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stranger
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Does anyone know where the phrase "blowing smoke up your (one's) ass" comes from? We all know what it means: flattery or deception, but how in the world does the meaning derive from the literal act?
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Carpal Tunnel
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I dunno; it allus sounded good.
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Carpal Tunnel
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i dunno either, but i do know that there were at one point (pre modern aethestia,) medicinal cigars, that were insert in the recum, and smoke was pumped up (sort of a dry enema) the effect was a numbing, and they were used for amputations and for apendectemies.
tsuwm used to have this great link to antique medical devises, maybe a bellows for blowing smoke up.. is on of the devices on display.
you also might be able to find something on tobaco sites.. its not that obscure.
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Carpal Tunnel
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its not that obscure.jeez, I musta lived some kinda sheltered life, Nu Yoicka!  and welcome to the madhouse, bikerob. Stick around and be amazed at the erudition, the breadth of experience... and the sheer silliness ;)
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Carpal Tunnel
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trouble is Mav, you specialize! a good old generalist like me, why i know very little about any one subject.. but i also know very little about a zillion subjects.. like cigars, and medicine, and blowing smoke.. and sometimes my bits and pieces come together..
i could single handedly power an improbability machine-- how unlikely is it anyone would know all little trivia i do know?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Welcome, bikerrob. Glad to have you aBoard!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Welcome bikerrob - any relation to our bikermom?
I have never heard that expression in my life. It's common?!
Bean, you know more about English Canada - is this heard here?
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addict
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"blowing smoke up your (one's) ass"
Hmmm... Quinion doesn't even have an answer for this one, either. It's a doozy! Guess we'll have to take of troy's word for it, huh?
Anyway, bikerrob, I'm sticking my nose in here to say WELCOME - thanks for your question. Keep 'em coming...
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Carpal Tunnel
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you guys give up sooo easily. let's analyze: a person who is blowing smoke is attempting to deceive. magicians often used smoke and mirrors to deceive. smoke is used to obfuscate in all kinds of situations.
"Will the enemy attack tonight?" "Nah, he's just blowing smoke."
4. In proverbial, figurative, or allusive uses: e. Denoting a clouding or obscuring medium or influence. spec. in Espionage, false information to distract opponents.
1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Fuligo, To speake obscurely: to cast a darke smoke or miste before their eies. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osorius 273b, Why shamed he not to blind the eyes of the people with such smoakes? 1594 T. B. tr. De la Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 333 Their eies dimmed with some smoake of honours. 1603 J. Davies (Heref.) Microcosmos Wks. (Grosart) I. 78/1 The Eyes that+smoke of praise Doe dimme, are feeble-sighted. a1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 167 Truth will not be discerned through the smoak of wrathful expressions. [1859 G. W. Matsell Vocabulum 82 Smoke, humbug; any thing said to conceal the true sentiment of the talker; to cover the intent.] 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 672 Thro' the smoke, The blight of low desires. 1873 Farrar Silence & V. Ser. i. 22 Reading them+through the lurid smoke of sectarian hate. 1966 ‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive xxi. 200 ‘No go. I got myself cornered. One dead.’+ ‘Do you need any smoke out?’ 1977 ‘J. le Carré’ Honourable Schoolboy iv. 91 For smoke+Molly chose a dozen other R's.
f. Denoting fraudulent dealing in the fulfilment of bargains or promises; esp. to sell smoke (after L. fumum vendere), to act dishonestly, to swindle.
1589 Greene Menaphon Wks. (Grosart) VI. 106 You get but a handfull of smoake to the bargaine. 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuff Wks. (Grosart) V. 306 That for your selling smoake you may be courtiers. 1655 tr. Sorel's Com. Hist. Francion iv. 24, I abandoned their conversation, because I found they were but sellers of smoak. 1692 Washington tr. Milton's Def. People Pref., To relieve the necessities of Nature+by selling of Smoke, as thou dost.
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you guys give up sooo easily
Yeahbutt® - it sure drew ya out, huh?  
That's interesting info. (BTW, what's the source?) Gives plenty of info about the blowing smoke bit, but what about where it's blown (in the original question) "up one's a***". Am I asking a prudish question? Am I just naive? Why there?
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Carpal Tunnel
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>BTW, what's the source?
OED2
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Anyway, bikerrob, I'm sticking my nose in here...in the context of the original question, hev, the last thing I'd do is stick my nose in!
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old hand
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old hand
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Dear belM: In English Canada that phrase is "commonly" heard. (OK, it's heard wherever you think it's not rude to hear the word "ass", so between friends, or at the pub, this phrase is all right, but not in school, in church, or in newspapers!)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Oh, I dunno, didn't someone famous in the Bible ride into town on his ass?
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Hey,tsuwm: most of those quotes don't know their eies from their arse.
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stranger
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i'm new to this, but it's fun to see all the responses. on your advice, i went to google and searched "rectal smoke" and got 14,000+ listings (to be honest there were zero listings for the 2 words together, but separately a whole gob. anyway, this web site is a paper on rectal analgesia which among other practices mentions the use of tobacco smoke up one's ass for analgesic effect.
http://www.asahq.org/NEWSLETTERS/1998/09_98/Develop_0998.html
hey why does it say "stranger" under my name? i don't remember putting that in my profile.
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