"Onions and garlic"?

[Evan Bradley]

I'm not familiar with the phrase, but could it be that the writer is
referring not to the contradictory nature of the messages, but that
this sort of action is typical of this group?  In a sense similar to
"bread and butter"?


On 11/17/07, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
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> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      "Onions and garlic"?
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>
> What is known about the phrase "onions and garlic", used
> figuratively?  I find it in Massachusetts near the end of the 17th
> century in reference to two messages, sent together to the king, that
> are in a sense inconsistent with each other: one asks for military
> support, the other for greater independence from the empire:
>
> "the representatives, though they send to the king for ships and men,
> yet address him at the same time for their old charter. That is their
> onions and garlic."
>
> My only thought is that the writer is using the phrase ironically --
> while onions and garlic frequently appear together harmoniously in
> food dishes, here the two messages are not compatible.
>
> Joel
>
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