Today, March 28, is "Something on a Stick Day". That's what it says on my 2007 "Naked" calendar, and after independant verification I think it should be widely announced! Actually it caught my eye because it was part of one of my mother's very colorful expressions. If someone thought they were a little better than you, kind of high-falutey, posh, conceited, vain, or overly prissy, she would say "Boy! She really thinks she is something on a stick!!"Who can tell exactly where certain slang comes from, but my mother, having been born in 1919, lived through the time when the ice cream cone was a new thing... and a Kewpie doll was a real prize... so if the item was already pretty special, and then you sell it on a stick (or in a cone or a bun, etc.)... then WOW!
Another of her "stick" expressions was "You can't beat that with a stick." Probably not the same stick. These are expressions from very low-tech times when folks had more face time and didn't text each other.
5 comments:
Here in Minnesota for the yearly state fair they always come up with the most unusual food served on a stick. We're just talking the ordinary or likely stuff either. This past summers best was "hot dish" on a stick. Never did try it.
"You can't beat that with a stick."
Oh yeah. That was on my mother's list too.
Stick food story: Growing up in rural Eastern Ohio, our big deal was going to Martins Ferry, a good 20 or 30 minutes away, to Shutlers IGA with mom, or Isaly's for ice cream or whatever. Shutlers used to sell this delicacy called, "City Chicken."
All my life I thought it was pigeon on a stick.
Thanks for a fun post -- sure ain't nothin' to shake a stick at.
The stick expression used here is "better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick." (with slight local variations)
It can be used to express both pleasure and disappointment, but more likely used to express satisfaction or pleasure in a given situation.
For example:
Dad comes home and says - " I won $50 at the races today." and the reply from whoever he is addressing could be - "Well, that is better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick!" (sometimes the word "blunt" is used instead of "birnt")
It sounds funny to describe it, but it was, and still is, in some places in australia quite a common expression.
Practically everything can be seen as "better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick" which is why it always makes me laugh when people use it.
MM: "City Chicken" -- can't say I've heard of that one, I would assume it's the same thing, except I guess people don't eat pigeons? Maybe they do.
Ellie: "Hot dish on a stick", now that sounds very Minnesota to me just because of listening to Garrison Keillor. I don't remember hearing the term "hot dish" growing up, but it's a casserole, right?
BB: I've always heard "Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick" but not burnt or blunt. Not sure which option would be least preferable.
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