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06 Jan 18 - 07:03 PM (#3897808) Subject: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: Jackaroodave At age 71, I came across this expression for the first time in a slim monograph by Dorothy Parker called Men I'm Not Married to . Google notes that Teddy Roosevelt was so described by John Hay, his secretary of state. And it lists elaborations like "more fun than: a goat-roping/ a goat in a sock/ a goat on ice." But compared to the evocative original, they seem to explain too much--except maybe that goat in a sock. Is this a well-known expression that I just missed, or did it disappear after a brief vogue in the 1910s? |
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07 Jan 18 - 10:02 PM (#3898004) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: GUEST,paperback More fun than a goat, sounds profane, as in the same vein as, Oh, you kid!, maybe. |
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07 Jan 18 - 10:14 PM (#3898005) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: Jackaroodave Good one! |
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08 Jan 18 - 12:55 AM (#3898014) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: Joe Offer Monique sent me a story about a French goat. Good story. Sad ending. https://archive.org/stream/lettersfrommymil00daudrich#page/18/mode/2up |
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08 Jan 18 - 06:44 AM (#3898044) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: Jackaroodave Great story, Joe, not much fun for the goat. |
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08 Jan 18 - 05:51 PM (#3898199) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: Greg F. Anything like the New Zealand "More fun than a sheep"? |
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08 Jan 18 - 06:08 PM (#3898202) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: meself Haven't heard that one. Came across 'more fun than a monkey' in liner notes for a CD by a harmonica-player called 'Little Hatch'. I took that to be a shortened version of 'more fun than a barrel of monkeys'. But never heard the goat one. |
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08 Jan 18 - 06:26 PM (#3898206) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: Jackaroodave 'Anything like the New Zealand "More fun than a sheep"?' Ewe! |
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09 Jan 18 - 02:24 AM (#3898238) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: GUEST,paperback Well that"s the difference I was driving at, the difference between sheep & goats, and lambs & kids / or, when did the start calling children, kids, instead of lambs, and men goats? So the slim monograph s title, Men I'm Not Married to, could imply adultery same as, I Love My Wife But, Oh, You Kid!, did, and the whole goat/kid thing, plus they're both c.1910, connected in my mind as a connection...without looking further then 5 minutes, also I have lately wondered about the kid moniker, so I posted. Thanks for the nice one! Professor. |
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09 Jan 18 - 06:37 AM (#3898285) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: Jackaroodave Paperback, thank you for your contribution to scholarship. Parker's description of the man who was "more fun than a goat" doesn't suggest adultery, however. He's not just someone not to marry, but someone not to sit next to on a bus. But your contrast between sheep and goats with respect to fun made me think of an interpretation of the expression that is utterly obvious on the face of it but never occurred to me: Maybe it's deadpan litotes masked as hyperbole? Something on the order of "Why, he's more fun than a colonoscopy!" How much fun is a goat, really? Or Teddy Roosevelt if you're his secretary of state? |
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09 Jan 18 - 04:00 PM (#3898422) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: GUEST,paperback Well when I saw your post I thought to myself...he's fishin'. So I plunked my line in to, but only hooked a couple bottomfeeders. |
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10 Jan 18 - 10:38 AM (#3898561) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: Jackaroodave Thank you for your input, Paperback. It was helpful and provided me with a couple of images that I'll never forget. |
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11 Jan 18 - 04:17 PM (#3898930) Subject: RE: Folklore: 'More fun than a goat' From: GUEST,paperback As they say across the sea, every day's a school day |