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Topic Options #2848 - 05/22/00 05:53 AM Etymology Sushmita stranger Registered: 05/22/00 Posts: 2 Loc: New Delhi, India 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 Top #2849 - 05/22/00 12:54 PM Re: Etymology AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 6511 Loc: lower upstate New York 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." Top #2850 - 05/22/00 01:23 PM Re: Etymology tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10464 Loc: this too shall pass 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.htm http://members.aol.com/tsuwm Top #2851 - 05/22/00 02:30 PM Re: Etymology Jackie Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 11579 Loc: Louisville, Kentucky OH! OH! OH! I bow, and kowtow, to the new enthusiast! Congratulations!! You are Supreme in my book! I visited the link--thank you. Top #2852 - 05/22/00 03:13 PM Re: Etymology David108 member Registered: 05/09/00 Posts: 112 Loc: Auckland, New Zealand 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? Top #2853 - 05/22/00 03:25 PM Re: Etymology AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Registered: 03/15/00 Posts: 6511 Loc: lower upstate New York (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. :-) Top #2854 - 05/23/00 09:22 AM to my truckling claque... tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10464 Loc: this too shall pass [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.com enter 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 Top Previous Topic Index Next Topic Preview Hop to: General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. (have been consolidated into a single forum above) ------   Words from medicine   Beheading words   Meta-words   Words from classical mythology   Animal Safari   Words with unusual etymologies   Eponyms or words derived from people's names.   Loanwords from German   English as a global language Moderator:  Jackie  Print Topic Switch to Threaded Mode View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM View homepage Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM View homepage Add to your Watched Users View posts Forum Stats 8426 Members 16 Forums 13689 Topics 209793 Posts Max Online: 3341 @ 12/09/11 02:15 PM Newest Members sylviasuper, continent2, a2teacher, teepee, smoothcriminal86 8426 Registered Users Who's Online 2 registered (sylviasuper, continent2), 39 Guests and 3 Spiders online. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters (30 Days) LukeJavan8 86 jenny jenny 56 wofahulicodoc 56 endymion6 48 Rhubarb Commando 37 BranShea 34 Buffalo Shrdlu 15 zmjezhd 13 Faldage 13 tsuwm 11 May Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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