Hello. The grass is greener?

Cherry49062

Cherry49062

Banned
France
France French/Learning English (can speak a little fluently)
What do this mean. I speak english, but in Ireland things mean different from U.S. What does this phrase mean? "The grass always looks greener on the other side." Thank you for help. You are very nice people.

Cherrie
 
    • It means that things are always better somewhere else. It's a lament, a complaint that other people have better things. It is often used by whine-os who are not grateful for what they have :rolleyes:
    hope it helped
     
    Could you give more detail please. I know I a bother, I just would like to know more about it to know why my firned said it.

    Cherrie
     
    Welcome to WordReference Cherry:)

    Imagine you are a cow on one of our beautiful gently-rolling hillsides that are the envy of the world.
    Imagine that you are not able to roam at will across our emerald green countryside.
    You love the grass in your own field, but there is something amazingly tantalising about that even better-looking grass that is just out of your reach on the other side of the rustic hand-built dry stone wall.

    As you complain loudly to your companions, a wise old cow murmurs gently to you all, "Ah, but the grass is always greener on the other side."

    Things always look better in the place that you can't get to. Alternatively, people are never satisfied with what they have.

    [This post was not sponsored by Bord Fáilte, but I'm open to offers]
     
    The grass is greener = what other people have or do looks preferable to our life.
     
    Thank you I have a better understanding know that your helped me Thank you once again!:D

    Cherry
     
    panjandrum said:
    Welcome to WordReference Cherry:)

    Imagine you are a cow on one of our beautiful gently-rolling hillsides that are the envy of the world.
    Imagine that you are not able to roam at will across our emerald green countryside.
    You love the grass in your own field, but there is something amazingly tantalising about that even better-looking grass that is just out of your reach on the other side of the rustic hand-built dry stone wall.

    As you complain loudly to your companions, a wise old cow murmurs gently to you all, "Ah, but the grass is always greener on the other side."

    Things always look better in the place that you can't get to. Alternatively, people are never satisfied with what they have.

    [This post was not sponsored by Bord Fáilte, but I'm open to offers]
    Click to expand...

    Not to mention that the grass really IS greener on the other side of the fence, because you can only SEE it from an oblique angle, from which it better covers the patches, gaps, stones, and other imperfections. Of course, once you abandon everything and cross the fence, you discover the it's really about the same as grass everywhere.

    The same anology applies to most things, because after all, you never really see the imperfections in things until you are very close and familiar with them.

    Therein lies the reason why we want that (seemingly perfect) thing we just can't seem to reach, instead of that (known to be flawed) thing that we are all too familiar with.

    But (hopefully) as we gain wisdom (or become jaded!) we are able to infer and estimate the invisible imperfections in everything and stop lusting after our neighbors, ahem, grass.
     
    by the by... what exactly DOES jaded mean? ever since aerosmith put out the song its been drivin gme nuts yet no one explains it to me satisfactorily
     
    Jaded = experienced and perhaps burned out from that experience. I believe it comes from the French "jadis" = "formerly."
     
    judkinsc said:
    Jaded = experienced and perhaps burned out from that experience. I believe it comes from the French "jadis" = "formerly."
    Click to expand...
    I have always wondered where jaded came from - and never bothered to look until now.
    Jaded = tired, worn out, fatigued, comes indirectly from the noun, jade, meaning a horse of inferior breed, a horse that is worn-out, weak, wearied and worthless.
    This, in turn, comes from northern English yaud, an old mare, from jalda - Old Norse for a mare.

    [Information distilled from the OED.]
     
    Jaded: from Jalda - originally "mare," then "old broken down mare," then "worthless person" (prostitute), now it means someone who has "been there, seen that, and done it all."

    Not to be confused with "Jade," the green stone from the Latin word ilia meaning "kidneys." (Word Detective)
     
    panjandrum said:
    I have always wondered where jaded came from - and never bothered to look until now.
    Jaded = tired, worn out, fatigued, comes indirectly from the noun, jade, meaning a horse of inferior breed, a horse that is worn-out, weak, wearied and worthless.
    This, in turn, comes from northern English yaud, an old mare, from jalda - Old Norse for a mare.

    [Information distilled from the OED.]
    Click to expand...

    Interesting. What year does the OED have for the first use of "jaded"?

    I wonder if there's a correlation with the French somewhere.
     
    judkinsc said:
    Interesting. What year does the OED have for the first use of "jaded"?

    I wonder if there's a correlation with the French somewhere.
    Click to expand...
    1593 SHAKESPEARE. 2 Hen. VI, IV. i. 52 The honourable blood of Lancaster Must not be shed by such a iaded Groome.
     
    Never mind, I read it through and know what it means. Thank you.
    Cherry
    Click to expand...
    The expression means the same in Australia as it does in the other English speaking countries of the world. I must say though that the grass is definitely greener in Ireland, so you're best to stay where you are. :)
     
    Thanks, Panjandrum.

    I did a brief search for jadis, and interestingly, it apparently derives from a contracted expression of "il ya déja des jours." You can see it here.

    Interesting how they are so similar.
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top