"Turtle on a fencepost" (1979)

[Wilson Gray]

Of these, the only one that I'm familiar with is, "as tight as a
tick." My mother, a native of Longview in East Texas, and other
elderly colored folk in her age group, ca. ninety years old, use it.
The reference is to a tick engorged to the bursting point with its
host's blood. At, e.g. a Thanksgiving dinner, old folk say, "No more,
thank you. I'm as tight as a tick." It can also mean "tight[-fisted]"
and "drunk." I don't recall that it was used much, if at all, by
"young" people my age, ca. seventy and over. If the expression is
current in Bill's speech, it's probably because he's an Arkansawyer.

-Wilson

On 11/19/06, Bapopik at aol.com <Bapopik at aol.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Subject:      "Turtle on a fencepost" (1979)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Anybody have this? Newspaperarchive is not working (again). Does this come =20
> from Texas or Arkansas?
> ...
> ...
> ...
>    =20
> <a =20
> href=3D"http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=3DVIEW&ID=3D6878&Sn=
> ID=3D2">Rice  University</a>
> =20
> "While a great deal has been accomplished in Finance and Administration whil=
> e=20
>  I have been at Rice, I have actually done almost none of it," Currie said.=20=
>  =20
> "I have been able to assemble an extraordinary team and have had outstanding=
>  =20
> leadership in the academic administration and the Board of Trustees. There i=
> s=20
> an  old East Texas saying, 'If you find a turtle on a fence post, you know=20
> that it  had some help getting there.' " =20
> ...=20
> ...=20
> (GOOGLE NEWS ARCHIVES)=20
> _1989=BB_=20
> (http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=3D"turtle+on+a+fencepost"&scoring=
> =3Dt&sa=3DN&sugg=3Dd&as_ldate=3D1989&as_hdate=3D1989&lnav=3Ddt)   _The push=20=
> is on:=20
> Flashy Red Duke for surgeon  general_=20
> (http://docs.newsbank.com/g/GooglePM/DM/lib00377,0ED3D07C85D3B00D.html)=20
> $2.95 - Dallas  Morning News - NewsBank - Jul 2,  1989     =20
> He's often "busier than a tied-up dog' and, when  explaining his success,=20
> he's given to say that "if you've ever seen  a turtle on a fencepost, ...=20
> =20
> ...
> ...
>
>
>
> ...=20
> ...=20
> (Library of Congress record)=20
> <i>Type of Material:</i> Book (Print, Microform, Electronic, etc.) =20
> <i>Personal Name:</i> _Emery,  Allan C._=20
> (http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?SC=3DAuthor&SEQ=3D200611192104=
> 13&PID=3D19358&SA=3DEmery,+Allan+C.)   <i>Main=20
> Title:</i> A turtle on a fencepost : little lessons of large importance /  A=
> llan C.=20
> Emery ; introd. by Billy Graham.  <i>Published/Created:</i> Waco, Tex. : Wor=
> d=20
> Books, c1979.  <i>Description:</i> 117 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.  <i>ISBN:</i> =20
> 0849928699 :
> ...
> ...
> 24 October 1985, Chicago <i>Tribune</i>, pg. D10H:=20
> When the author of the blockbuster book and TV mini-series "Roots" (Alex =20
> Haley -- ed.) looks at the quirky photo, he's reminded of a lesson in  humil=
> ity:=20
> "Any time you see a turtle on top of a fence, you know he had some  help."=20
> ...=20
> ...=20
> 6 November 1994, New York <i>Times</i>, pg. 28:=20
> And by today, he was reviving homespun aphorisms to complain that he had not=
>  =20
> been given sufficient credit for all he had achieved. "As they say back in =20
> Arkansas, where I come from," he (Bill Clinton -- ed.) said, "if you find a=20=
> =20
> turtle on a fence post, chances are it didn't get there by accident."=20
> ...=20
> ...=20
> 14 January 2001, New York <i>Times</i>, pg. WK4:=20
> There were other Clinton-isms, too, that would come out of his mouth =20
> regularly, confounding his speechwriting staff. "This dog won't hunt." "Like=
>  a =20
> turtle on a fence post." "As tight as a tick."
>
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Sam Clemens

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