Where does this expression come from?

March 3, 2010 6:58 AM

I'm looking for the source of something my Dad - born in 1924 in North Carolina and in the Army stationed in France in WWII - says. Usually around meal times, when someone asks what we're having for dinner he'll recite "Ham, ram, lamb, beef, bull, buzzard or buffalo?" (Unfortunately he doesn't remember where he got this from.) Anybody ever heard this expression before?
posted by Theresa to society & culture (8 answers total)

It is, almost verbatim, the title of this book; perhaps the book has some indication of the origin of the phrase?
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:09 AM on March 3, 2010

I saw that on my pre-posting search and saw that Dr. Booker who wrote it was from Virginia, so it seems not too unlikely that it's related! So the follow up question is - does anybody have a copy of that book?
posted by Theresa at 7:16 AM on March 3, 2010

This article uses a variation in the opening paragraph, suggesting it's a relatively common saying

Life in the Gelded Age won't ever be exciting for the red-blooded among us — the meat-eating men and women who sup on ham, ram and lamb and dine on bull, beef and bear — but the manly thing to do is make the best of it.
posted by Think_Long at 7:26 AM on March 3, 2010

Western Folklore, Vol 6 No 1, 1947, "Traditional Proverbs and Sayings from California", Owen S. Adams, is a list of phrases; #93 is "What do you prefer: ram, lamb, sheep meat or mutton?" with the footnote "The situation offers no additional choice".
posted by nonane at 7:44 AM on March 3, 2010

The butcher, Darius Hunt, was a jovial man and he answered her with his time-honored rigmarole of "Ham, lamb, beef an' mutton."

From a story by Charles Battell Loomis, born in NY. Story takes place in NE Connecticut. Maybe a common saying for butchers?
posted by Think_Long at 7:44 AM on March 3, 2010

If I was a betting man, I would say it would have been popularized during the war as a laconic comment on rations, namely that:

a) you get no choice (lamb, sheep meat or mutton)
b) the meat in rations could be pretty much anything

It is likely to have popularized after the Great Depression, when meat would have been scarcer, and quality meat scarcer still - and bastardized during WWII to include bear, buzzard etc.
posted by MuffinMan at 8:20 AM on March 3, 2010

This is exactly the kind of thing the hosts of A Way with Words love talking about. Call 'em up or leave your question on the site's forums. (If you're unsatisfied with AskMe's answers.)
posted by booth at 9:24 AM on March 3, 2010

I'm very happy with getting so many answers so far... I don't think we've gotten quite to the bottom of it, but this is a great start! Thanks everybody!
posted by Theresa at 9:40 AM on March 3, 2010