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Up to the licklog

Posted by Baceseras on February 27, 2008 at 18:48:

In Reply to: Up to the licklog posted by Frances Fendler on February 27, 2008 at 18:05:

: What is the meaning and derivation of "up to the licklog"? It means something like "up to the neck" -- an abundance of. But I have no idea what a "licklog" is.

A licklog is a salt-lick, especially one framed in a log or felled tree. Herders set up licks for the convenience of cattle or horses (the animals need salt in their diet). The phrase you cited appears to be a fragment and misconstruction of "stand up to [one's] licklog", which means to stand firm. In pioneer times grazing land was unfenced and used by many herds in common; a herdsman occasionally needed determination to keep his cattle at the lick when a neighboring herdsman was impatient to have the use of it.

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