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"All teeth and trousers" -- Origin?

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Percival P. Cassidy

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May 2, 2012, 12:28:50 PM5/2/12
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For some accountable reason I have suddenly recalled the phrase "all
teeth and trousers", but I cannot discover its origin: Google shows me
several instances of its use but not its origin.

Perce

James Hogg

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May 2, 2012, 1:24:43 PM5/2/12
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Wiktionary has "all mouth and trousers" but little about the origin:
"The phrase originated in Northern England."

--
James

LFS

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May 2, 2012, 1:43:55 PM5/2/12
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"All mouth and trousers" is more commonly heard in these parts. A
mishearing of this led to the establishment of a local folk group named
Mouse and Trousers.


--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)




Percival P. Cassidy

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May 2, 2012, 2:10:11 PM5/2/12
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Oops! I meant "unaccountable" of course.

Perce

Adam Funk

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May 2, 2012, 2:10:17 PM5/2/12
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On 2012-05-02, LFS wrote:

> "All mouth and trousers" is more commonly heard in these parts. A
> mishearing of this led to the establishment of a local folk group named
> Mouse and Trousers.

Is that like ferret & trousers for beginners?


--
svn ci -m 'come back make, all is forgiven!' build.xml

pensive hamster

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May 2, 2012, 2:51:12 PM5/2/12
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I've heard: "all mouth and no trousers" - all talk and no action, but
never (until now) "all mouth and trousers", which doesn't really seem
to make sense.

Curlytop

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May 2, 2012, 4:06:50 PM5/2/12
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pensive hamster set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time
continuum:
In one of James Herriott's vet books, a rather scraggy bull is described
as "all horns and balls".
--
ξ: ) Proud to be curly

Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply

James Hogg

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May 2, 2012, 4:25:40 PM5/2/12
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You have evidently avoided Bruce Forsyth, for which you deserve
congratulations.

Another television memory that this phrase evokes is "All Gas and
Gaiters", a 1960s clergy sitcom. The title apparently comes from
"Nicholas Nickleby": "All is gas and gaiters".

--
James

Robin Bignall

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May 2, 2012, 4:37:42 PM5/2/12
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As did "all fur coat and no knickers". Lovely, that. You have to grow up on a
working-class housing estate to really appreciate the venom of comments about
women trying to be a cut above others.
--
Robin Bignall
(BrE)
Herts, England

Mike L

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May 2, 2012, 5:16:11 PM5/2/12
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On Wed, 2 May 2012 11:51:12 -0700 (PDT), pensive hamster
<pensive...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:

>On May 2, 6:24 pm, James Hogg <Jas.H...@gOUTmail.com> wrote:
>> Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
>> > For some accountable reason I have suddenly recalled the phrase "all
>> > teeth and trousers", but I cannot discover its origin: Google shows me
>> > several instances of its use but not its origin.
>>
>> Wiktionary has "all mouth and trousers" but little about the origin:
>> "The phrase originated in Northern England."
>>
>
>I've heard: "all mouth and no trousers" - all talk and no action,

Same for me, the trousers being an example of "container for the thing
contained";

> but
>never (until now) "all mouth and trousers", which doesn't really seem
>to make sense.

but I can quite easily see how that could mean the same: I visualise
unnecessarily fancy pants.

If one had a very low opinion of pastoralists, one might coin "All hat
and cattle". "OO! Just look at Lady Muck! Fur coat AND knickers!"

--
Mike.

Jerry Friedman

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May 2, 2012, 5:46:56 PM5/2/12
to
On May 2, 3:16 pm, Mike L <n...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On Wed, 2 May 2012 11:51:12 -0700 (PDT), pensive hamster
>
> <pensive_hams...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
> >On May 2, 6:24 pm, James Hogg <Jas.H...@gOUTmail.com> wrote:
> >> Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
> >> > For some accountable reason I have suddenly recalled the phrase "all
> >> > teeth and trousers", but I cannot discover its origin: Google shows me
> >> > several instances of its use but not its origin.
>
> >> Wiktionary has "all mouth and trousers" but little about the origin:
> >> "The phrase originated in Northern England."
>
> >I've heard: "all mouth and no trousers" - all talk and no action,
>
> Same for me, the trousers being an example of "container for the thing
> contained";
>
> > but
> >never (until now) "all mouth and trousers", which doesn't really seem
> >to make sense.
>
> but I can quite easily see how that could mean the same: I visualise
> unnecessarily fancy pants.

Wiktionary seems to think it's the same metonymy--"mouth, meaning
'insolence' or 'an insolent person' and trousers, meaning 'a pushy
sexual bravado'."

Does "all teeth and trousers" mean about the same thing? When I saw
it, I thought it might refer to smiling a lot.

--
Jerry Friedman has never heard any of these.

Mike L

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May 2, 2012, 6:34:26 PM5/2/12
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You're leading me astray, Professor! There's a foodie channel on TV
that I'd enjoy, except that I just can't bear the women presenters'
irremovable smiles. The US is, of course, famous for grinning at
moments we find unaccountable or even disturbing; but I can't believe
that Americans actually _want_ to be smiled at all the time: so why do
so many TVsters believe they do?

--
Mike.

