[Ads-l] "VERB at straws"

[Robin Hamilton]

I realise that, even for me, my previous post might have been somewhat obscure.
 Leaving the question of Black Bess's master aside [though it actually does
impact tangentially], what crossed my mind in wonderment was whether there was
an Aarne-Thompson number which would include the following:

                  TOPOS -- Things of value heedlessly cast aside:

1.   The widow's mite

2.   Pearls before swine

3.   The Fable of the Cock and the Jewel

Clear now?

Robin

> 
>     On 22 September 2016 at 01:02 Robin Hamilton
> <robin.hamilton3 at VIRGINMEDIA.COM> wrote:
> 
> 
>     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
>     >
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>     >
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