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Knocked up

Posted by Smokey Stover on September 27, 2005

In Reply to: Knocked up posted by ESC on September 25, 2005

: : : : : "Knocked up". In Australia this phrase is not used as a euphemism for Pregnant. It is used in the sense of being out of breath usually after hard exercise such as a game of rugby or a solid workout in the gym. "Knock" is however used as a euphemism for a Nookie or sexual intercourse - straight or gay.
: : : : "Knocked up" has been used in a similar sense in Britain since the mid-19th century, to mean not so much "out of breath" but "tired, jaded, worn out". You can be "knocked-up" by a long ordeal, or a bout of illness. (e.g. "You look a bit knocked-up; are you OK?")

: : : More information in the archives: www.phrases.org.uk bulletin_board 13 messages 350.html

: : I read, I think, every word in that long thread about knockers of just about every description. I did not notice any discussion of apple knockers. Not that they are relevant to the question here. They concern knocking down rather than knocking up. SS

: OK. What is an apple knocker?

The N.Y. State Museum used to put out a magazine called "The Conservationist," which had some interesting tales. It sometimes mentioned apple-knockers, and in one issue the editor noted that apple-knockers was a sort of nickname for upstate New Yorkers. Last year I wrote to the State Museum to ask if that was really true. They replied that they had never heard of apple-knockers. A year later they e-mailed again and said that they had Googled apple-knockers and found a reference from Michigan (which also has apples). But the man from the Museum vigorously denied knowing of any actual apple-knocking ever having gone on in New York State. Apple-knocking is a method of harvesting apples by knocking them to the ground with long sticks.

There are, of course, tons of phrases with "apple," and I see that apple-butter is still on sale in the supermarket. (It used to be in many lunchboxes in my childhood.) Two years ago I saw, on TV, the Miss Apple-Bottom U.S.A. contest. And on the VH1 channel there was a report that mentioned apple-breasts. Apparently they are much more in demand than either grapefruit breasts or apricot breasts. SS

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