Andrew B

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May 2, 2012, 6:58:57 PM5/2/12
to
On 02/05/2012 22:16, Mike L wrote:
> On Wed, 2 May 2012 11:51:12 -0700 (PDT), pensive hamster
> <pensive...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> On May 2, 6:24 pm, James Hogg<Jas.H...@gOUTmail.com> wrote:
>>> Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
>>>> For some accountable reason I have suddenly recalled the phrase "all
>>>> teeth and trousers", but I cannot discover its origin: Google shows me
>>>> several instances of its use but not its origin.
>>>
>>> Wiktionary has "all mouth and trousers" but little about the origin:
>>> "The phrase originated in Northern England."
>>>
>>
>> I've heard: "all mouth and no trousers" - all talk and no action,
>
> Same for me, the trousers being an example of "container for the thing
> contained";
>
>> but
>> never (until now) "all mouth and trousers", which doesn't really seem
>> to make sense.

The writer of http://mouthandtrousers.blogspot.co.uk/ would be sad to
hear it.

Percival P. Cassidy

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May 2, 2012, 8:09:48 PM5/2/12
to
On 05/02/12 06:34 pm, Mike L wrote:

>>>>>> For some unaccountable reason I have suddenly recalled the phrase "all
>>>>>> teeth and trousers", but I cannot discover its origin: Google shows me
>>>>>> several instances of its use but not its origin.
>>>
>>>>> Wiktionary has "all mouth and trousers" but little about the origin:
>>>>> "The phrase originated in Northern England."
>>>
>>>> I've heard: "all mouth and no trousers" - all talk and no action,
>>>
>>> Same for me, the trousers being an example of "container for the thing
>>> contained";
>>>
>>>> but
>>>> never (until now) "all mouth and trousers", which doesn't really seem
>>>> to make sense.
>>>
>>> but I can quite easily see how that could mean the same: I visualise
>>> unnecessarily fancy pants.
>>
>> Wiktionary seems to think it's the same metonymy--"mouth, meaning
>> 'insolence' or 'an insolent person' and trousers, meaning 'a pushy
>> sexual bravado'."
>>
>> Does "all teeth and trousers" mean about the same thing? When I saw
>> it, I thought it might refer to smiling a lot.
>
> You're leading me astray, Professor! There's a foodie channel on TV
> that I'd enjoy, except that I just can't bear the women presenters'
> irremovable smiles. The US is, of course, famous for grinning at
> moments we find unaccountable or even disturbing; but I can't believe
> that Americans actually _want_ to be smiled at all the time: so why do
> so many TVsters believe they do?

There's a musician (whose name escapes me now) whose music I used to
find reasonably pleasant until I saw him on TV one day leering into the
camera. Put me right off, it did.

Perce

Peter Brooks

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May 2, 2012, 8:56:17 PM5/2/12
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And shouted at. It's beyond me why anybody would want these creatures
shouting at them while they're supposed to be having breakfast.

I suspect that they do the smiling to get their money's worth from
their tooth enhancements.

I think they do the shouting to try to compete with the noise of the
advertisements.

Robert Bannister

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May 2, 2012, 9:05:19 PM5/2/12
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On 3/05/12 1:43 AM, LFS wrote:
> On 02/05/2012 17:28, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:
>> For some accountable reason I have suddenly recalled the phrase "all
>> teeth and trousers", but I cannot discover its origin: Google shows me
>> several instances of its use but not its origin.
>>
>
> "All mouth and trousers" is more commonly heard in these parts. A
> mishearing of this led to the establishment of a local folk group named
> Mouse and Trousers.
>
>

But so far no-one has explained what it means. Please put me out of my
misery.

--
Robert Bannister

tony cooper

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May 2, 2012, 9:56:30 PM5/2/12
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In Texas, you'll hear "All hat and no cattle".
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

James Hogg

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May 3, 2012, 2:22:26 AM5/3/12
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Wiktionary explains it as a combination of "mouth" meaning "insolence"
and "trousers" meaning "a pushy sexual bravado".

--
James

LFS

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May 3, 2012, 3:57:22 AM5/3/12
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"Kippers and curtains" was another similarly critical expression from my
childhood, which puzzled me greatly as kippers were a treat in our house.

Peter Brooks

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May 3, 2012, 5:18:26 AM5/3/12
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On May 3, 9:57 am, LFS <la...@DRAGONspira.fsbusiness.co.uk> wrote:
>
>
> "Kippers and curtains" was another similarly critical expression from my
> childhood, which puzzled me greatly as kippers were a treat in our house.
>
They're still a treat for me - I've a pair in the 'fridge at the
moment, waiting for breakfast tomorrow.

Kippers have a fairly powerful aroma, so it might be the suggestion
that the curtains were not washed often enough for kipperish fragrance
not to cling, long after breakfast. I'm just guessing, the OED is
innocent of the expression.

Adam Funk

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May 3, 2012, 3:14:37 PM5/3/12
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Nothing to do with "carpets & curtains", I hope.


--
It is probable that television drama of high caliber and produced by
first-rate artists will materially raise the level of dramatic taste
of the nation. (David Sarnoff, CEO of RCA, 1939; in Stoll 1995)

Robert Bannister

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May 4, 2012, 12:02:45 AM5/4/12
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Thank you. I surmise that I am unlikely to find an occasion to use it
and would express it differently even if the occasion arose.

--
Robert Bannister
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