Play my thunder

Posted by ESC on December 12, 2004

In Reply to: What does it mean? THANKS ESC posted by Keith Rennie on December 11, 2004

: : : : 1.empty vessels make the most sound.
: : : : 2.he stole his thunder.
: : : : 3.she's thirty if she's a day?

: : : 1. Similar to "an empty wagon makes the most noise." My interpretation -- a person who doesn't work as hard or isn't as useful tends to be the one who complains the most.

: : : 2. Took attention away from someone else. "John was pleased that he got all B's on his report card. But his sister announced that she had straight A's and stole his thunder." (I am guessing that relates to a myth the theft of a hammer from Thor the god of thunder. www.pitt.edu/ ~dash/thrym.html )

: : : 3. If she is even a day old (and obviously she is), then she has to be at least 30 years old.

: The Thor response typifies why I love this site. Thanks ESC for the inspired guess.
: --Keith

And to show that I'm a good support, here's some information on the theater theory:

STEAL ONE'S THUNDER
Q -- From Anon: "Could you shed any light on the origins of to steal one's thunder?"
A -- There's a rather splendid story about the origin of this most colourful phrase. We know about it because it was recounted by the eighteenth-century actor and playwright Colley Cibber, in his Lives of the Poets, and was also mentioned by Alexander Pope in his poem The Dunciad. The story goes that John Dennis, an actor-manager of the early part of the eighteenth century, had invented a machine to make stage thunder, which he employed in his own play, Appius and Virginia, performed at Drury Lane Theatre in London in 1709. Mr Dennis, whatever his inventive gifts, was a very bad playwright; the play was not a success and was soon taken off in favour of a production of Macbeth by another company. Dennis went to the opening night and was astonished to hear his thunder machine being used. He leapt to his feet and shouted, "That is my thunder, by God; the villains will play my thunder but not my play!". Like so many successful sayings, it has subsequently been refined and sharpened.

Play my thunder ESC 12/December/04