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Obscure meaning.

Posted by Stefan on May 05, 2003

In Reply to: Obscure meaning. posted by TheFallen on May 04, 2003

: : Does anyone have any info(origin,meaning)for "game as a pebble)have looked without success.

: The adjective "game" has three meanings, of which two are connected.

: 1a) Brave, confident, resolute - "He's a game little chap".
: 1b) Ready and willing - "I'm game for it".
: 2) Crippled or lame - "He has a game leg" (a variant of game in this sense is "gammy").

: All the above are nowadays slightly archaic.

: I'd bet that the sense of "game" in the expression you quote is the one defined in 1a) above, though I've never seen the phrase before. Pebbles are hard and obdurate little things, so one can see why someone resolute might be described thus.

: Thanks for the reply..It is a saying that is used in British horse racing to complement...Your explanation helps to understand although I am still a little perplexed why pebble would be used for resilience,but I guess it would mean that.

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