Period Expressions and Terms

[Hiram]

Apr 15, 2010 13:28:38 GMT -5 Allen Wiener said:

Oh, yeah. Interesting. I always thought it meant you'd been to the big city and seen all the amazing and wicked things you'd heard about on the farm, but never actually seen.

Idioms evolve and change, in terms of their meaning. The first time I ever heard the expression "I've seen the elephant", was in one of my favorite Westerns, Will Penny, with Chuck Heston.

If I recall correctly, a fellow cowboy (think it was actually Lee Majors) asked Will (Heston) if he was taking his money and going to Kansas City, and Penny replied, "Nope, I've seen the elephant," which coincides with what Allen posted. The idea that the individual uttering the phrase was basically saying, "Well, now I've seen everything!"

I think its interesting that the phrase goes back well before the War Between the States. There is an old British expression, to see the lions, a reference to the presence of lions at the Tower of London (an early tourist attraction.) It appears to have a similar meaning.

[sloanrodgers]

Look at this elephant.

wesclark.com/jw/elephant.html

[tracesoftexas]

Apr 15, 2010 12:49:40 GMT -5 Hiram said:

Point being, every member of this forum has more likely than not, "seen the elephant."

I take it you've met my ex-wife.