tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461874.post7419507192000116956..comments2024-03-01T03:33:40.642-05:00Comments on Pilgrims at Oak Ridge: Some of my favorite wrong sayings.Aubreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07821592360402715054noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461874.post-44371935679957238542009-12-30T14:30:08.142-05:002009-12-30T14:30:08.142-05:00Emilie - veeeery interesting. I stand corrected.Emilie - veeeery interesting. I stand corrected.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06716616795672911379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461874.post-21785445930797443822009-12-30T13:37:08.368-05:002009-12-30T13:37:08.368-05:00So - I've always heard "Smart as a Whip&q...So - I've always heard "Smart as a Whip" . . and you're right. It makes no sense. So I googled it and this is what I got as the origin:<br />SMART AS A WHIP - "Bright, clever, alert. A whip 'smarts' and operates with snap. In the days of horse-drawn vehicles one was often able to urge on the horse merely by flicking or cracking a whip near the animal, and if that failed, you could be sure of results by seeing that the flick or crack touched him lightly. The transfer must have arisen from that widespread exercise. An expression in use early in the 19th century was 'smart as a steel trap,' which does indeed operate smartly too, but by 1860 the 'Mountaineer' in Salt Lake City was printing: 'Mr. A___ was a prompt and successful businessman, 'smart as a whip,' as the Yankees say." From "Dictionary of Cliches" by James Rogers (Wings Books, Originally New York: Facts on File Publications, 1985).Emiliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10027254504582742141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461874.post-19109030457086011182009-12-29T17:19:59.529-05:002009-12-29T17:19:59.529-05:00Back in ol' Blighty people still say, "Th...Back in ol' Blighty people still say, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." And, on occasion, I, too, can be found sporting this very saying. <br /><br />I found this an interesting post, as this is something I find tremendously irksome (the misuse of phrases...not your blogging). One of my biggest goat-getting misuses is the expression, "I could care less." Because that often communicates the very opposite of what the speaker means to convey. What they are going for, and missing, is "I couldn't care less" which tells me that this is a situation about which they could not care any less. Whereas when they say, "I could care less" what hey are communicating to me is that they could indeed care less about the situation then what they currently do. <br /><br />The world needs its pedants...ASBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09195415264577118083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21461874.post-28424592070209582212009-12-29T15:41:14.485-05:002009-12-29T15:41:14.485-05:00I haven't visited your blog in a long time. (...I haven't visited your blog in a long time. (Facebook sort of takes over...) I am so happy to hear that you are pregnant! How exciting. God's blessings for a healthy pregnancy.Totallyscrappyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13617099975079979822noreply@blogger.com