Two left feet... By the pricking of my thumbs.... All thumbs... Harmed not a hair on her head... I'm all ears... Bass-ackwards... (for those who want to be risque not risky) etc.
I knew SOMEONE would answer with the more popular version of "beating" over "shooting" a dead horse ...thank you francais-pi. I'm just a horse whipped, horse laughing horse marine.
And there's also a saying that originally made no sense to me: "Never look a gift horse in the mouth."
Gven the historical context f that quote, ought not one always look a gift horse in the mouth? To listen to that advice, as the good citizens of Troy discovered can be simply suicidal.
Even a city girl like me knows about "looking a gift horse in the mouth"-- it related to "getting long in the tooth"
Grazing animals (like horses) have teeth that grow forward not up-- so as the get older, their teeth get longer-- at some point they stop growing-- and just wear down.
You don't look a gift horse in the mouth, since to do so it to learn how old (and guess) how much usefull life it has left. We don't get old-- but at some point we decide that its time to stop reading serial novels...
as of the trojains-- they had Casandra-- and ignored her-- and failed to beware of greeks bearing gifts. (poor casandra-- her life didn't improve much after the war, did it?)
"Gird your loins" is nothing obscene... it admonishes one to prepare (mentally and emotionally) for a tough task at hand.
Yes, I know that's what it means, but why does it mean that? It's obviously a metaphor, but what is the original loin-girding that gave rise the metaphor?
Actually, "to gird one's loins" originally meant to put on the accoutrement of war, the sword belt which hung low across the loins. I can't discover exactly how old it is, but I would suggest Anglo-Saxon or Norman. The meaning later drifted to the action itself. "Gird yourself for something." Now it just means, as has been said previously, to get ready to do something.
Actually, "to gird one's loins" originally meant to put on the accoutrement of war, the sword belt which hung low across the loins. I can't discover exactly how old it is, but I would suggest Anglo-Saxon or Norman.
Older I think, CapK - the imagery is used in the Bible as well, at Ephesians 6:14, and 1 Peter 1:13, according to a interlinear translation I have.
Just guessing here-- but gird and girdle have the same root- the idea of a belt or sash- and i suspect gird (ing) ones loins- was the equivalent of putting on a jock strap -- protective clothing --before going off to fight (or gallop away on a horse, or march off..)or face what ever adversary was in front of one.
In the past-- civilized people wore loose flowing clothing-- (and barbarians wore trousers!) girdle is still used in the sense of binding-- as in ivy girdling a tree and killing it.--and for us old ladies-- we still remember girdles (even if we don't wear them!)
of troy wrote : and for us old ladies-- we still remember girdles (even if we don't wear them!) And may I note : the person who invented the panty girdle has a lot to answer for.
um, i was kinda happy that this thread was dying I was going to bite my tongue and post no more here, but seeing others are continuing to do so, there's no need for me to go out on a limb. (I know that last one is pushing it, but what the... (in deference to Jackie!) heck - I might as well stick my neck out!
[blue}> How about the ads offering to enable males to have buns of steel?
Can't be as bad as the ad for Viagra...man doing two-handed push-ups on bathroom floor, then one-handed push-ups, then - ah the power of Viagra - no handed push-ups.
Okay, that (and several recent posts) did it. The gutter is getting too deep for me, and I'm officially climbing out. (Though not necessarily permanently.)
Remember when the Spanish diplomat rejected present of stockings for Spanish queen "because the Queen of Spain has no legs"? Dear Jackie, I hope you were not similarly handicapped in climbing out of the polluted drainage ditch that was not intended to offend you or anybody else.
One must be a contortionist to get along these days. You have to keep your back to the wall, your ear to the ground, your nose to the grindstone and your shoulder to the wheel. You have to keep a level head, both feet on the floor and at the same time have your head in the clouds so you can look for the silver lining.
Just thought I'd share too... Satin
ps. Regarding the Bible, are the versus you mentioned referring to "putting on the armor of God"?
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site.
Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to
hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.
.
) up by one's bootstraps.
