Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Pillories and Trump


I don't necessarily come from good writing stock.  So, this has always been a blog that you don't have to take much stock in.  In fact, if I were to offer shares of stock in this venture, the stock answer would probably be, "No thank you."  Though, I don't really know why.  After all, I do believe that I have a nice inventory of stock here -- essays and such.  I work hard a few times a week trying to stock the internet world with even more stock.  I know that, sometimes, my writing is about as painful as being thrown into stocks and then boiled in your own pudding -- making sort of a stock. 

I mentioned the other day that I went on a black powder shoot Saturday.
Here is a slow-motion video of Neal, shooting his flintlock rifle.  You can see the whole lock, stock, and barrel in action.


Speaking of shooting off something . . .  I understand that our President Trump had quite the day at the United Nations yesterday.  Said some interesting things, including, "In less than 2 years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country."

The gathered ambassadors couldn't contain their laughter. The roomful of LOLs prompted a head tilt and awkward smile from 45. He was almost forced to say, "Didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay" ... which drew even more laughs (What a lot of media will not report or show that it also drew a lot of clapping).

Anyway, a phrase you will hear a lot in the next few days is "laughing stock."
As in, perhaps, "President Trump is now the laughing stock of the world."

From what I can gather, "Laughing-stock" stock has been around a long time.  There are at least two citations of it dating back to 1533.

Which leads us to stocks and pillories.  According to a site dedicated to stocks and pillories (yes, there is one  http://www.pilloryhistory.com/what.html):

The age of the phrase may be the reason that it is often linked with the practice of putting people into stocks as a punishment. The stocks were a means of punishment in use at the time the phrase was coined, by which people were tortured or ridiculed. Victims were held by having their ankles, and occasionally the wrists too, trapped in holes between two sliding boards. The punishment, although not as harsh as the pillory, in which people were confined by the neck, was severe and certainly not intended to be humorous.

It may be that the association between 'laughing-stock' and the practice of ridiculing people in the stocks grew over time.  Also, the stock in question could refer to the meaning of stock as 'something solid that things can be fixed to', that is, a butt or stump. So, 'laughing-stock' is just the same as 'the butt of the joke'.

And that came from the internet, so you can take stock in it!

Carpe diem Life,
David Kuhn

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