People come up with the darndest expressions
tony cooper
who has cooled off on municipal bonds saying: "I just didn't feel
comfortable with the risk factors and the whole situation. And the
returns weren't really that great either, certainly not anything that
would make your socks roll up."
Socks roll up? I've heard "knock your socks off", but can't picture
socks rolling up (or down) from excitement.
I haven't heard the "socks roll up" expression before, but I suppose
it could be a known phrase to some. I rather suspect, though, that it
was a unconscious twist of the "knock your socks off" phrase.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Donna Richoux
Surprisingly high Google count, though, so it's not just some mistake.
All sorts of things are said to make one's socks roll up, or not. Quite
recent looking.
I went to the Google Group archives, as erratic as they may be, because
it's a good place to date the emergence of a new pop phrase.
The oldest hit I found there for "socks roll up" is in the discussion of
how to show off a living room "surround sound system."
11-12-2002
... my fav for showing off is a really crappy movie:
The Fast & The Furious starring Vin Diesel.
It's really a terribly bad movie. But the engines rev-rev-rev-v-ving and
the sound of the cars driving down the streets in the races is just....
mind blowing... or ear blowing.
...It'll move your couch around your living room and make your socks
roll up and down.
--
That would put it in the family of "It makes your hair curl" and "It
sets your teeth on edge." Bodily response to a stimuli.
The next oldest post is about electric guitars -- although not about
sound but a swirl paint job:
03-11-2003
... a re-swirl will detract from the value of any guitar ... But hey, if
it makes your socks roll up and down, then what the hell, there is more
to life that a collectable that just sits around.
--
I can imagine a discussion moving from the effect of loud sound to being
moved by other phenomena.
The phrase was used in an episode of "West Wing," but not very clearly
or memorably.
Anyone come across this one in "real life"? (Ha, ha, as if we have such
a thing.) Teen-age kid? Office banter?
--
Best -- Donna Richoux
Django Cat
Never heard it but I intend to be the first in our street to use it.
DC
--
Pierre Jelenc
>
> That sounds very old-fashioned to me, and also not appropriate to that
> situation. As I understand it making someone's socks roll up is akin to
> making their toes curl... that is to say, there is a sexual overtone.
If you're the former governor of the state of New York, perhaps.
Otherwise...
Pierre
--
Pierre Jelenc
The Gigometer www.gigometer.com
The NYC Beer Guide www.nycbeer.org
Mike Lyle
Jelenc) wrote:
>Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> writes:
>>
>> That sounds very old-fashioned to me, and also not appropriate to that
>> situation. As I understand it making someone's socks roll up is akin to
>> making their toes curl... that is to say, there is a sexual overtone.
>
>If you're the former governor of the state of New York, perhaps.
>Otherwise...
>
Subject to context, I'd say that in BrE it's most often embarrassment,
not sexual excitement, that makes toes curl. Of course, somebody
else's sexual excitement might make one's toes curl with
embarrassment; but that's not what I meant.
--
Mike.
ke...@cam.ac.uk
Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
>
>That sounds very old-fashioned to me, and also not appropriate to that
>situation. As I understand it making someone's socks roll up is akin to
>making their toes curl... that is to say, there is a sexual overtone.
That's new to me. I thought toe-curling usually just meant unbelievably,
embarrassingly crass or twee. I shall have to be more careful how I use it,
evidently.
Katy
Robert Bannister
I still find it hard to believe, although I shall be keeping a sharp eye
on my toes from now on.
--
Rob Bannister