Does anyone know where the expression 'more...than you could shake a stick at' comes from?
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Amphetamine is alone again
ANSWERS: 2
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I know this isn't very helpful, but I always picture someone with a big pile of whatever it is that there's "more" of, and some old guy shaking this stick that's about an arm's length. he's just standing in front of this big pile of whatever shaking his stick at it! Funny!
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copy and paste answer. I don't think anyone really knows where it's from Definition from Steve Sabram: 1) a military phrase of guerrilla warfare where you do not have much in weapons and you fight with what you get from the land (i.e. sticks). If you have so many people to fight or animals to hunt, you cannot count let alone chase them all. 2) Another I heard of is it is an old shepherding term where you have so many animals to herd, you cannot shake you stick at every individual animal to herd them. David Windmueller: I remember reading in a book that it came from the revolutionary war. There was some scene where Washington was waving a wooden ceremonial sword over the British forces that he had just been victorious over.
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