End of ADS-L Digest - 6 Mar 1994 to 7 Mar 1994

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There are 7 messages totalling 138 lines in this issue.



Topics of the day:



 1. Adam's off ox (7)



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Date:  Tue, 8 Mar 1994 10:37:35 EST

From:  Larry Horn <LHORN[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]YALEVM.CIS.YALE.EDU>

Subject: Adam's off ox



Is anyone familiar with the original and regional distribution of the above?

This came up on another list, and I submitted my own speculation, which is

that the phrase occurs only in the expression "X doesn't know Y from Adam's

off ox", the suggestion being that Y is even more unfamiliar to X than Adam

himself would be ("I don't know him from Adam"). The off ox, I assume

(without evidence), is the farther of the two in the yoke, although again I

have no idea why that should be relevant here. Maybe I've got it all wrong,

in fact. Can anyone help?



--Larry