June 10, 2009

Knock yourself out

Have you ever thought about that saying?

Knock yourself out.

Lauren has. She even asked me about it. It went a little like this:

Lauren: Mom, what does Knock yourself out really mean?

Mom: stutter, stumble, stuck - Um Well people say it when they want you to go ahead and do whatever it is your aksing or talking about

Lauren: yeah, I get that but what does Knock Yourself Out mean

Mom: (vividly picturing a TKO with Mike Tyson in my head) decides this must be the answer - "well in boxing when a fighter knocks out the other fighter, which means hits him so hard he goes down and can't get back up, he is considered the winner and that is considered very cool - so I guess if you Knock Yourself Out that would be considered cool too.
Lauren: "Oh."
I don't think I convinced her, I don't think I explained it well and I am not even sure I got it right...so off to GOOGLE LAND I go - and here is what I got

1. knock yourself out
Equivalent to "Go for it"
"Can I have a piece of your burrito?" "Knock yourself out."


2. Knock yourself out
A term for: Do whatever the hell you want, it doesn't bother me.
"dad, can i go to the park?"
"Can you get there yourself?"
"Yeah" "well then, knock yourself out."

3. knock yourself out
Same as "go for it" or "go nuts". If you really dont care at all about a person doing/taking something you say "knock yourself out" as in to do/eat until you pass out (if you really want to). Same as "go for it" or "go nuts".
Person 1: "Hey man, can I have some beer?"

Person 2: "Yeah, Knock yourself out"

4. Knock yourself out
to work hard to achieve something, usually implying success
Wow, Mary! This is a great party. You really knocked yourself out. It seems every time you give a party you really knock yourself out.

SO there you have it - lots of examples of how to use the phrase but no real definition of Knock Yourself Out -

So if you can help me out - find me a definition to give to Lauren that will satisfy her curious mind - Go ahead - Knock yourself out!

13 comments:

Megan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Megan said...

You crack me up! Inquisitive minds want to know, and by inquisitive, I mean:

1. given to inquiry, research, or asking questions; eager for knowledge; intellectually curious: an inquisitive mind.

2. unduly or inappropriately curious; prying.

(I accidentally deleted my last comment, OOPS)

SouthernDogwoods said...

Don't ya just love google?
I would define it as....
a sarcastic answer to "Can I borrow or Do you think I can try..."
I really do not think I have ever used the term Knock Yourself Out but for some reason, I see as a sarcastic response
PS. Sending you my book review today.

Anonymous said...

That's funny! Oh my gosh .. you did better than me...I would explain it as it means to sarcastically do the thing a person was asking you to do or vice versa.

I haven't ever really used that term and my daughter probably knows what it means because 1) she is a sarcastic six year old and 2) She knows way more than I give her credit for.

Good luck girly! Gotta love Google for all those "parent questions" :-)

Anonymous said...

okay my take.. is you care so little about someone doing something that they could knock themselves out and it still wouldnt bother you.. but that is just how I thought of it.. not sure if it make sense or not.

Bonnie said...

It's funny how we use expressions like these without even thinking until someone asks. Mark has a lot of funny expressions he uses from his Grandfather. The kids are always asking.

Unknown said...

This makes me wonder if this "phrase" will be obsolete someday, if not used by Lauren and her generation, a generation who wants more explanation to their vocabulary.
I'm a southern girl, who grew up with a grandmother and mother who often used old saying(can't think of a better term) and when repeat them now my kids tell me they make no sense.......oh well.

jen@odbt said...

I have LL Cool J's song "momma's gonna knock you out!" song running thru my head now. Looks like you have the definitions covered.

thecasualperfectionist.com said...

Next, she'll be wanting to know that the other word for "thesaurus" is... ;)

Laura said...

That's tough.
I will keep thinking on it.

Jen said...

How funny! I love that you googled it! My kids are always asking me questions that completely catch me off guard. I want to hit pause, take a minute to think (or research...esp the science stuff that I can't remember anymore) and then come back to them!

Courtney said...

okay, I am totally with Jen and can not get that LL cool J's song out of my head. But I also think you did a good job explaining it to her. Love your scenarios. Hilarious.

The Buntens said...

I think the ones you give here are perfect!