sour grapes

[Lynne Murphy]

--On Sunday, April 8, 2001 4:44 pm -0400 "Bernard W. Kane"
<bkane at TIGGER.JVNC.NET> wrote:

> Ref: "sour grapes" quote: Nope, Brother Barrett got it right:
>
> The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on
> edge.
>         Jeremiah 31:29 (AV trln)
> Proverbial even back in those days: also quoted in Ezekiel 18:2 -- old
> editors reluctant to let go of a good thing?


But this usage of 'sour grapes' doesn't seem to have the same metaphorical
meaning that is evident in the Aesop's fable and the current idiom.  Just
because the words 'sour' and 'grapes' are together doesn't mean it's
related to the idiom now.

Lynne


M Lynne Murphy
Lecturer in Linguistics
School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

phone +44-(0)1273-678844
fax   +44-(0)1273-671320