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Joined: Jan 2001
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member
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 137 |
a steel fist in a velvet glove
Is that the opposite of an ironclad marshmellow?
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 137
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member
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 137 |
: An iron anvil should have a hammer of feathers
And what's that supposed to mean?
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 65
journeyman
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OP
journeyman
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 65 |
I seriously have NO idea! I have not even come across it before and there's nothing from the internet searches that I've done.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,546 Likes: 1
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,546 Likes: 1 |
And then there's that lovely line from Man of La Manchathat goes
"Whether the stone hits the pitcher, or the pitcher hits the stone,
it's going to be bad for the pitcher!"
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
it's going to be bad for the pitcher!"
Hey, Faldage, youse got some splainin ter do afore that game on Friday ;)
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,546 Likes: 1
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,546 Likes: 1 |
steel fist in a velvet glove et al
Aren't all these just variations on Teddy Roosevelt's "Speak softly but carry a big stick" ? (Or perhaps his is the variant?) (Or perhaps the sentiment has arisen in various forms independently but repeatedly?)
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
I'm not sure WOF They seem to start from a different proposition and mean different things. I may be misinterpreting but here is what I understood the expressions to mean:
A steel fist in a velvet glove.
I think this expression is akin to "you get more flies with honey than with vinagre". People will respond better if you deal with them kindly, so a hard/tough person (the fist of steel) will get more done if he directs with a velvet glove (the honey).
Speak softly but carry a big stick seems more like a tactical expression. There is no need to yell when you've got a arsenal to back you up. So if you speak softly, you sound more rational and maybe things will go your way BUT some people don't want to listen to reason so it is important to have that arsenal.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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afore that game on Friday
Usually it's when the pitcher hits the batter; it's bad for the batter and not because he's given out LBW.
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
And then there are steel magnolias...
Blossom regards,
WarmWind
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
I have heard a steel fist in a velvet glove-- good old maggie (thatcher) was called that early on in her
career,Later on an opposition party member called her Attila the Hen.
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