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Can't died in a corn field - pure guesswork

Posted by The Fallen on January 31, 2002

In Reply to: Can't died in a corn field posted by Susan Z on January 31, 2002

: I was wondering the meaning and origin of "Can't died in a cornfield". My mother used to tell me this whenever I said I can't do it.....

Re meaning, I'd assume something along the lines of "if you don't at least try, you'll always be bound to fail". As to origin, and this is a freely admitted stretch, I wonder if it's biblical? My scriptural knowledge is rusty, but didn't Cain the crop-minder kill Abel the herdsman in a cornfield? I therefore wonder if it's a far-fetched pun, with the "can't" being a sound-alike for the opposite of "can" and therefore meaning Abel. It almost sounds plausible in some seriously skewed way... is "can't" pronounced "cain't" in some States?

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