What's holding up the window washer

Posted by Smokey Stover on March 02, 2006

In Reply to: What's holding up the window washer posted by Brian from Shawnee on March 02, 2006

: : Can somebody tell me what this sentence means? "What's holding up the window washer?" One of my students asked me about it and it's the first time i've heard this phrase. I told her it might be some sort of idiomatic expression but i'm not sure about its meaning. can somebody help me, please? thank you!

: I'm not familiar with this as an idiomatic expression, but I can think of two different meanings. It could mean, "Where is the window washer? I wonder what the delay is." Or it could mean, "The window washer seems to be suspended in mid-air. I wonder what is keeping him from falling."

: In the first example "hold up" means "delay". In the second, "hold up" means "suspend" or "keep from falling".

Or it could be an example of the type of humor associated with boys in the lower grades. "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" The pun is the point. SS