[Ads-l] "VERB at straws"

[Robin Hamilton]

Shouldn't those pearls be clasped rather than clutched before they're cast
before swine like us?

[Not pearls, but close, a related "I say, I say, I say" folk-motif:

     Why did they call Dick Turpin a Dunghill Cock?

     Because he spurned the Jasp.

RH.]

> 
>     On 22 September 2016 at 00:50 Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> wrote:
> 
> 
>     > On Sep 21, 2016, at 6:09 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>     >
>     > Though Robin may _grasp after_ straws and Joel may _reach at_ straws, I
>     > prefer to _grasp at_ straws.
>     >
>     > Are there other prefs?
>     >
>     > --
> 
>     I clutch at straws when I can't reach my pearls.
> 
>     LH
> 
>     ------------------------------------------------------------
>     The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 

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