Post deleted by ewein - Wordsmith.org

Wordsmith.org

Dear ewein: since the new posters seem to be hanging back, I hope I may be forgiven for being first to reply;. I thought "doilies" meant the small pieces of linen, decorated with crocheting that used to be put on arm rests of upholstered chairs, but a peek at dictionary says they were also to protect furniture surfaces under vases, etc. I guess the 'dust' is just for alliteration. And it is constructed to avoid saying something profane. I confess that most of my expressions of annoyance are not as proper. So I can't match yours.

Dear wwh,

I think the linen or lace hung to protect chair arms were part of a set that included those hung over the chair backs and were all called "antimacassars". The name stems from the macassar hair oil used by gentlemen, I guess during the Victorian period, hence antimacassar.

I will think about my favourite phrase - I'm sure I have one. Mrs dxb is bound to know!

I always thought doilies were the round circles of white paper with cut outs to look like lace (or snow flakes) that you use to put underneath cakes for decoration.

As to phrases 'gets my goat' has to be up there along with 'a few sandwiches short of a picnic'.

I just noticed that you became a journeyman with the starting post of this thread!

Hope the journey gets easier and welcome.

(with apologies to Jackie because I know she doesn't think a person should be called a poster!)
grr!

Yes, that really dusts my doilies!

she doesn't think a person should be called a poster!)

That's cause she gets all confused when offered a four-poster bed

(do Southern men believe in fourplay?)

she doesn't think a person should be called a poster!

Just an aside��.

In Britland, but less commonly now than in times past, on brick walls and other tempting external vertical surfaces one would see a small plate bearing the phrase �Bill Posters Will Be Prosecuted�. When we were children we thought this a real hoot and would have been overjoyed to have found a real Bill Posters. Was this just a phrase used in Britain I wonder, or was it in use elsewhere?

dxb.

Oh dear, ewein--your thread has fallen victim to what I was afraid it would, and what seems inevitable, here---not only was your subject ignored, it's taken a 90-degree turn or two...
I nearly didn't post, for that very reason, but was utterly unable to resist your "challenge"!

But I WILL say, that is the reason I am refraining from responding to that ol' maverick in the way he deserves!

My "Bill Posters" phrase was an attempt to link back to phrases, but to go to one more directly, a phrase that has always fascinated me is "he knows a hawk from a handsaw". Seems that handsaw here is a corruption of Hernshaw, which is a heron. Fair enough, to know the difference between a hawk and a heron would hardly be difficult so the phrase is presumably used with ironic intent. But whence came it in the first instance I wonder?

dxb.

I'm kinda new in here.

The problem is that even exceedingly comfortable phrases I hear over and over begin to grate.

One that I haven't yet grown tired of is "like crap through a goose."

k

there is a crude US phrase that is similar..but negative

He doesn't know Sh*t from shinola
(shinola is a brand of shoe polish -- Shine ola)
I think there are comparison phrases like this exist in all countries.. so i expect we'll see a few more.

Wow, does that resonate!

And a totally new one on me...

I'm sure I've posted this before, but one that I'm still enamored with is "pole-vaulting over a mouse turd" ~ love the image.

(with apologies 'cause it looks like this thread's heading for the gutter)

'doesn't know his arse from his elbow'
'he's got it all arse about tit'

(moving back out of the gutter)
'that one definitely wasn't at the front of the queue' (when they were handing out looks/height/brains/whatever)

'not got all her marbles' or 'she's lost her marbles'

there's loads more, but I've gone temporarily brain dead - need sleeeeep! Until tomorrow!

For ewein:
a la word association:
favourite phrases =
"As busy as a one-armed paper-hanger"
"All over the place like a mad woman's washing"
"It's only a flesh wound"

For dxb: re Bill Posters.
I recall seeing a photo of a wall with the "Bill posters will be prosecuted" sign (which we definitely had here in oz), and under it had been scrawled "Bill Posters is innocent!" Altogether now: groan. . .

Just saw a Dilbert a few weeks back where a guy goes into the Doctor (I guess it's Dogbert) and says he's a marketing type and he's got a pain in his elbow. The Doc says "Show it to me" and the guy drops his drawers and shows him his backside. I was in tears and only one other person in the office understood the humor.

k

"he knows a hawk from a handsaw"

Perhaps this is a phrase from the building trades. We all know a handsaw is a tool, but a hawk is as well. It is a flat board with a handle on the bottom used to hold a big dollop of mortar or plaster for easy access while working. There's a picture of one here:

http://www.homestore.com/home_improvement/howtoguides/
CreativeMixingAndHandlingMortar.asp
(Just scroll down to Fig. 7 and ignore them if they try to sell you anything)

A hawk is also known as a mortar board, which is also the name for the goofy flat-topped hat people wear at graduation ceremonies that looks like, well, like a mortar board!

EDIT: Oops, forgot this thread is for new folks only. Well, since "I might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb" (thanks, of troy!), rkay mentioned putting doilies under a cake, but you can also make a simple chocolate cake look elegant by putting a doilie on top of the cake, then sprinkling it liberally with confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar, I think it's called in other countries?), then removing the doilie!

I am but mad north-north-west; when the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.
Hamlet, II. ii

A footnote explains: handsaw = heron-shaw = heron.

(powdered sugar, I think it's called in other countries?),

nope, sorry - we'd call it icing sugar, but I think we're alone amongst the rest of Europe (like that makes a change!)

