Hungry like a wolf

[NeroW]

And... The bad apple.

And don't forget The Bad Egg

[Toliver]

"Why, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth." Seems like if that were the case, "her" mouth is cold. But I think it means overbearing sweetness. Huh?

Doesn't mean overbearing sweetness at all. The phrase appears as a song lyric on Nick Lowe's "Homewreckery" on his album, The Convincer....

You look like butter wouldn't melt in your mouth,

But I know it will, homewrecker.

You look like you could take candy from a baby.

I've seen you do it, homewrecker.

That phrase is a lot older than a record album.

I've always taken it to mean that whatever the person is saying, there's no warmth or sincerity in it, or that they never have a kind word to say.

Some other food phrases:

"It's like taking candy from a baby"

"It's a piece of cake" (not a simile but close)

I had more but they weren't similes.

And more of the insults:

"He's a few fries short of a Happy Meal"

"She's a taco short of a combo platter"

edited to add another insult from that my aunt used to say:

"That boy's yolk is done broke" (meaning he's crazy)

Edited February 24, 2004 by Toliver (log)

[suzilightning]

I am not sure this is exactly food related but, in my family, when a kid asked where they came from, the answer would be... "A buzzard burped you up."

OH MY GOD everyone here in the library now thinks i'm crazy i was laughing so loud.

especially funny to me since i am a hawker and love turkey vultures(buzzards) who use projectile vomiting as a defense mechanism. course remember what they eat and that roadkill has to be ripe enough for them to get into it since they don't have the bill or talon strength of other birds of prey.

course we call roadkill in our house t.v. dinners

[Squeat Mungry]

"You're the cream in my coffee,

You're the salt in my stew..."

Oops! Forgot the best food lyrics in that song:

"You give life savour,

Bring out its flavour,

So, this is clear, dear,

You're my Worcestershire, dear!"

[Pan]

I'd say "Like a fox guarding the chicken coop" is a food-related simile.

And of course, it's a dog-eat-dog world, and the big fish always eat the little fish. Those aren't exactly similes, though. There are also card sharks, and I'm guessing the expression may have started as "He eats up other card players like a shark eats up minnows." Sounds good, anyway.

Will we consider "Like a fly in a pile of shit" food-related?

[balmagowry]

"Why, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth." Seems like if that were the case, "her" mouth is cold. But I think it means overbearing sweetness. Huh?

Nah. Just cool. Cool as, in fact, a cucumber - to mix similes.

Speaking of which, this isn't one really, but it was the first thing that came to mind, and it amuses me - it's from G.B. Stern's dog story The Dark Gentleman:

Boris, not to be outdone in courtship, brought a piece of chewed cheese-rind and dropped it from his mouth in silent homage near Renny's nose. "Cheese to the cheese," he said, not quite knowing what this meant, but having heard something very like it used in compliment the other day by the Equestrian-Legs to the Shapely-Legs when putting sugar in her coffee.

This isn't a simile either - it was intended far too literally for that - but it's a great mot anyway, I think: Marie-Antoine Carême's assertion that "cuisine is the spearhead of French diplomacy." As, in his hands, it certainly was.

Edited February 26, 2004 by balmagowry (log)