"brim for a fight" -- I'm done

[Clai Rice]

I first heard "stick a fork in him, he's done" in the context of
baseball (when a pitcher needs to be pulled). A 1932 American Scholar
[Google Books] has it exactly in this context:
P. 348 "Stick a fork in him. He's done." The manager waves to the
bullpen, and a new pitcher begins a long walk into the game.

--Clai

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Charles Doyle [mailto:cdoyle at UGA.EDU]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 11:24 AM
> Subject: Re: "brim for a fight" -- I'm done
>
>
> That jocular and punful "Stick a fork in me (him, them); I'm
> (he's, they're) done" perhaps belongs to the same category as
> the venerable "Make like a tree and leave" or "Put an egg in
> your shoe and beat it."
>
> --Charlie
> _____________________________________________________________
>
> ---- Original message ----
> >Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:38:16 -0400
> >From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> >Subject: Re: "brim for a fight" -- I'm done
>
> >
> >At 11:05 AM -0400 4/17/07, Doug Harris wrote:
> >>The phrase 'I'm done' often is preceded, around here, with 'Stick a
> >>fork in me'. Is that common elsewhere?
>
> >>(the other) doug
>
> >
> >Yes, but not in the below sense (= 'I've completed that task'), only
> >when the meaning is more like 'eliminated', as when a team is
> >eliminated from contention:  "Stick a fork in them, they're done".
> >YMMV.
> >
> >LH
>

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