimes colloquially referred to a "turd polishing". Here's a definition from Urban Dictionary you might find appropriate to your situation:
An engineering term ...
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42
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What does ‘If she’s a feminist, then I’m a T. Rex’ mean?
It's usually best not to read too much into "If X is a Y then I'm a Z." constructions. It's merely an emphatic and humorous way of saying "X is not a Y." The more ridiculous Z is, the more emphatic ...
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42
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Accepted
An idiomatic phrase meaning that you are aware of a coming change based on minor signals you've observed over time
The (hand)writing is on the wall
dictionary.com
a premonition, portent, or clear indication, especially of failure or disaster: The company had ignored the handwriting on the wall and was plunged ...
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42
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Accepted
You have the watches, but we have the time
Several sources I've checked attribute this quote to an Afghan proverb.
The meaning of the second part is clear: time is on our side. But what does the "watches" in the first part refer to?
...
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34
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Accepted
What's the meaning of "wooden loaf", the famous expression used by Gandhi to define the Independence of India?
This is not a one off, nor is the meaning so simple. But it looks like Gandhi himself clarified what he meant when he said it. The London Review has different wording, with ladoos, an Indian pastry:
...
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29
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An idiomatic phrase meaning that you are aware of a coming change based on minor signals you've observed over time
You often hear people say "There is something in the air".
Sometimes, there has been something in the air.
It is an allusion to a dog sniffing the air, detecting the smell of something far away.
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Antonym for "thimbleful"
A possibility is truckful. It starts with a T, and it has a similarity in its ending sound (though not fully rhyming).
informal a very large amount of something
Example: I had a thimble of ...
26
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Meaning of "with a hose-pipe on him"
A hose pipe would be connected to a bilge pump to allow sea water to be removed from the bilges of a ship and ejected into the sea. Since ships' hulls were (and still are) not water-tight, this had to ...
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Antonym for "thimbleful"
"I had a thimble of patience and the task required a tun."
tun (plural tuns)
A large cask; an oblong vessel bulging in the middle, like a pipe or puncheon, and girt with hoops; a wine cask....
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25
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Is there a word or phrase for something that one might wish exists, but most certainly doesn't?
My favourite:
Pie in the sky
"...an idea, thought or dream that is extremely unrealistic, even to the point where it begins to seem ludicrous."
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23
votes
What does "darkest Africa" refer to?
The meaning of "dark" is generally "unilluminated" either intentionally, as per 11a below, or by misfortune, as per 13 below:
OED:
11.a. Hidden from view or knowledge; concealed; ...
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22
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Is there a word or phrase for something that one might wish exists, but most certainly doesn't?
Fantasy
The faculty or activity of imagining things, especially things that
are impossible or improbable.
the product of imagining impossible or improbable things.
a fanciful mental ...
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Phrase for a small, legitimate fix for part of a system so broken the fix is unimportant
putting a bandaid on a broken leg
Emphasizes that the effort is well-intentioned but ill-conceived, as requested by original poster.
eg: https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/...
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An idiomatic phrase meaning that you are aware of a coming change based on minor signals you've observed over time
Assuming OP specifically wants an expression relating to hearing ground tremors, the most relevant idiomatic expression I can think of is...
picked up rumblings
That's an estimated 126 written ...
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Phrase for a small, legitimate fix for part of a system so broken the fix is unimportant
Buying a new saddle for a dead horse.
I really like the titanic answer, in IT we tend to use more the dead horse metaphor for this kind of problems.
Well, the original is Flogging, which in modern ...
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Phrase for a small, legitimate fix for part of a system so broken the fix is unimportant
Papering over the cracks — Cambridge
to hide problems, especially arguments between people, in order to make a situation seem better than it really is
"She tried to paper over the cracks, ...
- 481
16
votes
Accepted
Word for giving animal characteristics (esp. physical ones) to humans
You can probably get some mileage out of 'zoomorphism':
Use of animal forms in symbolism, literature, or graphic representation.
The primary sense is, however,
Attribution of animal ...
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15
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An idiomatic phrase meaning that you are aware of a coming change based on minor signals you've observed over time
You can say you are keeping your ear to the ground meaning you are alert for signs of change, but I think it would be somewhat strained to say "I am aware because I'd been keeping my ear to the ground....
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15
votes
Alternative metaphor to ‘Blank Canvas’
"Tabula rasa" is almost an exact translation of "blank canvas" and has a similar meaning. However, it might not fit the rest of what you want. (For example, it doesn't mean "...
- 7,920
13
votes
Accepted
What is meant by "mushroom grandeur" in this context?
A little more context from your source:
“What do you think of that?” asked his expressive little eyes, when something in “mushroom” grandeur or crude style passed by. Bad form he could not endure,...
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13
votes
Accepted
Word for when something makes something else seems smaller in a relative manner
Based on the title of the question (which uses the word "smaller") I would have suggested dwarf:
dwarf (verb): Cause to seem small or insignificant in comparison. (from [https://www.merriam-webster....
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What does "plaster everywhere" mean here?
It is a reference to the practice of "plastering" (gluing/taping) signs, posters, notices, etc, onto walls, fences, and the like. Years ago this would have been done for, eg, advertising a ...
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13
votes
Accepted
American English Slang Phrase for "see you in court"?
The song is "I Shot Ya (Remix)" by LL Cool J featuring Keith Murray, Prodigy, Fat Joe, and Foxy Brown.
I be the one to represent the streets
If you ever test my heat, then I'ma test my heat
...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible