phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Egg sucking

Posted by ESC on June 07, 2000

In Reply to: Egg sucking posted by ESC on June 06, 2000

: : "I'll break him from sucking eggs". Do you know the origin and meaning? Also, "Dry as a Bone"

: An "egg-sucking dog" was a very bad thing to have on a farm. So to keep a pooch from stealing eggs, farmers would put pepper in an egg and leave it for the dog to eat. And that's all I know about that.

PS. While looking for another phrase, I found this in Listening to America: An Illustrated History of Words and Phrases from Our Lively and Splendid Past by Stuart Berg Flexner under a chapter called "Sissy! Crybaby! Yellowbelly!: "By the 1870s some of these words were being applied not only to boys but to young men; it was the same generation and some of the 'crybabies' of the 1850s grew into the 'goody-goodies' of the 70s. Thus we have: crybaby, 1851. you'll suck eggs!, 1860s..."

© 1997 – 2024 Phrases.org.uk. All rights reserved.