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Joined: Aug 2005
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stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1 |
I have a question regarding the origin, use, and meaning of the term "swamp out" as it relates to cleaning, e.g., "I have to swamp out the condo for visitors". I think I 'know' what it means, but can't find a really suitable reference.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
welcome, MadDog!
I'm not sure that ever heard the usage, but it might be some sort of formation from sweep and mop?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
That's a new one on me. I googled "swamp out" and found that the term is being used to describe the displacement of one thing by another, such as one type of plant that swamps out another. The verb to swamp, of course, means submerge, and this appears to be a variation on that idea.
But I wonder if this use you describe is a variation on "swab out".
TEd
TEd
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500 |
My thinking too, TEd. "Swamp out" doesn't make much sense to me - of course, idiom often doesn't, on the face of it.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
ah, the mighty eggcorn...
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
I am more familiar with the expression "Mucking Out The Byre" from the song of the same name. Might these two terms be in any way related?
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
and then there's mucking in poker: tossing in a bad hand without showing it (and, sometimes, lying about it; e.g., "I mucked a pair of aces!"
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,592 Likes: 1 |
I've only come across mucking in the context of "mucking out the stables." That sounds pretty much self-explanatory and provides a unifying theme for the above usages...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
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>>mucking
Really not such a bad job -- if you like the horse.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
Mucking mallecho? Miching? Whom?
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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