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uh this is what i found. now it doesn't make a lot of sense.
THAT'S HOW THE COW ATE THE CABBAGE - "An expression to indicate the speaker is laying it on the line, telling it like it is, getting down to brass tacks - with the connotation of telling someone what he or she needs to know but probably doesn't want to hear. According to Little Rock attorney Alston Jennings, who submitted this southernism to Richard Allen's February 2, 1991, 'Our Town' column in the Arkansas Gazette, the expression has its roots in a story about an elephant that escaped from the zoo and wandered into a woman's cabbage patch. The woman observed the elephant pulling up her cabbages with its trunk and eating them. She called the police to report that there was a cow in her cabbage patch pulling up cabbages with its tail. When the surprised police officer inquired as to what the cow was doing with the cabbages, the woman replied, 'You wouldn't believe me if I told you!'" From "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Fact on File, New York, 1997)
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That's just common sense (to a husband), Damon.
David
Ninole Resident
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Well Glen your story must be true, I snopes'd it and found nothing to contradict it.[8)] Thus it must be true. [:0] So now that you're a historian what next[?]
quote:
Originally posted by Glen
Getting back to the original question, the phrase "going to hell in a handbasket" actually has a Hawaiian origin. Here's how it came about, according to oral traditions.
Hawaiians did not orginally have a concept of "Hell" as we understand it. Nor did they have European pigs. But Captain Cook and the missionaries brought both, and both figure into the origins of this unusual phrase.
Back at this time, imus were very, very popular, and the European pigs (which were bigger than the pigs brought by the polynesians), grew fat on the land and so were enormous. The art of the imu was very highly developed and a particular practitioner, whose name is lost to history, was particularly adept at creating charming baskets out of food, including ham. Her most popular basket was one that she carefully wove together using strips of ham. She would fill these foodbaskets with delicious fruit and they, and she, were very popular.
One day, there was a great celebration in Waipi'o. At the edge of Waipi'o, near the beach is an area that the Hawaiians believed was a portal to the underworld. The Europeans likened this to hell, although for the Hawaiians, it was just a portal to another world.
The famous basket weaver had carefully laid out an enormous basket, made out of ham and filled with fruit on a lauhala mat near the edge of the surf. A European walked over, tasted the basket, and became completely entranced. About that time, a big wave came up and took the basket out to sea. The European vainly attempted to retrieve the basket, so smitten was he with the mixture of artistry and taste. He was last seen heading out to sea virtually atop the basket, where a shark gobbled him up.
When his wife asked what became of him, they said "He went to hell in a ham basket". Of course, the phrase has been corrupted over the years. Now you have heard my story. Repeat the refrain! Haina mai ka puana!
Blessings,
dave
"It doesn't mean that much to me.. to mean that much to you." Neil Young
Blessings,
dave
"It doesn't mean that much to me.. to mean that much to you." Neil Young
Fathom:
Again I go to maritime folklore and how it came about.
Fathom is a unit of measure from the old British Admiralty that was used for sounding water depth but at that time it was only known as a stretch of the arms. This would very depending on who’s arms were stretched and in shallow water presented a danger to the vessel. A British captain solved the problem by taking the tallest crew member he had and mustered up the rest of the crew. The captain then tied a weight to a length of line and had the tall sailor stand in the weight he then stretched the line to the top of the sailors head and made a knot. The captain then had the sailor stand on the knot and again stretched the line to the top of the sailors head and made another knot. Doing this several times he then asked the sailor what his name was? The sailor responded and said “John Fathom sir” The rest is history.
The Lack
