I have a question. Can anyone tell me what the
phrase "have time by the fetlock" might mean?

I've looked up fetlock, the ankle of a horse, but can find
no reference to what "time" has to do with it.
Thanks.

Hmm--I've not heard this one before, but 'by the fetlock' makes me think of 'by the short hairs'; in other words, the grabbee cannot move.
Hmm again--that really doesn't make sense, unless you're talking about making time stand still, which of course can't be done.

The only other interpretation I can think of is along the lines of having a lot of something, as in, "Oh, I have books by the truckload". But 'by the fetlock' wouldn't make sense in that way either: even just one horse only has four fetlocks. [shrug]

I think what's probly meant here is something like, "seize time by the forelock." (see Google[books] for examples.)

I received an email from a friend, and this is what
it said about "fetlock"....



Oh, one more question, since I have you on the line. What is the meaning of the old expression, "Taking time by the fetlock?" It is used a few times in Little Women, I looked it up but I don't quite get it. Can you help?


"Little Women" is Louisa May Alcott, if I remember correctly.
I've looked up fetlock on every site I can think of, and
all I get is references to horse ankles. I thought it
might be something like 'carpe diem' but that makes little
sense. "Up the the fetlocks" is used by Shakespeare, in
"blood and gore" in some play with war. But taking time
by the fetlock seems to make little sense.

this is pretty interesting..

according to OED, time[25] Personified as an aged man, bald, but having a forelock, and carrying a scythe and an hour-glass. Also called Father Time. to take Time by the forelock (†by the top), to seize one's opportunity, to act promptly

1595 Spenser Amoretti "The joyous time wil not be staid Unlesse she doe him by the forelock take.."

1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians I took time by the fore-lock.

a common expression of old, then, twisted by Alcott (and followed by others)

""It was hard work, but between us, we talked her over, for we had heaps of good reasons on our side. There wasn't time to write and ask leave, but you all liked it, had consented to it by-and-by, and it was only `taking time by the fetlock', as my wife says.""
- L. M. Alcott, Little Women (1868)

"'Take time by the fetlock,' as one of the girls says in 'Little Women,'" laughed Roger. "If you'll cast your orbs out of the window you'll see that it has almost stopped."
- Mabell S.C. Smith, Ethel Morton's Enterprise (2004)

Interesting, indeed. Thanks for the research.
I shall send this to my friend. Appreciative.

It must have been a favourite saying of Louisa May Alcott's..she used it a few times in her stories.

I've read her works, but just must have skipped the phrase.
Never paid attention to it. A friend asked and I could
not find it, so I posted it here.

I've taken time by the forelock and fired off a query to the LMASociety...

In the meantime....If you can't take him by the fetlock take him by the robe.

Happy New Year

Heh, heh
HAPPY NEW YEAR, BRAN

LITTLE NEMO!!!

Thats good tsuwm, I have been searching for the answer too. Never thought about it before, I guess because I understood the sense.

I've spent an interesting afternoon researching the phrase about 'fetlock time'. You're right, Luke...its hard to fine a definition on the net. But, when I'm not heading off on another tangent (like time....there was so much about that subject) I did read about....shackles and clogs that were attached to a horse or camel or donkey's leg or fetlock, to slow or restict movement. And of cousre...when a horse goes lame, its usually from an injury to its fetlock, so I'm guessing that would slow down its time, going places!

Anyway....looking forward to getting the answer back.

I also must have skipped over the phrase, because it made
sense in context and it rang no bells in the old noggin.
But it is a curious one, and so much on the ankle of the
horse: everything from pictures to diagrams and so forth.
Quite a time spent here as well.

Yes I have this great collection of weirdiness. Winsor McCay.

About fetlock, it sure is an all-horse thing.
Link

Not sure what you are really looking for but I found this:

The word fetlock literally means "foot-lock" and originally referred to the small tuft of hair situated on the rear of the fetlock joint[1].

Which is visable in one of the images one post up.
But maybe that not at all what you look for.

Saw those pictures. Glad you posted them again, however.

