Do you ever have a bone to pick with someone?

@JudyEv (325759)
Rockingham, Australia
January 27, 2022 1:39am CST
There has been some discussion lately around different sayings and idioms and how some are common knowledge in perhaps many countries but others seem more specific to just one or two. ‘Browned off’ was one expression that didn’t seem very well known but something costing ‘an arm and a leg’ was more familiar to people. It’s hard to guess what’s common and what isn’t so how about ‘to pick a bone with someone. Is that a saying you’re aware of? It means to have an unresolved problem which needs to be talked over and addressed. Research suggests that the origin of this comes from a dog trying to pick the meat off a bone. Dogs often gnaw on bones long after all the meat has gone. I’ve used this in a fun sense too. I might say to someone ‘Hey, I have a bone to pick with you. You took the last cake off the plate and I had my eye on that.’ And we’d laugh and make a joke of it. Since we’ve talked about idioms on here, I find that I use many in my writing, often without noticing. I guess ‘I had my eye on that’ is another one. Photo is mine showing a 'browned off' dog at a dog show.
20 people like this
18 responses
@LadyDuck (458091)
• Switzerland
27 Jan 22
I know costing ‘an arm and a leg’, but this is different in France and Italy. Well in Italy it is "costa un occhio della testa" "costing one of my eyes", in France "Coûter la peau des fesses" (the skin of my butt).
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (458091)
• Switzerland
27 Jan 22
@JudyEv They differ a little, but it's never really different. To "pick a bone" is not something I am familiar with and I can find nothing in Italian or French.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
@tallawah I've heard of kidneys being harvested from unsuspecting victims.
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@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 22
So the general meaning is much the same. Maluse sometimes gives the German version of such sayings too and they can differ a little.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
27 Jan 22
Both of those are used here often enough that most Americans should recognize them. I was trying to think of something else that "might strike your fancy" but this is the only thing I could think of offhand.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 22
I've just used 'swept under the carpet' when responding to someone and previously, when talking about Adolphe Sax, I was going to say 'he must have killed a Chinaman' but thought that maybe people wouldn't know what I was talking about.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
27 Jan 22
@JudyEv I recognize both of those, too. (Of course, I wouldn't actually use the second one, though.) Oh, "by the skin of my teeth" is another one my parents used when I was little. It means when you just barely managed to do something, like find enough money for a bill.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
@DaddyEvil Yes, I know that one too. And the Chinaman one wouldn't be PC now. And fair enough.
1 person likes this
@just4him (306137)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
30 Jan 22
Yes, I've heard of both of those and used them many times. Browned off is unfamiliar.
1 person likes this
@just4him (306137)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
31 Jan 22
@JudyEv I think it's great you do. It gives me something to think about and even learn something new.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
31 Jan 22
Now there has been so much talk about idioms, I keep finding that I've used/am using yet another one!
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156159)
• United States
27 Jan 22
I'm familiar with that phrase. Cute dog.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 22
Dogs at dog shows must wonder sometimes what's the point of the whole exercise.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
@LindaOHio We watched for a while at one dog show while all those up for Champion of Show went through their paces.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156159)
• United States
28 Jan 22
@JudyEv I love looking at all the different breeds though.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
28 Jan 22
That isn’t common here. Thank you for sharing! I’d use it with my partner the next time we have an argument
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
He might wonder what you are talking about! lol
1 person likes this
• Philippines
28 Jan 22
@JudyEv That is for sure
1 person likes this
@sharonelton (24987)
• Lichfield, England
27 Jan 22
Yes, I've heard of that saying. Don't we say some strange things sometimes?
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 22
We do indeed and they must sound very strange to foreigners and those just learning English.
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@sharonelton (24987)
• Lichfield, England
28 Jan 22
@JudyEv Yes, absolutely. I can only imagine what they think!
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (169948)
• United States
28 Jan 22
Yes, we use that saying too.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
Yes, it seems it's one that common to us all.
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (137215)
• Philippines
27 Jan 22
My dogs always gnaw their bone toys here and there.
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (137215)
• Philippines
27 Jan 22
@JudyEv They would love the real ones.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 22
Dogs enjoy chewing on their bones.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (86755)
• United States
27 Jan 22
Indeed I do as you well know our Judy.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 22
You have a few bones to pick with your slumlords, don't you?
2 people like this
• United States
27 Jan 22
@JudyEv Yes but there are laws that only apply to me..I would give them what for Judy right quick.
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (134456)
• Roseburg, Oregon
27 Jan 22
I like that picture of the dog.
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (134456)
• Roseburg, Oregon
28 Jan 22
@JudyEv Yes he want a bone.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 22
The poor dog looks thoroughly bored, doesn't he?
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (95145)
• Marion, Ohio
27 Jan 22
Both those are fairly common here
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@wolfgirl569 (95145)
• Marion, Ohio
28 Jan 22
@JudyEv It does seem to be. Some seem to be local only
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@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
So it's difficult to pick why some are known but others aren't.
1 person likes this
• Banks, Oregon
28 Jan 22
Oh yes that one is very well known, howabout this one "Tend to it and shutter down" that was one of my favorite sayings of my grandpa.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
That's a good one but I haven't heard it before.
@Ronrybs (17849)
• London, England
27 Jan 22
There are variations between regions of the same country, never mind between countries. I know I use different ones in Lincolnshire, visiting family then when I am at home in West London
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
It's amazing there that the counties have differing accents too. That's not quite so evident in Australia although you can sometimes pick a Queensland by their 'twang'.
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@Ronrybs (17849)
• London, England
28 Jan 22
@JudyEv I'd have thought that the great distances would have helped the evolution of local accents. In the UK it was mainly down to the inability to travel more than a dozen miles from home... mostly
1 person likes this
@CarolDM (203454)
• Nashville, Tennessee
28 Jan 22
Yes I know this saying very well. Such a gorgeous dog in the photo.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
He looked thoroughly fed up.
1 person likes this
@CarolDM (203454)
• Nashville, Tennessee
29 Jan 22
1 person likes this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
27 Jan 22
I've heard all those except "browned off" ? I met an Irish guy once on a bus and we were talking when he said he was a little "pissed" I thought it meant he was mad over something I said. I said sorry, what did I say that pissed you off ? and he told me that meant he had been drinking and thought he was a little drunk.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Jan 22
We use 'pissed' in both senses here. It depends on the context. The Irish have some great sayings.
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@rebelann (111164)
• El Paso, Texas
27 Jan 22
I've never had to use 'I have a bone to pick with you' but I've heard co workers use it on occasion
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@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
It seems this one is quite well-known.
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@paigea (35680)
• Canada
27 Jan 22
I'm familiar withing having a bone to pick with someone, and also with browned off.
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@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
Some on here weren't familiar with browned off but mostly of the idioms I've brought up seem to be known by most.
1 person likes this
@Kandae11 (53679)
27 Jan 22
In some cases - even after "the bone is picked" it still causes a problem.
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@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Jan 22
That's very true.