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Cat
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:16 pm
Post subject: Don't try to pin this on me, sister. |
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Maggie fudged her huggies. When Marge complained about the smell,
Maggie pointed Lisa. Lisa said,
"DON'T TRY TO PIN THIS ON ME, sister."
Judging from the situation, I think this means,
"Don't try to make it seem to be my fault."
Am I right? If so, can I apply this on other situations?
For example,
A : It's all your fault!
B : Don't try to pin this on me. It's all your fault.
Is this a slang or a normal expression? Thank you.
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Pat Durkin
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 1:14 am
Post subject: Re: Don't try to pin this on me, sister. |
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"Cat" <typingcat@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1129396581.443698.135820@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | Maggie fudged her huggies. When Marge complained about the smell,
Maggie pointed Lisa. Lisa said,
"DON'T TRY TO PIN THIS ON ME, sister."
Judging from the situation, I think this means,
"Don't try to make it seem to be my fault."
Am I right? If so, can I apply this on other situations?
For example,
A : It's all your fault!
B : Don't try to pin this on me. It's all your fault.
Is this a slang or a normal expression? Thank you.
It certainly isn't slang. However, it is in a group of thousands of |
expressions used "figuratively". Pinning a label (literally) on a person
may have many origins. The need for immigration officials to handle many
non-literate-in-English immigrants would have required them to pin labels
(paper or cloth tags) on the newcomers so that workers would know which line
(for translators, health, intended destination, for example) to put the
immigrants into. In Nazi Germany there were the yellow star labels Jews
were forced to affix to their clothing so they could be recognized, herded,
and otherwise mistreated.
In some games "pinnies" or pinned-on colored cloths labeled a person on a
particular team. Then there was "pin the tail on the donkey", a blind-fold
game that some people found hilarious (US). I suppose it means the
blind-folded "dummy" was supposedly unable to discern the back end of the
donkey. That "pin" was a tack through the paper image of a tail, and was
pressed to affix the tail to a paper/cardboard image of a donkey.
Oh, another usage of pinning: In highschool, once upon a time, a girl was
"pinned" by a favorite date. He, as a member of some popular club, pinned
his membership pin on her blouse. That "labeled her" as "taken", if she
assented.
That is 5 uses of "pinning" labels, but I wouldn't vouch for any of them as
being the origin of the expression. Pinning blame, labels, false
identification are some of the figurative uses derived from the actual
origin. |
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Don Phillipson
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 4:59 am
Post subject: Re: Don't try to pin this on me, sister. |
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"Cat" <typingcat@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1129396581.443698.135820@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | Maggie fudged her huggies. When Marge complained about the smell,
Maggie pointed Lisa. Lisa said,
"DON'T TRY TO PIN THIS ON ME, sister."
Judging from the situation, I think this means,
"Don't try to make it seem to be my fault."
|
Sort of: it means "Do not hold me responsible for this."
It has no implication for the other party. (A suspect
may say to a policeman, "Don't try to pin this on me." This
does not mean he accuses the policeman of committing
the crime.)
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
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Adrian Bailey
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 3:23 am
Post subject: Re: Don't try to pin this on me, sister. |
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"Cat" <typingcat@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1129396581.443698.135820@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | Maggie fudged her huggies.
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What an awful expression.
Adrian |
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CDB
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:26 am
Post subject: Re: Don't try to pin this on me, sister. |
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"Adrian Bailey" <dadge@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ixz4f.129794$RW.6841@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
| Quote: | "Cat" <typingcat@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1129396581.443698.135820@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
Maggie fudged her huggies.
What an awful expression.
Adrian
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Vivid, though. Did you use to like chocolate fudge? (Or would Maggie
still be at the "divinity" stage?) |
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