>looking forward to getting the answer back.

to me, the question is whether LMA was playing with words (was she wont to do that?) or was she just confused.

but I despair of getting an answer from the LMAS, as my email to the Societal Secretary bounced and the only other contact listed is their webmaster. but I'll try to resend next week, when folks should be back from their holidays.

OK

Well--in those days, in merrie Olde England and other places as I understand it, tugging at one's forelock was done by...people who considered themselves servants, as a sign of submission (and other things, mayhap). So if you have a person (and conceivably a horse though the control is far less certain) by the forelock or a horse by the fetlock, to me that indicates that you have control over the grabbee. I don't recall reading/noticing this phrase in L.W. either, but I'd think it was a safe guess to say that the character meant that she wasn't going to let time get away from her.

I don't think Time has been often equusified, as opposed to the personification of Father Time.

If you've grabbed Time by a tuft of hair that might be called a fetlock all you're likely to get out of it is a good kick in the teeth by Time's hoof. It doesn't seem like a very secure handhold. Perhaps the character that had the line was a Mrs. Malaprop sort.

The question is also on Dr. Robert Beard (Alpha Agora)
wherein it was originally posted, and a person there
asked me. Here is Dr. Beard (Dr. Goodward)'s response:

I must admit this is a new one to me, too, so I can only surmise.

I would guess that since the fetlock protrudes from a horse's leg, grabbing life by the fetlock would be to lock onto it in a way that it cannot escape. In fact, horses that were hobbled were usually bound by a "fetterlock" to the fetlock.

The "lock" of a fetterlock and that of a fetlock are not the same. Fetlock is a reduction of foot + lock in the sense of a lock of hair.
_________________
•The Good Dr. Goodword

Time's hoof. Yes, I really like that.

Or "time hoofs it along", giddyup.

The character who uses the the expression "take time by the fetlock" is one N. Winkle. The full quote is:


As we can see his command of French is a little less than notable and he gives punctuation very short shrift. I suspect that his use of fetlock in this context is very much a malapropism.

yes, but there are several other uses by Ms. Alcott..

It doesn't seem like a very secure handhold. But you don't grab a horse by the fetlock using your hand; that's where the hobble goes.

It tends also to be where a horse will get mud fever and so the actual fetlock is trimmed off. Some also trim them for competitions because it looks nice and doesn't get matted up with water and mud whilst doing xc. The hobble would go around the fetlock joint rather like a pair of handcuffs around the wrists and was used instead of a standing hitchpost to stop your horse wandering off if you were camping overnight or visiting someone without a hitchpost. The fetlock and fetlock joint is also where you grasp the leg in order to lift the foot up to check it over and pick out any dirt or stones, often stopping the horse from running or kicking someone who is checking the back end of an irritable horse. (Whew! That is more than I intended to write...sorry for the longwindedness and any spelling mistakes as I am typing this on my phone's touchscreen keyboard because my wireless is down)

p.s. happy new year

In dialog by other characters or in narration? And if dialog by other characters are they perhaps mocking Mr. Winkle for his misuse?

Xmas present?

the quote I gave above was (seemingly) Amy(Winkle)'s husband speaking. (I have trouble with extended dialogue like this, keeping track of who's who.)

here it is again, for those who didn't note it at the time:
""It was hard work, but between us, we talked her over, for we had heaps of good reasons on our side. There wasn't time to write and ask leave, but you all liked it, had consented to it by-and-by, and it was only `taking time by the fetlock', as my wife says.""

To Take time by the forelock, to be well beforehand in one's arrangements. In mythical symbolism and its perpetuations, time is always represented by an old man with a head bald behind, and a large lock of hair in front. To take time, therefore, by the forelock we must get well in front of him, for once past there is no recalling him. A very comical perversion of this expression I heard perpetrated by a man of considerable information but no education, who observed that he had always been accustomed to take time by the fetlock.
- A. Wallace, Popular Sayings Dissected (1895)
[this merely presages much of what's been said here]

if LMA actually perpetuated this perversion and if between 1869 and 1895 it became popularized to some extent, then we've got History by the fetlock (always assuming History is a Horse, which Time isn't).