"I'll keep my ear peeled"
Bob Cunningham
After the recent discussion here about the pronunciation
switch typified by "barn in a born" that is said to be a
feature of Southern Utah speech, I mentioned it to a lady I
know who with her husband is taking serious steps toward
making Southern Utah her new home.
She found the matter quite interesting and said "I'll keep
my ear peeled next time we're there".
"Keep my ear piled" is of course an amusing play on the
common phrase "keep my eye peeled", but our conversation
turned to wondering why people say the latter. Why would
anyone peel their eye under any circumstances? Can anyone
here shed any light on the source and or or the rationale of
this strange saying, with its depiction of excruciatingly
painful physical abuse?
(Coinage of "and or or", as a logical and more acceptable
replacement for the oft deprecated "and/or", copyright 2006
by Woody Wordpecker.)
Wordsmith
I'll give it a whack. The saying is not referencing the eye per se.
It's the eye*lid* it's playing
on. Open lid: peeled; closed lid: covered. See?
W : )
Father Ignatius
"Bob Cunningham" <exw...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:fem1029dnuquebjvc...@4ax.com...
> "Keep my ear piled" is of course an amusing play on the
> common phrase "keep my eye peeled", but our conversation
> turned to wondering why people say the latter. Why would
> anyone peel their eye under any circumstances? Can anyone
> here shed any light on the source and or or the rationale of
> this strange saying, with its depiction of excruciatingly
> painful physical abuse?
This term is derived from the BrE "peeler", an early slang term for a police
officer. It is derived from the name of Sir Robert Peel, their organiser,
and from their earliest function, which was to pound the beat and stay on
the lookout for trouble.
Donna Richoux
> "Keep my ear piled" is of course an amusing play on the
> common phrase "keep my eye peeled", but our conversation
> turned to wondering why people say the latter. Why would
> anyone peel their eye under any circumstances? Can anyone
> here shed any light on the source and or or the rationale of
> this strange saying, with its depiction of excruciatingly
> painful physical abuse?
Evan Morris, Word Detective, has:
...we were more interested in the derivation of the
term "keep your eyes peeled...." Yuck. Maybe it just
means to keep them open but where did it come from?
-- Diane Dudley Vaughan, Morton Grove, Il.
... Regarding "eyes peeled," it's a tossup whether
that phrase is "yuckier" than its predecessor, "Keep
your eyes skinned." In any case, they are both
distinctively American coinages dating to the
mid-19th century and meaning simply to stay very
alert. To the extent that it means anything
literally (do we really want to talk about this?),
the phrase probably refers to keeping your eyelids
open ...
--
Best -- Donna Richoux
Joe Fineman
> "Keep my ear piled" is of course an amusing play on the common
> phrase "keep my eye peeled",
Likewise, I have heard "to earball" = to give a listen to, by analogy
with "to eyeball" = to take a look at.
--
--- Joe Fineman jo...@verizon.net
||: Try to make the next to last mistake. :||
Adrian Bailey
> switch typified by "barn in a born" that is said to be a
> feature of Southern Utah speech, I mentioned it to a lady I
> know who with her husband is taking serious steps toward
> making Southern Utah her new home.
>
> She found the matter quite interesting and said "I'll keep
> my ear peeled next time we're there".
>
> "Keep my ear piled" is of course an amusing play on the
> common phrase "keep my eye peeled", but our conversation
> turned to wondering why people say the latter. Why would
> anyone peel their eye under any circumstances? Can anyone
> here shed any light on the source and or or the rationale of
> this strange saying, with its depiction of excruciatingly
> painful physical abuse?
It's a metaphor. Opening one's eyes is like peeling a fruit.
Adrian
R J Valentine
...
} She found the matter quite interesting and said "I'll keep
} my ear peeled next time we're there".
You sure it wasn't "I'll keep my ear pealed ..." [= MartE "tinniendum"]?
--
rjv
Robert Bannister
Ouch. You must find waking up painful.
--
Rob Bannister