Where He lost them

[Paul Frank]

> For those who like quaint (American[?]) expressions, a question .... Any
> takers?
>
> Whence the expression "where Jesus lost his shoes", = "way out in the
> sticks/boondocks/wilderness" or " out in the end of nowhere"?
>
> I've heard only this form. Google search doesn't show it on the Web, but I
> get three hits for "where Jesus lost his sandals" and one for "where
Christ
> lost his shoes", in the same sense.
>
> Is this from some Bible story?
> -- Doug Wilson

I don't think it's from the Bible, because I know my Bible and I don't
recall Jesus losing his sandals. But as a native speaker of Chilean Spanish
I can tell you that way out in the boonies is "donde el diablo perdió el
poncho," where the devil lost his poncho. In Chile the devil is always
getting into trouble, or at least he used to when I was a kid.

I happen to know that the devil lost his poncho in Thollon-les-Mémises, the
village in the French Alps where I happen to live. I found it the other day
and judging by the size of it, the devil is a dwarf.

Paul
_________________________________
Paul Frank
English translation from Chinese, German,
French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese
Business, law and the social sciences
Phone (France) +33 450 70 99 90
paulfrank at post.harvard.edu
paulfrank at wanadoo.fr