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more than you can shake a stick at

English translation: more than you can imagine


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:more than you can shake a stick at
English translation:more than you can imagine
Entered by: grzzpo
Options:
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15:22 May 6, 2010
English to English translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
English term or phrase: more than you can shake a stick at
What does it mean?
See for context:
http://www.lemondrop.co.uk/2010/05/06/is-jennifer-aniston-on...
grzzpo
Poland
Local time: 03:11
more than you can count/ more than you can imagine
Explanation:
We have more languages being used here than you can shake a stick at - which one did you want? José is correct or as we say in Aragon "que pa' que" (que para que).

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Note added at 3 days3 hrs (2010-05-09 18:59:29 GMT) Post-grading
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Thanks grzzpo. I'm pleased to be of help. My better half is a "maño", born and bred in Aragon, Spain.
Selected response from:

Jenni Lukac
Local time: 03:11
Grading comment
Thank you very much. What's your husband's nationality?
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +9more than you can count/ more than you can imagine
Jenni Lukac
Summary of reference entries provided
one set of stories of where it came from
Stephanie Ezrol

Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +9
shake a stick at
more than you can count/ more than you can imagine


Explanation:
We have more languages being used here than you can shake a stick at - which one did you want? José is correct or as we say in Aragon "que pa' que" (que para que).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days3 hrs (2010-05-09 18:59:29 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Thanks grzzpo. I'm pleased to be of help. My better half is a "maño", born and bred in Aragon, Spain.

Jenni Lukac
Local time: 03:11
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thank you very much. What's your husband's nationality?

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jack Doughty
2 mins
  -> Good afternoon and thanks, Jack.
agree  Mark Nathan: basically , "a lot" or, as my son would say, a megatonne.
17 mins
  -> Thanks Mark. I'll try to remember "megatonne". I like it.
agree  Stephanie Ezrol
26 mins
  -> Cheers and thanks for the reference Stephanie. It was "right nice of you" to send it.
agree  Tania Samuelsson
31 mins
  -> Good afternoon and thanks, Tania.
agree  Goldcoaster: that's it, Jenni.
52 mins
  -> Thanks Rolf. I tried to explain this one and "to get on the stick" to my husband but he didn't get either one.
agree  Tony M
1 hr
  -> Cheers and thanks, Tony.
agree  Ildiko Santana
1 hr
  -> Cheers and thanks, ildiko.
agree  Gary D
5 hrs
  -> Good evening and thanks, Gary.
agree  Anna Herbst
10 hrs
  -> Good morning and thanks, Anna.
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Reference comments


34 mins peer agreement (net): +2
Reference: one set of stories of where it came from

Reference information:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sha2.htm

"Its recorded history began — at least, so far as the Oxford English Dictionary knows — in the issue of the Lancaster Journal of Pennsylvania dated 5 August 1818: “We have in Lancaster as many Taverns as you can shake a stick at”. Another early example is from Davy Crockett’s Tour to the North and Down East of 1835: “This was a temperance house, and there was nothing to treat a friend that was worth shaking a stick at”. A little later, in A Book of Vagaries by James K Paulding of 1868, this appears: “The roistering barbecue fellow swore he was equal to any man you could shake a stick at”.

The modern use of the phrase always exists as part of the extended and fixed phrase “more ... than you can shake a stick at”, meaning an abundance, plenty. The phrase without the “more than” element is rather older, but not by much.

. . .

The sense in the second and third quotations above seem to fit this idea: “nothing worth shaking a stick at” means nothing of value; “equal to any man you could shake a stick at” means that the speaker is equal to any man of consequence.

Where it comes from can only be conjecture. One possibility that has been put forward is that it derives from the counting of farm animals, which one might do by pointing one’s stick at each in turn. So having more than one can shake one’s stick at, or tally, would imply a great number."


    Reference: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sha2.htm
Stephanie Ezrol
United States
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 19

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  B D Finch: Tally sticks were notched for each item recorded, so it might have something to do with having no room on the stick for any more notches.
1 hr
  -> Thanks. Tally sticks are a new one for me.
agree  Ildiko Santana: Great reference and explanation. :)
1 hr
  -> Thanks.
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Voters for reclassification
as
PRO / non-PRO		Non-PRO (2): Tony M, Ildiko Santana


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Changes made by editors
May 6, 2010 - Changes made by Tony M:
Term askedshake a stick at => more than you can shake a stick at
FieldMarketing => Other
Field (specific)Media / Multimedia => Idioms / Maxims / Sayings


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