Cached
pages for catchphrases
Posted by R. Berg on
January 26, 2002 In Reply to: It's better
than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick posted by Word Camel on January
25, 2002
: I have always wondered about the origin of this phrase.
I came tantalizingly close to finding it a few years through the magic off Boolean
logic and the Internet. I followed a link to a page entitled " Ancient Celtic
Sayings", only to find that it was no longer there. I did look at the previous
discussion of this in the archives:
: : Eric Partridge, "A Dictionary of Catch
Phrases American and British," mentions ". . . poke in the eye . . ." as an Australian
item in a group of similar phrases of which he says most seem to have originated
late in the 19th century. This group includes "better than a kick in the ass with
a frozen boot" (Canadian) and "better than a slap across the belly with a wet
fish" (US).
: I am still haunted byt the mising web page and wondering if anyone
has come across another explanation that might deny or confirm its "Ancient Celtic"
origins.
: Many thanks,
: Camel
If Google has a retired page stored on its
server, you can call it up by clicking "Cached" just below the description of
the page. There's another site that serves as an archive of old pages; I don't
know its URL.
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