on the excretory practices of American eagles

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:20 PM -0800 1/25/07, Jerome Foster wrote:
>When the eagle shits was payday in the army in ww2...jfoster

Ah, but that doesn't necessarily allude to the practice of
(metaphorically) squeezing the dollar (or quarter) until the eagle
shits/poops/grins, does it?  Or does it?

LH

>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Laurence Horn" <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 5:24 PM
>Subject: on the excretory practices of American eagles
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail
>>header -----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>>Subject:      on the excretory practices of American eagles
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>Today, my wife reports, a rather obnoxious hard-sell woman in charge
>>of the showroom at a kitchen installation place here in Hamden, CT
>>tried to assure her that (despite all the high-end options they were
>>pushing) their operation really *is* concerned about keeping costs
>>within reason.  "We know how to give you the most bang for your
>>buck", she promised. "We're gonna squeeze the eagle until it poops."
>>This was a new one on my wife (who wasn't particularly taken with the
>>metaphor) and a new one one me too, although I'm familiar with the
>>couplet from "Nobody knows you when you're down and out", the classic
>>Depression era song (by Yip Harburg?) recorded by everyone from
>>Bessie Smith to Eric Clapton--
>>
>>"If I ever get my hands on a dollar again,
>>I'm gonna squeeze it till the eagle grins".
>>
>>But is the pooping version extant outside this particular kitchen
>>store?  And do those E Pluribus eagles engage in other activities
>>when squeezed in other parts of the country?
>>
>>LH
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org