phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Rat stompers

Posted by R. Berg on September 28, 2008 at 19:04

In Reply to: Rat stompers posted by RRC on September 27, 2008 at 18:18:

: : I coined the phrase "rat stompers" in 1965 in Delta Utah, referring to shoes or boots. I got my high school buddies to stop the car at night on a lonely highway when a rat appeared in the headlights, then get out and try to stomp on it. No one ever succeeded - the kangaroo rats seemed to enjoy this sport, remaining on the highway and jumping around between our feet until it got tired. As editor, I published an article describing this new sport in the High School Newspaper, and began referring to shoes as "rat stompers". Has anyone heard of a prior coining of the phrase "rat stompers", as in "I see you are wearing some fine new rat stompers, Alice."?

: There's a pair of shoes in the game World of Warcraft that are called Rat Stompers. Most 25 hits in Google for "rat stompers" seem to refer to those, and a few are not even to shoes. So you may have coined the phrase, but it doesn't seem to be popular (yet). I don't suppose you know anyone that works for Blizzard Entertainment (makers of World of Warcraft)?

: Pointy-toed cowboy boots are often referred to as roach stompers (or cockroach killers, etc.) because the point can get them even in the corners of the room.

I sure hope you've changed your treatment of small animals since 1965. That was a disgusting story. I'm glad the rats got away from the sadists. ~rb

© 1997 – 2024 Phrases.org.uk. All rights reserved.