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What does this little rebus mean?

 14   0

Is fourteen wrong or what?

EDIT:

OK, there have been way too many answers, only a few having some reasonable match with the rebus. To avoid another flood of not-so-nicely-matched answers, here is a

Hint:

The "strike-through" (or whatever it's called), is not pronounced per se. It adds meaning. The rest is pronounced.

Another hint:

 hit   0, Jack

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  • 5
    $\begingroup$ This is kiiiiiiiiilling me. $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 12:48
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    $\begingroup$ @Kevin, Just for readability. The stroke above 14 was not visible enough. $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 12:56
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    $\begingroup$ There is a saying in Romanian that translates literally to "It hurts in my fourteen". It means "I don't give a ... damn". So this could be it. since "giving a damn" could mean "zero damns given". (it involves 14 and zero). $\endgroup$
    – Marius
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 13:00
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    $\begingroup$ @Matthew0898 I would say that 4=h when viewed upside-down in a calculator... $\endgroup$
    – user21703
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 17:49
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    $\begingroup$ @Matthew0898, there is no such visual trick. It is just a plain rebus. Find a clever pronunciation, stretch it a tiny bit, and find an idiom. $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 17:54

15 Answers 15

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40
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How about

One for the road

because

you zero out one-four, or you have "one four zeroed". Stretching the pronunciation a bit (or using the Spanish theta), you get "one for the road"(or "one for ze road").

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  • $\begingroup$ Phew, that took many answers, but well done ! $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 20:32
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    $\begingroup$ Did anyone else say this like N. Gin from Crash Team Racing?.... No, just me?! ok then. $\endgroup$
    – LiamH
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 6:50
  • $\begingroup$ In Spanish, "z" sounds as the first sound of "thick". I believe your comment should in fact refer to the German-ish pronounciation of "the" ("ze"), which you mention later on. $\endgroup$
    – legrojan
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 16:31
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Here's my guess:

Not one for small talk. Strikethrough 14 is not one for, and 0 is small talk. Kind of a stretch though

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  • $\begingroup$ Indeed, too much of a stretch, but there is some sort of evolution in the right direction. $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 13:20
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My first answer so hopefully I am doing the spoiler hiding thing correctly...

Not number one for nothing

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  • $\begingroup$ oh wow, I think this is it. $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 17:17
  • $\begingroup$ I'd be surprised if this wasn't it, nice job $\endgroup$
    – Gordon Allocman
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 17:18
  • $\begingroup$ Nope, sorry guys :) The hint indicates that the strike-through is not pronounced. Here, is it pronounced as "Not". Maybe I should make the puzzle a little more specific ... $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 17:22
  • $\begingroup$ @fffred Well, I mean, this answer doesn't work because then it should be "Not number fourteen for nothing" ;) $\endgroup$
    – Insane
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 22:06
  • $\begingroup$ @insane, it works if you pronounce 14 as "number one for" $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 22:21
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I think it translates to

Not for teens

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    $\begingroup$ I thought this, but how does the 0 fit in? $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 12:56
  • $\begingroup$ Incorrect answer, but nice attempt with the pronunciation. $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 12:59
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Here's an attempt to not use the strike-through as "not":

Have one for free

This potentially works because

we can imagine the line "halving" the fourteen -> "halve" -> "have" and then 0 could represent nothing which when talking about money would be equivalent to free.

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I think it means

Always be positive

Reasoning:

Original equation was $7 - 7$
Being positive and ignoring negatives, you made a calculation error and answered $14 (7 + 7)$ instead of $0$

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  • $\begingroup$ Interesting idea, but does not fit the rebus well enough. $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 12:19
  • $\begingroup$ There is no information regarding the original equation. $\endgroup$
    – user64742
    Commented May 19, 2016 at 3:36
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A possibility:

Not one for naught

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  • $\begingroup$ That would be the first good (but coincidental) match. However, I never heard this idiom before ... Is it really used? $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 16:17
  • $\begingroup$ I think the actual idiom I was thinking of is Not for Naught. $\endgroup$
    – Michael Richardson
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 16:23
  • $\begingroup$ Or maybe "All for naught" ? $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 16:23
  • $\begingroup$ "not for nothing" is common, so I imagine someone probably says "not for naught", but this rebus doesn't spell that $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 16:33
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Very similar to various answers but

You can't get something for nothing

Because:

1 = something
4 = for
0 = nothing
strikethrough = if these are the answer to an equation you would 'get' 14, and the strikethrough show that we can't get it

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Guessing:

Take one for the team

Reason:

When editing a document, " 14 " would 'take out' "14".
The "0" might be visually representative of a huddled sports team.

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Probably very far'fetched, but:

Two (male) teens without girlfriends

because:

 14  => Four teens split / divided => Two teens


I tried to come up with a suitable verb for the 0..

I interpreted the 0 as an O because:
"The modern numerical digit 0 is usually written as a circle or ellipse. Traditionally, many print typefaces made the capital letter O more rounded than the narrower, elliptical digit 0. Typewriters originally made no distinction in shape between O and 0; some models did not even have a separate key for the digit 0. The distinction came into prominence on modern character displays."

And found the following meaning for O'ing:
"If you've ever heard of the term "dinks" meaning "double income, no kids" , Oing is for males that have a decent paying job and are in the age range of 16-25 meaning "One income, No girlfriend". It stops at 25 because if you have no girl at 25, you're a loser."

The age-range of 16-25 also fits the term teens.

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  • $\begingroup$ Man, I'm really impressed by all the ideas here, but this is not correct. I would not have replaced 0 by O just for fun anyway. The characters are chosen for good reasons. $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 13:40
  • $\begingroup$ @fffred Well, two teens zeroing didn't made much sense, so I had to look in another direction. :) $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Cruijssen
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 13:42
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So, how about:

Not one for pi(e)? The O being a circle, so related to pi...

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  • $\begingroup$ Well, nice try, but still not quite there yet. A zero is not a circle, really. $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 15:10
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I have to try this one!

Don't count your chickens before the eggs have hatched : you had 14 eggs that haven't hatched yet, so you counted 14 chickens, but then they all turned out to be ones without chickens, and you actually have 0 chickens!

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  • $\begingroup$ Nice try ! +1 for the idea, but 14 is not any random thing. $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 12:51
  • $\begingroup$ Argh, time to search again ! $\endgroup$
    – Mayo
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 12:52
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Partial answer :

Hold the fort : maybe it's related to the word fort, as 'fortnight' means '14 days'

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    $\begingroup$ Still not the answer ... :) $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 13:21
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My long shot:

A strike for nothing

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    $\begingroup$ I am unaware of this idiom. But anyway, what would the 1 be there for? $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 15:12
  • $\begingroup$ @fffred "A" and "One" are interchangeable. :) $\endgroup$
    – kamenf
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 15:14
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New try

One for All

because

It's not one for nothing because there is a strikethrough, so the opposite would be one for all.

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  • $\begingroup$ Still incorrect. Try again :) With your explanation, "Not for" would have been simply a 4 stroke out. $\endgroup$
    – fffred
    Commented May 18, 2016 at 16:04

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