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.
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.
ReplyDelete"You can't beat that with a stick."
ReplyDeleteOh 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)
ReplyDeleteIt 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.
ReplyDeleteMM: "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.
ReplyDeleteEllie: "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.