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To get the wrong end of the stick
Posted by Masakim on October 13, 2002
In Reply to: To get the wrong end of the stick posted by ESC on October 13, 2002
: : Does anyone know the origin of the phrase "To get the wrong end of the stick", meaning, to misunderstand something?
: I haven't found it in my reference books yet, but my understanding of the phrase -- get the wrong (or sh*tty) end of the stick -- is to get a raw deal.
*wrong end of the stick, the* A misunderstanding
or distortion, as in _We ordered a "full quart" of rice, but the clerk got hold
of the wrong end of the stick and sent us "four quarts" instead_. This expression
refers to a walking stick held upside down, which does not help a walker much.
It originated in the 1400s as _worse end of the staff_ and changed to the current
wording only in the late 1800s. Also see SHORT END OF THE STICK.
*short end
of the stick, the* The inferior part, the worse side of an unequal deal. For example,
_Helen got the short end of the stick when she was assigned another week of night
duty_. The precise analogy in this term, first recorded in the 1930s, has been
lost. Some believe it comes from _worse end of the staff_, used since the early
1500s, which in the mid-1800s became, in some instances, short or ****ty end of
the stick, allegedly from a stick poked up one's rectum by another in command
of the situation. Others believe it alludes to fighting with sticks, where having
a shorter stick is a disadvantage. Also see WRONG END OF THE STICK.
From The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer
--------
*get
hold of the wrong end of the stick* _coll_ to misunderstand something completely:
_I read in the newspaper that the unemployment figures had improved but it has
got hold of the wrong end of the stick -- unemployment is still increasing_ [V]
Compare *get hold of the right end of the stick* to understand something: _'Did
he tell you his whole story -- about his shooting the Portuguese Count and everything?
. 'Shooting a Portuguese Count? Are you sure you've got hold of the right end
of the stick, old boy?'_ (Evelyn Waugh)
From _Longman Dictionary of English
Idioms_
- To get the wrong end of the stick
Shae 10/14/02
- To get the wrong end of the stick Ed Stansell 10/22/02
- To get the wrong end of the stick Ed Stansell 10/22/02
