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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 2
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 2 |
Does anyone know the origin of the phrase "Teach my grandmother to suck eggs" ? It's such an amusing phrase, but where did it come from ?
Sush
Sush
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
I would love to know where this phrase originated, too! It also occurs in Brazilian Portuguese: vá ensinar tua vovô a chupar ovos. ("Go teach your grandmother to suck eggs") ... I was never quite sure what it meant, but I guess it's equivalent to "go fly a kite."
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
according to Quinion [see link], it's from an 18th century translation of a Spanish playwright; he also includes this verse to demonstrate the meaning: Teach not thy parent's mother to extract The embryo juices of the bird by suction. The good old lady can that feat enact, Quite irrespective of your kind instruction. http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-tea1.htmhttp://members.aol.com/tsuwm
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
OH! OH! OH!
I bow, and kowtow, to the new enthusiast!
Congratulations!! You are Supreme in my book!
I visited the link--thank you.
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 112
member
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member
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 112 |
in tones of great awe
Thank you for that, tswum. I have added the link to my bookmarks, and will certainly use it. How do you find these things?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
(adding my voiced to the awed)
That's great stuff, enthusiast tsuwm. I am humbled before your astonishing research talent. Thanks for this and other links. :-)
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
[pleonasm can be fun!] research for my own modest word page has led me to discover (1) all of the good word sites in the known English-speaking universe [hyperbole] and (2) several useful tricks for taming the available search engines. for instance, try this at http://google.comenter the following search string as shown: grandmother "suck eggs" and there, right at the top, you should see the hit for Quinion, with whom I was already quite familiar and on which I leaped forthwith. this stuff really ain't rocket science! "What's another word for Thesaurus?" -Steven Wright
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