Date:  Thu, 14 Dec 1995 11:43:09 CDT

From:  Randy Roberts <robertsr[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]EXT.MISSOURI.EDU>

Subject: Re: Eats its head off



   The following comes from the citations collected by Peter Tamony.



   "The hard school of experience is the only one in which some people

   will learn . . . . they will discover when they have kept the produce

   four or five years and when after it has 'eaten its head off' several

   times . . . . that a stallion of inferior breeding is the most

   expensive animal a breeder can use."

    Breeder and Sportsman, San Francisco, 16 November 1889, XV, 20,

   p.411.



   Laws Relating to Innkeepers. "By the custom of London and Exeter,

   'when a horse eats out the price of his head,' namely, when the cost

   of keep exceeds value, the host may have him as his own."

    Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, volume 14, page 576D.



   Hope this helps.



   Randy Roberts

   University of Missouri-Columbia

   robertsr[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ext.missouri.edu





______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________

Subject: Eats its head off

Author: American Dialect Society <ADS-L[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uga.cc.uga.edu> at internet-ext

Date:  12/14/95 10:25 AM





A friend of mine asked if anyone knows of the origin of the

expression "Eats its head off." His reference comes from the

movie Black Beauty. Of course, we also say, "eating your head off."



"Talk your head off" seems a little different.



I suspect there might be some interesting story behind this expression.

Any insights?





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