 |
|  |
 |
|
yin26
|
 |
This space reserved for Darkstar.
Apr 1999 time: 14:17
|
|
Link.
quote: The debate has been confused from time to time by imagining one stick from which the carrot is dangled and another kept in reserve as a whip; but I imagine that the original image in the minds of those who developed this expression was a donkey or mule laden with cargo rather than being ridden, with its master alternately holding a carrot in front of the animal's nose (by hand, not on a stick) and threatening it with a switch. Two sticks are too many to make for a neat expression.
For me, the clincher is that no one actually cites the form of the "original expression." In what imaginable context would it possibly be witty or memorable to say that someone or something had been motivated by a carrot on a stick? Why not an apple on a stick, or a bag of oats? Boring, right? Not something likely to pass into popular usage.
This saying belongs to the same general family as "you can draw more flies with honey than with vinegar." It is never used except when such contrast is implied. |
For somebody who supposedly wrote a paper on the topic, you must not have done your homework. I could care less how you or other people mis-read a standard English phrase. Read the definition above and get back to me. I know how *I*was using the phrase ... the accepted and standard way. How you twist it beyond that is your own unsupported business.
Last edited by yin26 on 15-02-2002 at 11:12
|
|
|  |
All times are GMT. The time now is 05:17. Apolyton Time is 00:17. |
top of page
|
| archivepost |
|
Forum Rules:
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is ON
vB code is ON
Smilies are ON
[IMG] code is ON
|
|
|
|
|
|