Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Something to ponder

If young men are said to 'sow their wild oats' does that mean that young women 'gather their wild oats' or 'collect their wild oats?' And isn't that kind of a weird and perhaps a little disgusting as far as metaphors go?

Think about it.

Also, I think I like to have something fairly pointless to worry over in my head as I go about my life. Like I was a dog with a chew toy or something. I just like to have something their to rattle around, and if I don't have something there I kind of seek something out. So recent circumstances that have given me something to chew on (brain-wise) may be a good thing. They have little to no real consequences as things stand right now, but give me lots to think about and rehash. Keeps me busy. Off to bed.

2 comments:

Jim said...

According to The Free Dictionary "sow your wild oats" means If a young man sows his wild oats, he has a period of his life when he does a lot of exciting things and has a lot of sexual relationships. That's easy enough. But what does "sow" mean?

"Sow" means to plant seed. What, then, is the origination of this idiom? From World Wide Words: "So sowing wild oats was the archetypal useless occupation ... applied figuratively to young men who frittered away their time ... The associations between male sexual activity and sowing seed are obvious enough."
"The saying is first recorded in English in 1542 ... Here’s a typical example, from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, of 1869: Boys will be boys, young men must sow their wild oats, and women must not expect miracles.
Apparently, according to Miss Alcott, the female version of the phrase is grounded in mature expectatins, exactly what one would expect.
And, yes, I'm a giant nerd.

Heather K said...

This is wh I love Jim.