"Bet the Farm"

[Scot LaFaive]

What about "bet your bottom dollar?"

Scot


>From: "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
>Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: "Bet the Farm"
>Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 18:34:56 -0500
>
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
>Subject:      Re: "Bet the Farm"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>         The meaning of the phrase, in both forms, sounds pretty
>transparent to me.  It seems to be fairly common from the late 1970s to
>date.  I did see one outlier, from a 1913 rape case in the Oklahoma
>Supreme Court, describing events of 1906.  The complaining witness
>seemed to be unfamiliar with the term, but it sounds to me like the same
>"bet the farm" we're talking about:
>
>         <<Q. And he had sexual intercourse with you? A. Yes, sir. Q. Was
>that with or without your consent? A. I was scared and nervous, and I
>told him to go on out and let me alone, and he said he bet his farm or
>give his farm, I don't know which-- Q. That it would not hurt you? A.
>That it would not hurt me. . . . Q. Did he say that before you said
>anything about it hurting? He said, 'No.' What did you say? A. I don't
>remember just word for word. Q. You told it before. A. I seen him
>standing there, and I told him to go on out. He said, 'No,' and
>commenced hauling at the covers and said it would not hurt me; he would
>bet his farm or give his farm. Q. Then what? A. I said, yes, sir, I
>thought it would, and he said not. Q. Then what? A. I do not remember.
>Q. He said it would not hurt you, you said yes you were afraid it would,
>and he said no it would not, that he would bet his farm it would not,
>and you said yes it would, is that correct? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did it hurt?
>A. Yes, sir.>>
>
>
>Watson v. Taylor, 35 Okla. 768, 131 P. 922, 927 - 28 (Okla. 1913).
>
>
>John Baker
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
>Of bapopik at AOL.COM
>Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 5:53 PM
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: "Bet the Farm"
>
>BET THE FARM--252,000 Google hits
>BET THE RANCH--44,000 Google hits
>...
>I gotta look into "bet the ranch." Any help appreciated (I'm now in the
>Dominican Republic with still mroe family matters).
>...
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Sent: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 10:00 AM
>Subject: "Bet the Farm"
>
>
>In a Supreme Court opinion yesterday, Justice Scalia used the expression
>"bet the farm." A journalist is asking me about this phrase. Can anyone
>point me to any good information, or even give a hunch, as to the
>derivation of this expression?
>
>Fred Shapiro
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>--
>Fred R. Shapiro Editor
>Associate Librarian for Collections and YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS
>   Access and Lecturer in Legal Research Yale University Press Yale Law
>School ISBN 0300107986
>e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu http://quotationdictionary.com
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>--
>
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