analogy/metaphor between a person and a diesel engine?

September 12, 2015 5:42 PM

Looking for a lost quotation that ran along the lines of 's/he was like a diesel engine - reluctant to start, but having once suffered that indignity, unwilling to stop'.

I'm pretty sure it was fiction. I don't read a lot of fiction nowadays, and what I read I tend to re-read infinitely for distraction/comfort. This hasn't turned up again in several years, so that rules out most of Jane Austen! I have no idea how long ago I read it or what period the book was from. I have a vague notion that it was an analogy for someone falling in love, but not terribly confident about that at all.

Could have been an essay, though. Or a metafilter comment. Or porn? No clue. I had thought Wodehouse but searching with 'Wodehouse' and 'Psmith' isn't helping.

posted by you must supply a verb to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Probably not what you're thinking of, but Jeff Foxworthy?
posted by carmicha at 6:53 PM on September 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Almost certainly not what you're thinking: although I've always heard the cyclist Jan Ullrich referred to as a diesel engine, I googled and found this.
posted by Dashy at 7:14 PM on September 12, 2015

(Well, unless you're thinking of a steam engine, you won't find it in Austen - the Diesel was only patented in 1892.... So it's probably a 20th century reference.)
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 10:36 PM on September 12, 2015

I've found the following pointing towards Jeff Foxworthy. Who I must admit I'd never heard of before :/

A woman is like a diesel engine...
posted by protorp at 1:08 AM on September 13, 2015

Is it this poem, Love Fuels? Even if it's not, thanks for asking the questions because I'm glad I found it.
posted by guy72277 at 8:34 AM on September 14, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. Not these, but interesting links!

(AsYouKnow Bob - eponysterical :)
posted by you must supply a verb at 4:52 PM on September 17, 2015