Back(s) of our necks

Douglas G. Wilson douglas at NB.NET
Thu Jan 4 23:53:55 UTC 2007


>My mother uses a curious phrase: "... if we *never* see the back(s) of our
>necks." It's always spoken in the context of having finally accomplished a
>small success after long effort.
>
>For example, we play euchre and she is down 9-0.  Once her side wins a hand,
>she says "Well at least we scored a point, if we *never* see the back of our
>necks."

My impression is that this should be interpreted as "... even if we never
see the back of our necks." Seeing the back of one's own neck is considered
an impossibility, hence (jocularly) a great feat. So I think the above
would be like "Well, at least we scored a point, even if we *never* win the
world euchre championship [or whatever]."

 From 1942: <<A good drill sergeant will ... about-face you until you see
the back of your neck.>>

 From 1931: <<If you were to live forever and had an infinitely powerful
telescope and you kept looking forever, you eventually would see the back
of your neck.>>

-- Doug Wilson


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