Tuesday, September 06, 2005
A Favorite Expression of my Father’s
We just happen to own 2 shares of stock from a company who shall remain nameless (we didn’t buy this unbelievably awful stock, we somehow acquired it from other stock that we lost at least the sleeves of our shirt).
The two shares are worth $12.50 each. The company would like us to sell back the stock to them, and will only charge us a $5.00 fee for handling the sale.
That made me angry. I told Don to tell them“to go pound sand” ( a favorite saying of my Father’s – a man who had a real way with the English language).
Then I had to look up the phrase. And here’s what I found.
The origin of the expression “go pound sand” is from a longer expression, not to know (have enough sense to) pound sand down a rathole.
Filling rat holes with sand is menial work, and telling someone to pound sand down a hole is like telling them to go fly a kite.
The expression dates to at least 1912 and is common in the midwestern United States.
