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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: 10472 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: 11582 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: 10472 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 8453 Members 16 Forums 13691 Topics 210118 Posts Max Online: 3341 @ 12/09/11 02:15 PM Newest Members zhangzhen, dene13, MariaAnastasia, MNPrasad, Krysto4 8453 Registered Users Who's Online 0 registered (), 50 Guests and 1 Spider online. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters (30 Days) LukeJavan8 93 endymion6 69 wofahulicodoc 68 jenny jenny 67 teepee 20 Rhubarb Commando 16 Faldage 14 tsuwm 9 anddrewlee 6 Jackie 4 June 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

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