Where does this expression come from?
March 3, 2010 6:58 AM Subscribe
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?
Response by poster: 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
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
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
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
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 [1 favorite]
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 [1 favorite]
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
posted by booth at 9:24 AM on March 3, 2010
Response by poster: 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
posted by Theresa at 9:40 AM on March 3, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:09 AM on March 3, 2010