[Ads-l] spades away

Wed Sep 5 05:50:26 UTC 2018

Buckets, spades and the like appear to have been typical symbols of working-class life. Perhaps “spades away” comes from a shout of joy at the end of the workday when you put your tools away.

1. Specimens of American Poetry, Volume 2, ed. Samuel Kettell, 1829, p. 158
“The Prize” by William Maxwell

https://tinyurl.com/ybveftat <https://tinyurl.com/ybveftat>

—— 
Clodpole, a simple rustic clown, 
…
An honest countryman by trade,
Extremely clever with his spade,
...
But times grew hard;
...
“O! he has got the prize! we’re made!
Good by t’ ye to the hoe and spade!"
—— 

2. THE SANITARY RECORD A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND…, p. 9, 1882, ed. Ernest Hart
“The Present State of the Sewage Question” by Prof. Corfield
https://tinyurl.com/yczs4xa3 <https://tinyurl.com/yczs4xa3>

——
In former years [cesspools] used to be emptied by hand, bucket, and spade, and the results were very disastrous.
——

3. This has an interesting saying that I could not find elsewhere.

New Statesman: The Week-end Review
1953
https://tinyurl.com/ycdjg4qh <https://tinyurl.com/ycdjg4qh>

snippet:
—— 
You do not take buckets and spades away to an eighteenth-century drawing-room, they say, nor do you hang striped bathing towels from Adam balconies.
——

4. Nene News (PDF), , p. 2, ed. Peter Glennon
“Exeat - the man of few words saves them up for the last issue” by Chris
July 2009
https://tinyurl.com/ycppvmk4 <https://tinyurl.com/ycppvmk4>

—— 
We had good fun doing the service projects:
…
Gents you can put your spades away now, the year is over.
—— 

Further citations of “spades away” that seem to be along the lines of “Geronimo!” or “bombs away!”

caseyweederman
11 Apr 2008
http://forums.kingdomofloathing.com/vb/showthread.php?t=185122 <http://forums.kingdomofloathing.com/vb/showthread.php?t=185122>
——
I'm pretty curious about this too. Spades away!   
——
Fork
17 Mar 2013
http://52.1.45.128/vb/showthread.php?t=227483&page=2 <http://52.1.45.128/vb/showthread.php?t=227483&page=2>
——
Which raises the question, what happens when you keep "thanksgot" over rollover? 

Spades away!   
——

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA

> On 4 Sep 2018, at 21:57, Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
>> Spades away! Dig is on for buried Spitfires
> 
> Kinda feels like a pun on "Anchors aweigh!", in that context.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 1:14 PM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> Thank you! A couple hours after posting that, I began wondering if I had
>> made it all up. BB
>> 
>>> On 2 Sep 2018, at 13:19, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I don't know if this helps, but I found a modern usage
>>> 
>>> 
>> https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/spades-away-dig-is-on-for-buried-spitfires-gr3mqljtx7n
>>> 
>>> Headline:
>>> Spades away! Dig is on for buried Spitfires
>>> 
>>> It seems to confirm your memory of the phrase as the beginning of an
>>> endeavor (or, since it seems British, endeavour).
>>> DanG
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Sun, Sep 2, 2018 at 3:46 PM, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>> I have vague recollections of this expression used as an exclamation
>> decades ago. It seemed to me to mean a cry of abandoned care at the start
>> of a venture, like “Geronimo!” or “bombs away!”
>>>> 
>>>> I don’t see any such expression in the English OLD or Wiktionary, or
>> much on the internet.
>>>> 
>>>> 1. Clearly, however, it exists, as there is an echo of it at
>> http://devourthedetails.blogspot.com/2014/02/spades-away.html: <
>> http://devourthedetails.blogspot.com/2014/02/spades-away.html:>
>>>> 
>>>> ===
>>>> Spades Away
>>>> 
>>>> For the future Mrs. Fashionista, show your colorful side by having a
>> Kate Spade themed bridal shower!
>>>> ===
>>>> 
>>>> There is an expression “pack the bucket and spades away” that seems to
>> mean “the current event is over” and may be a precursor. This seems to be
>> the same as “pack it up”, which is not in the English OLD or Wiktionary;
>> they both have “pack it in”, which I’m not familiar with but might be the
>> same.
>>>> 
>>>> 2. The Star (https://bit.ly/2N3H1Fx <https://bit.ly/2N3H1Fx>, 14
>> April, Michale Lynch), a context having nothing to do with the beach:
>>>> 
>>>> ===
>>>> It's understandable why [the] Victory [rugby team] might have switched
>> off a little in recent matches given they have been assured of second place
>> for several weeks now, but it really is time for them to leave the beach
>> and pack the bucket and spades away, at least until the finals are over.
>>>> ===
>>>> 
>>>> 3. A similar expression in the Huddersfield Examiner (
>> https://bit.ly/2NMDkRm <https://bit.ly/2NMDkRm>, 21 August 2013):
>>>> 
>>>> ===
>>>> YORKSHIRE ladies will be packing their buckets and spades away for
>> another year after failing to make the final of the Waterloo Cup at
>> Blackpool.
>>>> ===
>>>> 
>>>> 4. Boltholes & Hideaways (
>> http://www.rhosneigrholidaycottages.com/family-fun-island/ <
>> http://www.rhosneigrholidaycottages.com/family-fun-island/>)
>>>> 
>>>> ===
>>>> Pack the buckets and spades away for the day and start to explore
>> Anglesey.
>>>> ===
>>>> 
>>>> 5. Trip Advisor (https://bit.ly/2ND7YMZ <https://bit.ly/2ND7YMZ>):
>>>> 
>>>> ===
>>>> Come on ladies and gents put the buckets and spades away, get the glad
>> rags on because you need to join the fantastic nights out at the
>> REFURBISHED Celtic Drop
>>>> which is under New Management .
>>>> ===
>>>> 
>>>> Benjamin Barrett
>>>> Formerly of Seattle, WA

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