Wednesday, May 23, 2018

to coin a phrase

While I was washing my hands in my kitchenette's sink an hour ago, a phrase suddenly came to mind, prepackaged and wrapped in a pretty little bow:

Them's fartin' words!

I found myself imagining that expression being uttered in some Wild West scenario. The thought brought a smile to my face. Later on, I began to wonder whether anyone else had used that same turn of phrase: a Google search for the exact phrase turned up only seven results, which is revolutionary. This means I'm one of the original coiners, and far from being an easy-to-arrive-at cliché, "Them's fartin' words" is a legitimately creative collocation.

"You only think you're original," I hear you growl.

Fill your hands, for them's fartin' words, hombre.



5 comments:

John Mac said...

Yep, especially when someone says something that really stinks.

Charles said...

Mel Brooks totally dropped the ball not using this in Blazing Saddles.

Kevin Kim said...

John,

Groan.

Charles,

Ha! Indeed.

The Maximum Leader said...

Fill your hands with what exactly?

Kevin Kim said...

Mike,

"Fill yer hand(s), you son of a bitch!" is the classic line uttered by Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit." He says this to his enemy (Ned Pepper), meaning, "Fill your hand(s) with your gun(s), that I might kill you fairly with mine!"