---- this for a game of soldiers

Sod this for a game of soldiers/bugger this for a game of soldiers:

• oath uttered when faced with a pointless or exasperating task popular expression dating back into the mid-1900s and possibly before this, of uncertain origin although it has been suggested to me (ack R Brookman) that the 'game of soldiers' referred to a darts game played (a variation or perhaps the game itself) and so named in Yorkshire, and conceivably beyond. There certainly seem to be long-standing references to 'soldiers' in darts games, for example when numbers on the board are allocated to players who then 'kill' each other's soldiers by landing darts in the relevant numbers. There is also a fundamental association between the game of darts and soldiers - real or perceived - since many believe that the game itself derived from medieval games played by soldiers using spears or arrows (some suggest with barrel-ends as targets), either to ease boredom, or to practise skills or both.

• The allusion of the expression is to a difficult and painstaking or frustrating pastime, for which a game (perhaps darts, or some other reference now forgotten and lost) serves as the metaphor. See also ST FAGOS in the acronyms section. In this context (ack P Kone and S Leadbeater for raising this particular point) sod, and bugger for that matter, are expletives referring to the act of anal intercourse, which through history has been regarded by righteous sorts a most unspeakable and ungodly sin, hence the unending popularity of these words as oaths.

(Businessballs.com)

Blow this for a lark:

• "Blow" in the sense of "damn" or "curse" was fairly common in the UK up until about 50 years ago - I remember my mother when surprised or irritated using "oh blow" undoubtedly as a euphemism for some swearword exclamation. I imagine it originally comes from a wish for the offending issue to be blown away - possibly to Hell - though I have no evidence of such. "Blow this for a lark (or laugh)" would still be understood here, though we'd be more likely these days to use "screw" rather than "blow". We might even say "screw this for a game of soldiers".

• "Blow" in a pejoritive sense has of course recently got a new lease of life, courtesy of US English from what I understand, as in "let's blow this popsicle stand" or even the more vulgar "that blows".

• As a side note, and to jump eagerly onto one of my favourite hobbyhorses, Terry Pratchett is of course one of the finest writers writing today.

  • Well...in the U.S. "blow" does mean leave. "Let's blow this firetrap." But it also means oral copulation. As in: "This blows," another way of saying "This sucks."'

(The Phrase Finder)

"XXX this ...for a lark/game of soldiers/good time.

Surely the essential sense of this construction (which I use and hear often) is that the speaker is saying that the activity they are engaged with is turning out to be a lot less rewarding/pleasing than they were expecting/hoping.

The activity used for comparison may be playfully facetious (e.g. a game of soldiers), or literally describing what it was that they had hoped to be doing (e.g. a lark; a good time ...).

I always understood this to mean "this is no fun and a waste of time" and that the "game of soldiers" or "lark" we thought it would be - has turned into something far less fun. I.e. "this is a rubbish game of soldiers" "this is no fun if it's supposed to be a lark" The "Sod this/blow this/ ___ this" is meaning "who the hell thought this would be a good game of soldiers.

Historically soldiers were notorious for becoming engaged in silly and most times (e.g. the game of the "bisquit") non-sense games to kill the time, practice that over time gave them a poorly credible connotation and stereotype. Hence this old fashioned colloquialism (the original version was Sod this for a game of soldiers) compares the foolishness of a certain action/thing with that of "a game of soldiers"..from The Urban Dictionary

It can mean different but related things depending on the context.

If something is happening that reaches a point where you need to act "Sod this for a game of soldiers" means action is more important than a game of soldiers (whatever the origin of the phrase is).

If something is happening that you don't want to be part of it can mean that a game of soldiers (something very unimportant) is preferable to what is happening, often followed by your physical or participatory departure.

I had always imagined that the 'game of soldiers' was a real one - the first world war, where soldiers lives were thrown away as if 'in a game'. They were 'cannon fodder' or expendable items, used.

I imagined that the phrase would have been uttered by a soldier in that situation 'fook this for a game of soldiers' meaning - 'hell - I'm in this shoddy game, this incompetent parody of a war' nothing more than 'a game of soldiers'.

And that, I imagined that this expression then continued to be interchangeably used in other situations that were similarly badly set up, badly run, or badly conceived of, by authority.

'Fook this for a game of soldiers' means - 'I'm out of here - let's do something else'. It is usually followed by leaving the situation.

It reminds me that some troops in the first world war, maddened by the firing and the carnage, did in fact run towards the border so that they would be shot down, to escape it by being killed.

Fook that for a game of soldiers.

I'm from the UK.

I came across this discussion because an Australian friend asked me what "sod this for a game of soldiers" meant when I used it in conversation.

I'm a 50+ woman from Yorkshire, UK. My family is from Yorkshire going back hundreds of years.

It means: I thought this was going to be fun (a game) and it turns out to be far from it. That's it - there is no more meaning than that. The game is boys playing with toy soldiers. It is exactly as it seems and no more!