'grab the wrong end of the stick"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 4:34 PM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>
> At 7/10/2009 04:16 PM, ronbutters at AOL.COM wrote:
>>Check the AMERICAN SPEECH. This was discussed there 30 years ago.
>
> I was too young to be permitted such thoughts 30 years ago.
>
> Can someone help me pin down the issue?  I'd like to pass the
> information along to my correspondent.

How about 23 years ago? I believe the relevant articles are:

James B. McMillan, 1986. "Short End of the Stick." AmSp 61:306.
Ron Butters, 1991. "More on Short End of the Stick." AmSp 66:36.
Charles Doyle, 1994. "The Long Story of The Short End of the Stick" AmSp 69:96.


--Ben Zimmer

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