Wierd sayings

[Cyclefrance]

We were just discussing some of the stranger sayings we have (in UK which perhaps have travelled to the USA), such as;

'I know that place like the back of my hand' - when very few of us know the backs of our hands that well, and where would such a saying have come from anyway??

Equally 'that would be like teaching your granny to suck eggs' - did granny suck eggs? Is it some obsure reference to her absence of teeth thereby rendering egg consumption a sucking affair???

All very confusing.

Any suggestions as to their derivation? Any more that confuse?

A sure sign it's Friday and winding down time....

[Sundae]

I don't know the origin of those with googling, and somehow that seems like cheating, so I'll just answer questions with more questions if that's ok.

I'm still trying to find the origin of the phrase "More [insert item] than you can shake a stick at" I'm not satisfied by the answers I've found on the internet...

Another stick related query:
I've always assumed the carrot & stick approach referred to a system of motivating by reward. In other words the carrot is dangled in front of the donkey via a long stick, and it strives to reach it.

Recently the phrase seems to imply its either carrot OR stick. So that the donkey is rewarded with a carrot or punished with a stick.

Has the phrase become misunderstood?

[Cyclefrance]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

Another stick related query:
I've always assumed the carrot & stick approach referred to a system of motivating by reward. In other words the carrot is dangled in front of the donkey via a long stick, and it strives to reach it.

Recently the phrase seems to imply its either carrot OR stick. So that the donkey is rewarded with a carrot or punished with a stick.

Has the phrase become misunderstood?

To my mind the carrot and stick refers originally to the two methods of getting results out of a horse/mule/donkey, the first being to encourage by way of motivation or reward (the bribe offer of a carrot) the second being the punitive method (strike with a stick).

The method is easily transferrable to describe any other situation where a result is required - you can either try to win the person round by reward or motrivation, or you can make them produce by threat of or even application of violence. 'Carrot and stick' is also used over here to describe the police tactic employed to get a confession out of a subject. Two police officers, one offering the kind approach ('come on Charlie, what's the point of holding out, it's you they've left holding the baby, fat lot they think of you, tell us who put you up to it...') and the ther the hard-nosed approach (' you're going go down for this, the only chance you've got is to tell us who set this up, hold back and I'll make sure you won't see the light of day for ten years minimum - and that's a promise...)

[Undertoad]

Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick.

[barefoot serpent]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick.

I've always wondered what the H stood for... Holy?


I'm having kittens here waiting to find out...

[Cyclefrance]

Originally Posted by barefoot serpent

I've always wondered what the H stood for... Holy?


I'm having kittens here waiting to find out...

Our kittens from hell have a new home...meant to tell you...

I thought the 'H' was for Hova as in J.Hova (Jehova) Christ. Probably wrong (wife insists I usually am).

[darclauz]

Originally Posted by barefoot serpent

I've always wondered what the H stood for... Holy?


I'm having kittens here waiting to find out...

Hopping.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by barefoot serpent

I've always wondered what the H stood for... Holy?


I'm having kittens here waiting to find out...

Anybody want a kitten?

Surely H for Hexametrous. Roll the phrase off your tongue: "Je-sus Hexametrous Christ!" Now doesn't that just knock your hearers back on their heels when delivered right?

I'd take the "Ciel!" as an interjection. I'd write it "Ciel! Mon mari!"

[lumberjim]

i actually heard an explanation of the term 'sucker' as being derived from old women stealing food from markets by poking a hole in an egg shell and sucking out the contents. it was during a lesson about the great depression, but it may have translated to the UK?

[Cyclefrance]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

i actually heard an explanation of the term 'sucker' as being derived from old women stealing food from markets by poking a hole in an egg shell and sucking out the contents. it was during a lesson about the great depression, but it may have translated to the UK?

That would be better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick - is there a saying somewhere about sucking your eyes out...?? Or am I thinking of 'that really sucks'?

[capnhowdy]

happy as a lark...are larks really that happy?

open up a can of worms...and then what happens?

quiet as a mouse...I hear them all the time.

[barefoot serpent]

Originally Posted by capnhowdy

open up a can of worms...and then what happens?

sort of like herding cats

[Cyclefrance]

Originally Posted by capnhowdy

happy as a lark...are larks really that happy?

open up a can of worms...and then what happens?

quiet as a mouse...I hear them all the time.

Change the order slightly and there is a logical progression:

open up a can of worms - and that will attract a lot of larks who once they have consumed the worms will be as....

happy as a lark - but all this feeding activity will likely attract other predatorial birds like hawks, kestrels and falcons who are particularly fond of those small furry creatures known as mice, so if the mice want to have a chance to survive they will need to be....

quiet as a mouse - which as you say isn't that quiet, hence a lot of them still get eaten...

Natures way of balancing the species, I suppose (BTW, wife says I'm wrong.....)

[Cyclefrance]

Sick as a parrot ( pre-dates avian flu so what caused the saying in the first place?)

Cuts the mustard - meaning: comes up to scratch (which could be another one except I think it has connections with golf and being a scratch/zero handicap player, but it may pre-date this)

[dar512]

It is carrot and stick. The phrase implies reward for doing well and punishment for doing poorly.