Which Turned Out to Mean....

Let's work together!

More euphemisms in quotes.

"This will give you the chance to express your views on the design and layout of these schemes before we submit our applications for development consent to allow construction to start." i.e. We will go ahead, whatever you say. (Em)

When word got out that the Artist Voter Project was planning some projects, other related arts organizations began to contact us, suggesting that we work together. "Working together" turned out to mean giving them a rather sizable contribution so we could get their literature. We tried to explain that we were not a funded organization, but just a group of individuals trying to do something, and that we had no funds to contribute. It became clear that for many of these "activist" organizations, their social mission consisted of raising funds to pay for mailings that would be used to raise more money. (Eleanor Heartney I once got a similar offer that meant "you can borrow our van sometimes".)

Arisieren, “To Aryanise”, meaning to expropriate a Jewish-owned business; liquidieren, “to liquidate”, transferred from the lexicon of commerce to death... reclaiming the Slavic counties for the “Grossgermanisches Reich”. (LRB, Joshua Cohen March 2016)

When a judge calls an argument “bold” or “novel”, they really mean it’s barking mad. (LRB March 2016)

Superman needs to be "relevant" — read: brasher, angrier and angstier. (freerepublic.com)

BBC: Public overwhelmingly rejects plans to cut back broadcaster in consultation 'hijacked' by 38 Degrees//@EddieRobson I like how "hijacked" is used here to mean people were encouraged to participate in a public consultation.
I began to realize that what [my parents] had really meant all along was ‘you can marry anyone – as long as they’re exactly like us.’ (Priya Basil Her parents said “You can marry anyone as long as he’s Sikh.”)

Dstillery “demystifies consumers’ online footprints”. (It connects phone IDs with owners and spies on them.)

'It's premature to tackle this issue while the objective conditions are not historically ripe' is the translation of the Arabic 'inshallah'. (Karl Sharro ‏@KarlreMarks)

Bojo wants to end 'over regulation' of jobs.
Paid leave
Rights for part-time workers
Limits on working hours.(Some Bloke in a Hat ‏@toolegs)

Writers complaining about not being paid show a “lack of graciousness”. (Lisa Lucas, publisher at Guernica)

Freud was really the first psychiatrist - so, a lot of pioneering hypotheses were made (you know, deranged guesswork). (@WhoresofYore)

"Our plan going forward is to reimagine what Guardian membership means, exploring how we can evolve our membership into simple, enhanced proposition which focuses relentlessly on serving the interests of our eaders and building communities around them." (Translation: paid-for content.)

Bishop on the news saying church can't "make things up as we go along". (2016 Jan Translation: The church can’t accept new ideas, or join the 21st century.)

I hope we all realise by now that "Northern Powerhouse" were code words for "leave the North to its fate". (Christian DeFeo ‏@doctorcdf)

"I'll see how I feel" - Translation: I won't be there. (VeryBritishProblems ‏@SoVeryBritish Dec 1)

"Asking difficult questions". "Making tough decisions". = "Doing the wrong thing". (Hugh Pearman)

Any industry that still has unions has potential energy that could be released by startups. (John Pat Leary)
By "potential energy" I mean "safety, health, decent wages, job security" and by "released" I mean "stolen". (Paul Graham)

The situation in Sharm El Sheikh is alarmingly fluid. (BBC Breakfast There are few flights out and we don’t know how dangerous it is.)

The Whistles customer is over 25 and wants to be fashionable in the broader sense. (Jane Shepherdson Guardian Jan 31 08 I.e. not fashionable.)

Husband Alan was desperate to change his life around and get his priorities straight – he wanted to move the family to Australia. (Wanted Down Under)

Christ, I must've used the word "thoughtful" in approx nine of my Fringe reviews this year. Concise way of saying "not actually good". (@paulwhitelaw)

Whenever someone says "We have robust procedures in place," you have to think, OK what's just gone horribly wrong? (Hugh Pearman)

Freshen up appears to mean appeal to a younger audience. (Times Aug 2015)

The medical profession would have taken “rather a dim view” if it had known Harold Gillies was carrying out sex-change operations. (Archivist Dr Anthony Bamji. Translation: He’d have been struck off.)

“We apologize to anyone who was offended” ALWAYS means “We still don’t think we did anything wrong.” (Mike Monteiro ‏@monteiro)

When people say 'real world' what they really mean is you must do what we tell you. (@imajsaclaimant Oct 1 2015)

More here, and links to the rest.