new proverb

[Jonathan Lighter]

So the proverb is even weirder.  Noah did the right thing, but the structure
of the sentence suggests it was the wrong thing.

Of course, he went *against* the flow of his disgusting neighbors, so if you
take that as your starting point, and assume magically that Noah is
involved, it makes sense.

But only if you know what it means before you see it.

JL

On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 4:22 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: new proverb
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Of course in Noah's case the water came to the boat; the boat didn't
> have to be moved to the water.
>
> Joel
>
> At 3/21/2011 03:16 PM, Baker, John wrote:
> >         Clearly not number one - church marquees always support going
> >against the flow.  Google reveals that it's a reference to Noah, who
> >built a boat on dry land far from the water.  Actually, the Bible does
> >not indicate where Noah built the Ark, but presumably it wouldn't have
> >been too close to the water's edge, since it wasn't to be used until the
> >Flood.  Although it's not clear to me exactly how going against the flow
> >is like building a boat on dry land far from the water, it's probably an
> >advertisement for a sermon in which this would be explained.
> >
> >
> >John Baker
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> >Of Jonathan Lighter
> >Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2011 5:49 PM
> >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >Subject: new proverb
> >
> >On a marquee outside a local church:
> >
> >"Going Against the Flow is like Building a Boat on Dry Land."
> >
> >Somebody knows less than squat about boat-building. Or else is
> >a black-belt in proverb irony.
> >
> >I pick number one.
> >
> >JL
> >
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