--- Doc <doc_at_mdrconsult.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 28 Apr 2002, Peter C. Wallace wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 28 Apr 2002, Doc wrote:
>
> > > Dude.
> > > Fire up your favorite Open Source browser. Go to
> > > http://www.google.com
> > > Do a search for this (quotation marks included):
> > >
> > > "Teach Grandpa to suck eggs"
> >
> > BTW Google doesn't find the quoted string...
I got one hit with this...
"teaching grandpa to suck eggs"
And a bunch more by using the exact phraseology I heard growing up...
"teach your grandma to suck eggs"
With Google, spelling (and precise word selection) counts.
> Argh.
> Once again, what I thought was a universal expression turns out to be
> a Texasism.
I would count it as an American Colloquialism, but I don't think of the
phrase as uniquely Texan.
> I was 35 when I found that the entire English-speaking
> world doesn't "put stuff up" (put stuff away).
I don't think we "put stuff up" (except for curtains, wallpaper and
posters ;-), but here, we talk about cars and dishes that "need washed"
(as opposed to "needs wash*ing*" or "needs *to be* washed").
> "teaching Grandpa [or Grandma] to suck eggs" is analogous to
> explaining long division to a physicist.
> Or to explaining S/390 technology to Sridhar....
Or telling Tony how to solder...
-ethan
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Received on Mon Apr 29 2002 - 16:49:00 BST