How did the phrase "You're all wet" arise?
My daughter, asking me what it meant, brought my own question to mind. How nice that my daughter is now old enough to again believe that her dad might conceivably know a few things!
How did the phrase "You're all wet" arise?
Someone fell in the water?
I'll take a blind, silly stab at the phrase:
If a person's all wet, he's out-to-lunch, not on the right track, born yesterday.
And, if born yesterday, why not today? And if today, why not just now? And if born just now and extraordinarily naive about the workings of the world, then he's all wet as though just born.
Now, I know this is probably incorrect, but thought I'd throw a little absurdity into the etymological pool, in which I'm probably all wet.
Best regards,
WetWind
Actually, I'm not so sure you're that far off the mark. I've always thought of new-born status being the image behind the metaphor "wet behind the ears," meaning brand new and totally inexperienced.
A quote from the OED: A man is wet if he isn't a ‘regular guy’; he is wet if he isn't ‘smooth’; he is wet if he has intellectual interests+;
40 years ago, while I did a postdoc in London, a colleague repeatedly called me "wet" - but he refused to define the term..
Now I've got over the shock of seeing a thread started by Keiva
I am reminded that, in my youth (i.e, the 1950s) the term 'a drip' was used to decribe anyone (actually, any fellow! - not usually applied to girls) who was deemed to be ineffective, non-athletic, socially inadequate, etc, etc. I am thinking that the term "wet" has similar conotations.
The thread was started in '02.About 3 months shy of ten years ago.
Being a contemporary, I remember the use of the term as well.
The end result of having adopted a flawed approach
In times past, when containers were handmade, the most basic test of reliability was whether it could be used to transport liquids, such as olive oil, without leaking. Just looking at a dry container would not be sufficient proof for being air-tight as flaws the size of pin-holes might escape detection.
If a container could pass the water test, it could then be used to transport more valuable liquids.
Thus, if your argument doesn't "hold water", then to continue the metaphor, "you're all wet".
As anyone knows who has ever been caught in the rain, wearing wet clothing can be uncomfortable and is thus a bad state to be in.
