Thoughts About . . . Strange Sayings
About that non-fiction book I’m writing — I started off a chapter with this:
“She has enough credits to choke a horse.” The leader of our writers’ group, whom I respect, said that it was a poor choice of words, or something like that.
I went on a search: asked Google, looked it up in an on-line thesaurus,
and e-mailed a very literate friend in California. None of them located the phrase, but Kate said she’d check around. When I told her I think it’s an Olde English expression she said she’d check with a friend in England.
I kept up my search too, and ended up finding a blog in which someone posted, “He’s had enough birthdays to choke a horse.” It was from a very proper site across the pond.
Then I started a mental search of my own background. I had a friend whose mother rented out rooms in a gorgeous colonial house. I think a renter’s name was Mrs. Roland, but I’m not sure. This was many decades ago. That woman went around reciting poetry and strange sayings. My friend and I picked up on that. I remember, “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse and chase the rider.”
Aha! There seems to be a relationship here. But I’m not going to use that esoteric phrase. I’ll keep it simple so that there are no misunderstandings.
Another aha! I also remember that our workshop leader is a serious teaser. Now is that nice?
