"Spite your face" ??

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Marty - 12 Jul 2004 15:52 GMT

Hi, there.

I saw the 'LEGO' spiderman film. It was really fun. :^)
This animation is made by "Spite your face" -The animation company, right?
But I don't understand that meaning "Spite your face."
Does that mean "Hurt your face yourself"?
On what situation can I use this expression?

Thanks,

Marty.

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Einde O'Callaghan - 12 Jul 2004 17:48 GMT

> Hi, there.
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Does that mean "Hurt your face yourself"?
> On what situation can I use this expression?

It probably comes from teh idiom "to cut off your nose to spite your
face2, which roughly means to do something that injures yourself in your
attempt to punish somebody else.

I suspect that the name was chosen because it's a bit unusual and sounds
good.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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Bill Bonde ( ``There's sunshine in my stomach'' ) - 13 Jul 2004 00:10 GMT

> Hi, there.
>
> I saw the 'LEGO' spiderman film. It was really fun. :^)
> This animation is made by "Spite your face" -The animation company, right?
> But I don't understand that meaning "Spite your face."
> Does that mean "Hurt your face yourself"?

> On what situation can I use this expression?

I suspect never.

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"It has to be big", Tyler says. "Picture this: you on top of the worlds
tallest building, the whole building taken over by Project Mayhem. Smoke
rolling out of the windows. Desks falling into the crowds on the street.
A real opera of death, thats what youre going to get." -+Chuck
Palahniuk, "Fight Club"

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Alan Bernardo - 20 Jul 2004 18:57 GMT

> Hi, there.
>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> Marty.

The expression itself, "he cut off his nose to spite his face", means, from
my understanding, that you've done something that you thought would be
helpful to yourself but it turned out to be the exact opposite.

It's like digging your own grave, so to speak. :)

Alanb

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John Ings - 20 Jul 2004 22:43 GMT

>The expression itself, "he cut off his nose to spite his face", means, from
>my understanding, that you've done something that you thought would be
>helpful to yourself but it turned out to be the exact opposite.

No, the phrase refers to an act of sulky, childish petulance,
disadvantaging oneself in order to do harm to an opponent or
adversary.

Think of the little girl who loves to go for walks with her mother,
but who after being punished for a misdeed, says she doesn't want to
go for a walk, even to the ice-cream store. "No! I don't wanna go!
Nobody loves me! Everybody hates me! I'm gonna go in the garden and
eat worms!"

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Alan Bernardo - 21 Jul 2004 12:47 GMT

> >The expression itself, "he cut off his nose to spite his face", means, from
> >my understanding, that you've done something that you thought would be
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> disadvantaging oneself in order to do harm to an opponent or
> adversary.

Makes sense. There is the sense of unruliness and stupidly, which my
explanation didn't convey.

Thanks,

Alanb

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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / July 2004

"Spite your face" ??