Good Gawd in plaid spats with bows!
--------------
(When faced with impossible task, deadline, etc)
"Might as well try to piss up a rope."
(To agree with above you say:) "... on City Hall steps."
----------------------------

Well, its an old phrase and I know what it means, but does anyone know where "teaching your grandmother to suck eggs" comes from?

dxb

but does anyone know where "teaching your grandmother to suck eggs" comes from?
___________________________________

not sure, but you'd be as well off doing that as taking coals to Newcastle.

this kind of advice you'd be as well off doing that as taking coals to Newcastle--
and a token* might get you some place..
the red is common NY comment to any information that is considered worthless, or redundant. until the year 2000, when magnetic swipe cards became popular, the subway fare was a token..

My faves:
"May as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb"
"He's not a Messiah. He's a very naughty boy!" (Life of Brian)
"As God is my witness, I'll never..."(fill in the blank).

but does anyone know where "teaching your grandmother to suck eggs" comes from?

This is what I found, from the following site: http://makeashorterlink.com/?Z17F52EB which is a Welsh / English dictionary (of sorts).

Welsh: yr oen yn dysgu'r ddafad i bori ("the lamb teaching the sheep how to graze") said of the inexperienced presuming to know better than experienced people, children who think they know better than the parents; 'teaching one's grandmother to suck eggs'

I'm not sure that this is really explaining much, merely giving another phrase which means a similar thing. However, here's the link for what Quinion has to say: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-tea1.htm which gives a bit more background.

See the shame about having this be a 'new posters' thread is that tsuwm is probably the person who knows the other places to look for answers to these kinda questions, and he probably ain't here looking at this thread. Sigh... tsuwm (or any other 'oldies') if you're reading, willing and able, wanna PM me or dxb with any insights you might have? Ta!

you're doin' just fine without me, hev. (wassamatta, you don't like Quinion's take?)

you're doin' just fine without me, hev. (wassamatta, you don't like Quinion's take?)

's OK... just couldn't think of the other site you usually quote, and was too lazy to go searchin' for it! Thought I'd drag you in here instead! Ha ha ... at least that bit woiked!

you're doin' just fine without me, hev. (wassamatta, you don't like Quinion's take?)

Yeahbutt� I didn't have the OED to quote from... tsuwm sent me this info in PM and I post here with his permission.

"interestingly, the phrase 'suck eggs' turned up ten (10!) hits in the OED.

here is the earliest citation (prolly same as Quinion)
1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 348 You would have me teach my Grandame to suck Eggs."

Thanks tsuwm (and the OED)!

Hmmm - I guess I'm still puzzled by the image of this lady sucking eggs. OK, she enjoyed the taste of raw egg, but why did she want to preserve the shells?

When I was a boy we used to collect birds' eggs. There were rules to this, for example you only took cold eggs and never disturbed the parent birds as they might desert the nest. When we found a cold egg that we needed for our collection we "blew" the egg. This was achieved by piercing a small hole each end of the egg and blowing through the egg to remove the contents (albumen? - cross threading here) leaving the shell intact. This could only be done successfully if the egg was sterile, reinforcing the need to collect cold eggs only. Is this still done today? I don't know; parents are much more protective of young children today so the opportunities may not be there.

dxb

I've blown store bought hen eggs-- I used to start every year at the beginning of lent, and by eastertide, we had 2 or 3 dozen eggs to decorate, and hide (and it didn't matter much if you missed one, since they were just hollow shells.. so you could devise, and we did good hiding places. It didn't matter if you missed one, they were not going to rot or smell bad.

raw eggs and marrow, were considered old age food -- i guess because they are fat and nutrient rich. as for why you would suck eggs, If you are going to eat them raw, it does make sense to suck them from the egg shell, rather than break the shell..

i suppose, as well, if granny was sick in bed, and couldn't sit up, you could pierce the egg, make a small (drinking straw size) hole and an old person could just suck it out.

I think sucking eggs is like sylabubs.. (a drink made of milk, curdled with a sour juice (lemon), wine, and raw eggs.. Sounds horrid doesn't it? but everyone used to love them!) times change!

If I think about it really hard in the head 'til it hurts then i find phrases come out fast as shit off a shovel. One or two really are too cool for school but some are quite nasty pasties. If you are offended, don't blame me, I was dead at the time, I was on the moon.

"May as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb"
__________________________________

Along similar lines, if someone (particularly female) is wearing clothes that are far too young for them, then they are said to look like
'mutton dressed as lamb'
which I've always rather liked. The thought of doing that was something that always terrified my grandmother!

huh? [blank look-e]

Hi dodyskin, and WELCOME aBoard -- thanks for sharing.

er, I think... Why is "shit off a shovel" fast? Is it because it's something you wanna get rid of quickly?

So, Hev, I guess that tells us that we shouldn't teach the "oldies" of the board to go suck eggs!

Since we're talking favourite phrases, this reminds me of one of mine:

"Who's this 'we' white (wo)man, got a frog in your pocket?"

I've always assumed this saying (don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs) came from a time when dental care was less prevalent than now, and sucking eggs was perhaps the only way granny could eat them, and so she was an expert by necessity.

Bingley

Apologies, I meant to type 'like shit off a sweaty shovel'. Another pet hobby of mine is collecting euphemisms for rainy weather. Here are a few of my favourites: it's a sad day in heaven, it's raining cats and dogs, it's persisting it down, like the liquid sunshine, lovely weather for ducks, it's chucking buckets and, of course, it's pissing it down. Can anyone think of some more for my collection?

"doilies" ... I guess the 'dust' is just for alliteration.

wwh, have you ever experienced getting dust off doilies? Now imagine doing it before the days of synthetic thread and washing machines. I can quite see how dusting doilies would be a cause for gnashing of teeth!