| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 844.1 | No thanks | POWDML::SATOW | | Thu Nov 29 1990 18:29 | 7 |
| > Is this of recent vintage? Is is unique to Dec?
Could be that it's of recent vintage, and rather ominous. Turning over your
badge is something you do when you (are) terminate(d). So "bet your badge"
could be an alliterative euphemism for "bet your job".
Clay
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| 844.2 | | TKOV51::DIAMOND | This note is illegal tender. | Fri Nov 30 1990 02:35 | 10 |
| >Is this of recent vintage?
Yes.
>Is is unique to Dec?
If it goes away soon, it will be unique to Nov. - - - - - - - ---
MODEL::CIUFFINI "God must be a Gemini..." 10 lines 29-NOV-1990 15:51
>Turning over your badge is something you do when you (are) terminate(d).
No wonder the guy installing SCSI cables was turning his badge over
and over again.
|
| 844.3 | | SQM::TRUMPLER | Help prevent truth decay. | Fri Nov 30 1990 18:12 | 2 |
| The phrase probably originated in the law enforcement community.
After all, they've had badges for some time...
|
| 844.4 | "You bet-um your wampum!" | STRATA::RUDMAN | Always the Black Knight. | Mon Jul 22 1991 20:24 | 8 |
| Now that you've bet you badge, would
"you bet your derby"?
I speculate it originally had something to do with horse racing in
Britain, but I have no real facts. Anyone?
Don
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| 844.5 | Nah. | SMURF::SMURF::BINDER | Simplicitas gratia simplicitatis | Tue Jul 23 1991 15:58 | 5 |
| I'll bet my bippy that betting one's derby more likely has something to
do with the hat of that name. (The derby is sometimes mistakenly
called a homburg; the latter has a creased crown.)
-d
|
| 844.6 | bippy� | MARVIN::KNOWLES | Dotting jots and crossing tittles | Tue Jul 23 1991 17:14 | 12 |
| I agree with .5 about the probability, although it's conceivable
that the naming of the Derby hat itself has got something to do with
horse-racing.
Whether or not horse-racing has anything to do with it, I suspect that
the phrase `I'll eat my hat' had something to do with it (`I'll bet
my Derby' being just a particularized variation).
Of course, there's the possibility that Crown Derby tableware... nah.
b
|
| 844.7 | | POWDML::COHEN_R | | Tue Jul 23 1991 18:09 | 21 |
|
Well, I don't have an OED nearby, however, I think that the
previous note is closer to the mark.
In the nineteenth century outrageous wagers were made during
the heat of political races. There are numerous drawings showing
men pulling wagons in the streets as a result of losing one
of these bets. Eating one's hat was a common gamble, but this
was the age of straw hats, panamas and boaters. It would seem
a logical evolutionary move to bet one's hat.
Even in our era (well, my era, at least), there used to be a
cigarette commercial on television which displayed a straw hat
with a bite out of it ("Show me a cigarette with more taste and
I'll eat my hat!") I can't remember the brand, but I do recall
both men and women in gustatory rapture. (Much like all Tarryton
smokers had black eyes and Lark people kept snipping their filters
in half -- "Winston tastes good like a cigarette had oughta" --
Granny on the "Beverly Hillbillies" when R.J. Reynolds ruled the
waves.)
|
| 844.8 | Telling my age? | SMURF::CALIPH::binder | Simplicitas gratia simplicitatis | Tue Jul 23 1991 20:55 | 3 |
| The bitten boater was one of Lucky Strike's ad campaigns, I think.
-d
|
| 844.9 | Etymology | SHALOT::ANDERSON | As Seen on TV | Thu Jul 25 1991 23:43 | 3 |
| Both forms of derby are from Edward Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby.
-- Cliff
|
| 844.10 | | MARVIN::KNOWLES | Dotting jots and crossing tittles | Fri Jul 26 1991 16:52 | 6 |
| And what was the 12th Earl of Derby's relation to Lord (not sure of the
rank) Sandwich? I think we may have discovered the root of the
expression `I'll eat my sandwich'.
b
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| 844.11 | | HEART::MACHIN | | Fri Jul 26 1991 17:28 | 5 |
|
...not to mention the retort: "You can't eat your Sandwich and wear it'.
Richard.
|