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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Etymology #2848 05/22/2000 9:53 AM Joined: May 2000 Posts: 2 New Delhi, India Sushmita stranger Sushmita stranger Joined: May 2000 Posts: 2 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 Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Share Post on Reddit Re: Etymology #2849 05/22/2000 4:54 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 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." Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Share Post on Reddit Re: Etymology #2850 05/22/2000 5:23 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 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 Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Share Post on Reddit Re: Etymology #2851 05/22/2000 6:30 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky Jackie Carpal Tunnel Jackie Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 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. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Share Post on Reddit Re: Etymology #2852 05/22/2000 7:13 PM Joined: May 2000 Posts: 112 Auckland, New Zealand David108 member David108 member Joined: May 2000 Posts: 112 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? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Share Post on Reddit Re: Etymology #2853 05/22/2000 7:25 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 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. :-) Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Share Post on Reddit to my truckling claque... #2854 05/23/2000 1:22 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 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! 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