Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Catch a weasel asleep


This time of year, trying to hide presents from prying eyes and fingers is like trying to catch a weasel asleep. 
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Now there's a phrase you don't hear every day...
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... But according to Google's ngram search engine, such was not always the case:



The Dictionary of Americanisms, 2nd ed. enlarged, by John Russell Bartlett (published in 1859) has this to say about the phrase:
It is supposed that this little animal is never caught napping, for the obvious reason that he sleeps in his hole beyond the reach of man. The expression is applied to persons who are watchful and always on the alert, or who cannot be surprised; as, "You cannot deceive me, any sooner than you can catch a weasel asleep," or, "You can't catch a weasel asleep." The expressions are common.
They might have been common in the mid-19th century, but not so much now. So whether you are trying to wrap a gift on the sly or trying to sneak out early from work to do some last-minute shopping this coming week, I wish you luck in catching the weasel asleep!
Is that present for me??Awww, you shouldn't have!
Image by Trond Giæver Myhre from Pixabay

2 comments:

Liz V. said...

May your holiday season be filled with sleeping weasels!

Ann Parker said...

Hi Liz! Same to you... :-)