stone the crows
JGendar
Can anyone out there tell me what the expression "stone the crows" means?
Thanks
femal...@sprintmail.com
JGendar wrote:
>
> Can anyone out there tell me what the expression "stone the crows" means?
I have always assumed (from context) that it meant something along the
lines of "Well, I'll be damned," "Shiver me timbers," or (my personal
favorite) Captain Hook's "By carbonate of soda!" But I'd be happy to
learn from others if I am mistaken.
Hornswoggled,
femalewits
* * * * * * * * * *
Expect a most agreeable letter, for not being overburdened with subject
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beginning to end.
-- Jane Austen, letter of January 21, 1801
Robert M. Wilson
In article <19971028231...@ladder02.news.aol.com>,
jge...@aol.com (JGendar) wrote:
>Can anyone out there tell me what the expression "stone the crows" means?
An expletive, possibly a euphemism for other words beginning with s(h).
Probably originated in Australia where a fuller version was (is?) "stone the
crows and starve the lizards." Toss in "bloody" a couple of times for true
local colour.
In close similarity is, "Well, stone me." Perhaps we could speculate on a
Biblical origin, though that seems unlikely for 19th C. Australia.
Geoff Butler
JGendar <jge...@aol.com> writes:
>Can anyone out there tell me what the expression "stone the crows" means?
Its origins are nautical.
In the days of the Spanish Armada, the Scots sided with the Spanish on
the normal grounds that anyone at war with the English should be given
all the help they needed.
Scotland is a fairly chill country, and the Scots sailors were not at
all comfortable in the heat and humidity of the Spanish coast, where
they spent a great deal of time preparing for battle. They referred to
the conditions there as "stewin' the crews", which soon became a general
expression of discontent.
The English heard this phrase and assumed that the Scots sailors were
saying "stone the crows" in a broad Lallans accent. In fact, of course,
this was completely misguided, because the Scots Navy was almost
exclusively made up of Highlanders.
-ler
Dale Williams
Thomas Schenk wrote:
>
> Peter Moylan wrote:
> >
> > JGendar <jge...@aol.com> wrote:
> > >Can anyone out there tell me what the expression "stone the crows" means?
> >
> > of astonishment", and does not give any hint as to the
> > origins. It means something like "Well, knock me down with
> > a feather" and similar expressions.
> >
> > It used to be a common Australian colloquial phrase, but
> > nowadays it sounds distinctly old-fashioned. Indeed, it
> > sounded old-fashioned to me even in the 1950s. I haven't
> > heard anyone say it for years.
>
>
Agreed it's very old-fashioned, and always had something of a rural
tinge. I know some older people still using it in New Zealand, but not
many.
As well as an exclamation of astonishment (very akin to the ?Dorset?
exclamation of "Bugger Oi down dead!") it may be used when the speaker
is exasperated or protesting, as in :
"I voted Conservative, but stone the crows, those so-and-sos have not
performed up to expectations."
As for "starve the lizards" - yes, I've heard that used more recently in
exactly the same ways as "stone the crows", but when used by younger
people it is definitely self-conscious satire. It was popularised by
Barry Humphries in his "Bazza McKenzie" comic strip in the satirical
magazine Private Eye. Humphries used to manufacture many so-called
Australianisms, and the origins of any such should be examined with
care.
Incidentally, New Zealand does not have crows, and our lizards are more
modest than their extravagant Aussie counterparts (with the exception of
our tuatara, whch has three eyes).
DAW
John Nurick
>In the days of the Spanish Armada, the Scots sided with the Spanish on
>the normal grounds that anyone at war with the English should be given
>all the help they needed.
Don't you mean "needed all the help they could get"?
John
I dislocated my e-mail address, and the doctor says it will be
six months before I can see a specialist.
RReming327
In article <19971028231...@ladder02.news.aol.com>,
jge...@aol.com (JGendar) queries:
>Can anyone out there tell me what the expression "stone the crows" means?
>Thanks
The same thing that "Shit fire and save matches!" means.
You're welcome
RRemington
___________________________________________________
Johnson: Well, we had a good talk.
Boswell: Yes, Sir; you tossed and gored several persons.
James Follett
In article <636aof$b...@seagoon.newcastle.edu.au>
pe...@ee.newcastle.edu.au "Peter Moylan" writes:
>It used to be a common Australian colloquial phrase, but
>nowadays it sounds distinctly old-fashioned. Indeed, it
>sounded old-fashioned to me even in the 1950s. I haven't
>heard anyone say it for years.
Ray Simpson and Alan Galton were using it in their Tony Hancock
scripts well into the 1960s.
`A quart! You mean I have to donate a whole quart of blood! Stone
the crows! That's an armful.' Or similar wording...
--
James Follett -- novelist (You have but one skin, so be fiercely proud of its
colour; you have but one first language, so be fiercely proud of its richness;
you have but one culture, so be fiercely proud of its heritage. And feel no
guilt for the crimes of others. http://www.davew.demon.co.uk )
Conrad Clifton
Dale Williams <word...@actrix.gen.nz> wrote in article
<3458E4...@actrix.gen.nz>...
> Thomas Schenk wrote:
> >
>
> As for "starve the lizards" - yes, I've heard that used more recently in
> exactly the same ways as "stone the crows", but when used by younger
Oh dear, I've just replied to "stone the crows" and omitted its sister
expression "starve the lizards" for brevity's sake. My apologies.
Australians have observed that lizards thrive in harsh country where one
would not expect animals to survive. To starve a lizard would, like stoning
a crow, entail unreasonable difficulty.
Conrad Clifton
Thomas Schenk <tmsc...@pol.net> wrote in article
<3456C0...@pol.net>...
> Peter Moylan wrote:
> >
> > JGendar <jge...@aol.com> wrote:
> > >Can anyone out there tell me what the expression "stone the crows"
means?
> >
Australian crows display surprising skill at avoiding bullets, arrows,
stones, etc., in fact, any missiles with their names on them. Because of
the difficulty of hitting a crow with a stone, Australians consider an
unreasonable request to be equivalent to being told to stone a crow.