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It's a corker

Posted by LNEIL on November 23, 2004

In Reply to: It's a corker posted by James Briggs on November 23, 2004

: : I'm pretty sure this is an Aussie saying. It's actually rather an old fashioned one these days. But nonetheless, I used it today when someone told me a joke that just cracked me up - I said, "that's a corker" - which means, that's a ripper, a beauty, excellent, etc.

: : This lead to us discussing the origin of the saying. AND lead to us arriving at the realisation that we didn't have a clue.

: : Does anyone else?

: I think we did have a clue! This is what I gained from the site a while ago. However, it didn't clarify why the word 'corker' was used in this context. Thus, perhaps, we didn't have a clue after all!
: As follows:
: In Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, A-G by J. E. Lighter (Random House, New York, 1994), it says:
: "CORKER n. 1. A hard or finishing blow; (hence) (obs.) that which settles an issue.2.a) a stiff drink of liquor.b) a person or a thing of extraordinary size, effectiveness, quality, etc; a remarkable person or thing.c) an attractive young woman; knock-out. 3. Baseball, a fly ball."
: Thus it seems that "corker," used as a thing of effectiveness or quality, gave rise to the other uses. First recorded in 1891.
[]
From an old bus song I once sang. Sang to a tune
that I think was from some pop tune from years
of yore.
*chorus
MY GALS A CORKER
SHES A NEW YORKER
I BUY HER EVERY THING
TO KEEP HER IN STYLE
*
SHES GOT A HEAD OF HAIR
JUST LIKE A GRIZZLY BEAR
THATS WHERE MY MONEY
GO OH OH,S
*
chorus
*
SHE'S GOT TWO PAIR OF LIPS
JUST LIKE POTATOE CHIPS
THATS WHERE MY MONEY
GO OH OH,S
*
chorus
*
continued individually ceative
lyrics being piped up with.
*
A lot of old folk knowledge is still,
I think, preserved in unpublished,
tunes like 'bus songs'.
2k4nov23tue11:30,lnb

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