0

In this Quora article, someone said the following.

...but I have no memory of it because of an abundance of ale. I think we also solved world poverty, and it somehow involved making a parking lot of most of the Middle-East and London.

I asked what it meant and this is the explanation I've got (a good one, I love the wording).

...everyone considers every rock most holy to their particular group. So if you just flatten out everything and make it as non-holy as possible – i.e. a parking lot – it’s not holy to anyone anymore, nobody has any reason to fight...

I'd like to start using that expression but I can't judge how widely spread it is or, at least, how easy to figure out the message would be. I had to ask, so it's not obvious. On the other hand, I might be too slow to get it, making me not representative for a general case.

Improve this question
7
  • 1
    Seeing as the speaker is Swedish, I suggest that this metaphor derives from their native country. I am not familiar with "making something into a parking lot" ( BrEng: car park) or "make a parking lot of something"
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 8:31
  • 1
    I've heard the expression. It means to level a place, to raze it, to destroy everything there. Why do you want to say that?
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 8:56
  • @Mari-LouA Being an almost native speaker of Swedish, I assure you that expression doesn't come from the Viking tongue. :)
    – Konrad Viltersten
    Commented Nov 17, 2020 at 23:38
  • @JackO'Flaherty I don't want to say that. I would be using it while referring to eliminating the infectious connotations often raised while discussing politics and/or religion. The sense you've suggested, I have rather limited use for. :)
    – Konrad Viltersten
    Commented Nov 17, 2020 at 23:41
  • @KonradViltersten I believe the expression will carry those connotations, whether you intend them or not.
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Commented Nov 18, 2020 at 1:59

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

That expression means to level a place, to raze it, to destroy everything there. You could conceivably use it in another sense, but it will have that connotation.

There's a Joni Mitchell song, "Big Yellow Taxi" with the line "they paved paradise...and put up a parking lot."

Improve this answer
1

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .