Wednesday, April 28, 2021

My Stupid, Stupid Brain

I've just discovered that the idiom "a hard row to hoe" has a specific literal meaning at its origin: to hoe a row is to turn a line of soil for planting. I knew the expression came from gardening, but I hadn't connected it with a specific step in the gardening process. I guess my brain makes for a hard row to hoe, but somebody's been at it, for look at all those furrows!

4 Comments:

At 1:49 PM, Blogger Kevin Kim said...

So what makes the row-hoeing "hard"? The presence of stones?

"Furrows" in French = les sillons

The last line of the first verse of the Marseillaise:

"...qu'un sang impur abreuve nos sillons."

= "...that [the] impure blood [of the enemy] should water our furrows."

Sounds like something a wall-building people might sing. And yet the French are so damn friendly....

Speaking of stones: a few years back, I finally learned what a "harrow" was. If your row is hard to hoe because of too many stones, maybe it's time to bring out the harrow! And that's how I gained a new appreciation for the expression "a harrowing experience."

 
At 3:15 AM, Blogger Carter Kaplan said...

This ought to fill your furrows!


Jeff's furrow filler.

 
At 6:44 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Wait, didn't you say my blood, sweat, and tears would help hallow this soil?

Jeffery Hodges

* * *

 
At 6:50 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

It's a Halloween experience, Carter.

Jeffery Hodges

* * *

 

Post a Comment

<< Home