Random Note for WOTY: #19

[Ben Zimmer]

On Fri, Dec 27, 2013 at 2:36 PM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>
> On Fri, Dec 27, 2013 at 2:18 PM, Mullins, Bill CIV (US) wrote:
>
>> bull strong
>
> I think the phrase "horse-high, bull-strong and pig-tight", referring to
> wire fences, goes back to the 19th century.

DARE has:

1859 Harper’s New Mth. Mag. 19.712, A Buncombe fence, Sir, is a fence
that is bull strong, horse high, and pig tight!

Futher cites from Barry Popik:

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/horse_high_bull_strong_and_pig_tight_qualities_of_a_texas_fence/

I'd be more convinced of continuity with current "strong" forms if
"bull strong" here meant "strong as a bull" rather than "strong enough
to restrain a bull." But who knows -- maybe the creators of the "Army
Strong" slogan (more relevant than "LiveStrong," I think) were
influenced by "bull strong." I also hear an echo of tough-guy truck
advertising: "(built) Ford tough" (from 1976) and "Ram tough" (from
1980):

http://books.google.com/books?id=3uEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26
http://books.google.com/books?id=B9AaHt2-33sC&pg=PA115

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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