#99607
03/28/2003 11:20 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
which is the right end of the stick, and how do you know?
Bingley
Bingley
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#99608
03/28/2003 11:26 AM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
I suspect it's something that you only know retrospectively, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, Bingley. No one gets the wrong end deliberately, do they?  - Pfranz
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#99609
03/28/2003 2:05 PM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
I imagine it's a particular dilemma when the stick is sharpened at both ends.
k
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#99610
03/28/2003 2:17 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
The right end of the stick is not coated with excrement.
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#99611
03/28/2003 3:45 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Bingo, Dr. Bill! Give that man a SEE-gar! The saying goes back to the days of outhouses (and before that, whatever bush was handy) when they had no paper and made use of leaves, corn husks, or whatever else was available. Unfortunately, there were those times when a stick was the only usable item. I first heard and used the saying as "the shit end of the stick", never knowing in my youth what the implication was until I became immersed in 19th century lifestyle history fairly recently (although the saying goes much further back). Just like "don't have a pot to piss in" was coined in reference to poorer folks who couldn't afford the luxury of a chamber pot circa early-mid 2nd Millennium.
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#99612
03/28/2003 5:05 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
I've always used "the short end of the stick"; in fact, I used it today somewhere. I guess that's a nicefied "shit end of the stick".
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#99613
03/28/2003 5:23 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
I've always used "the short end of the stick"; in fact, I used it today somewhere. I guess that's a nicefied "shit end of the stick".
Yup, Bean..."short end of the stick" was the common usage in polite company.
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#99614
03/28/2003 5:37 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725 |
Yeah, I have always said "the dirty end of the stick" knowing what it meant. But thanks for the history of the phrase. Now I am privy to the meaning! 
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#99615
03/28/2003 7:28 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
was the common usage in polite company.
Well, I did learn it from my mother, after all.
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