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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Etymology #2848 05/22/00 09:53 AM 05/22/00 09:53 AM Joined: May 2000 Posts: 2 New Delhi, India S Sushmita OP stranger Sushmita   OP stranger S 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 Re: Etymology #2849 05/22/00 04:54 PM 05/22/00 04:54 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." Re: Etymology #2850 05/22/00 05:23 PM 05/22/00 05:23 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 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 Re: Etymology #2851 05/22/00 06:30 PM 05/22/00 06:30 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. Re: Etymology #2852 05/22/00 07:13 PM 05/22/00 07:13 PM Joined: May 2000 Posts: 112 Auckland, New Zealand D David108 member David108   member D 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? Re: Etymology #2853 05/22/00 07:25 PM 05/22/00 07:25 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. :-) to my truckling claque... #2854 05/23/00 01:22 PM 05/23/00 01:22 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,538 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! "What's another word for Thesaurus?" -Steven Wright Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. (have been consolidated into a single forum above) ------   Words from medicine   Beheading words   Meta-words   Words from classical mythology   Animal Safari   Words with unusual etymologies   Eponyms or words derived from people's names.   Loanwords from German   English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message View Homepage Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message Follow User Show Forum Posts View Profile Send Private Message View Homepage Follow User Show Forum Posts Forum Statistics Forums16 Topics13,883 Posts224,836 Members9,056 Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011 Newest Members Nikki1221, Veezkneez, LOC, Luna, wordie 9056 Registered Users Who's Online Now 0 registered members (), 173 guests, and 3 spiders. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters(30 Days) wofahulicodoc 50 LukeJavan8 24 A C Bowden 13 Wordsmith 1 LOC 1 Top Posters(All Time) wwh 13,858 Faldage 13,803 Jackie 11,613 tsuwm 10,538 LukeJavan8 9,158 wofahulicodoc 7,968 Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210 AnnaStrophic 6,511 Wordwind 6,296 of troy 5,400

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