Serious question:

I understand that when one says something and is ultimately proven to be wrong, that person oftentimes is said to be "eating crow". E.g. "time to eat crow!" or "Damn it! Got to eat some crow now", etc.

What is the origin of this saying? Why a crow? Why not a duck? And why are we eating it?

Anybody know?

:gobears:

Nevermind. Per Wikipedia:

Quote:

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Literally eating a crow is traditionally seen as being distasteful; the crow is one of the birds listed in Leviticus chapter 11 [4] as being unfit for eating. Scavenging carrion eaters have a long association with the battlefield, "They left the corpses behind for the raven, never was there greater slaughter in this island," says the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Along with buzzards, rats, and other carrion-eating scavenging animals, there is a tradition in Western culture going back to at least the Middle Ages of seeing them as distasteful (even illegal at times) to eat,[5] and thus naturally humiliating if forced to consume against one's will.[2]
In the modern figurative sense of being proven wrong, eating crow probably first appeared in print in 1850, as an American humor piece about a rube farmer near Lake Mahopack, New York.[3] The OED V2 says the story was first published as "Eating Crow" in San Francisco's Daily Evening Picayune (Dec. 3, 1851),[1] but two other early versions exist, one in The Knickerbocker (date unknown),[3] and one in the Saturday Evening Post (Nov. 2, 1850) called "Can You Eat Crow?".[3] All tell a similar story: a slow-witted New York farmer is outfoxed by his (presumed urban)[3] boarders; after they complain about the poor food being served, the farmer discounts the complaint by claiming he "kin eat anything", and the boarders wonder if he can eat a crow. "I kin eat a crow!", the farmer says. The boarders take him up on the challenge but also secretly spike the crow with Scotch snuff. The story ends with the farmer saying: "I kin eat a crow, but I be darned if I hanker after it."[3] Although the humor might produce a weak smile today, it was probably a knee slapper by 19th century standards, guaranteeing the story would be often retold in print and word of mouth, thus explaining, in part, the idiom's origin.[3] In 1854 Samuel Putnam Avery published a version called "Crow Eating" in his collection Mrs. Parkington's Carpet-Bag of Fun.[6]
A similar British idiom is to eat humble pie.[2] The English phrase is something of a pun"umbles" were the intestines, offal and other less valued meats of a deer. Pies made of this were known to be served to those of lesser class who did not eat at the king's/lord's/governor's table. Another dish likely to be served with humble pie is rook pie (rooks being closely related to crows). "Pie" is also an antiquated term for the European Magpie,[7] a type of crow. There is a similarity with the American version of "umble", since the Oxford English Dictionary defines crow (sb3) as meaning "intestine or mesentery of an animal" and cites usages from the 17th century into the 19th century (e.g., Farley, Lond Art of Cookery: "the harslet, which consists of the liver, crow, kidneys, and skirts)."[8]

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edwinbear;842089832 said:

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Nevermind. Per Wikipedia:

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So much for a pleasurable lunch.

eat more chiken

For good crow, you have to go to LA. There is a place near Dodger Stadium.

GB54;842089869 said:

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For good crow, you have to go to LA. There is a place near Dodger Stadium.

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Bwahaha! You are awesome!

GB54;842089869 said:

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For good crow, you have to go to LA. There is a place near Dodger Stadium.

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:rimshot:

Maybe this guy?

Offseason = where important questions are raised on BI

I read someplace the origin was an English soldier snuck up on a Colonial who was hunting and had just shot a crow. The Colonial was made to eat a bite of the crow - just for grins. The Colonial then somehow overpowers the English soldier, gets the draw on him and makes him eat the entire remaining crow.

gobears725;842089865 said:

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eat more chiken

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You misspelled chikin.

Our Domicile;842089878 said:

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Maybe this guy?

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He just counts them, he doesn't eat them.

Cal Panda Bear;842089919 said:

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Offseason = where important questions are raised on BI

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Like asking coaches during a limited chat period about their favorite places to eat?

Like Samuel L. Jackson said in SWAT: "How can I trust a man who won't eat a good old-fashioned American hot dog?".

I thought it was when Lance was dating Sheryl...

Son-of-California;842090016 said:

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I thought it was when Lance was dating Sheryl...

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Zing!

GranadaHillsBear;842089960 said:

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Like asking coaches during a limited chat period about their favorite places to eat?

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Exactly.

And for the record, all of the football related questions were pretty much asked before I asked a for-fun question. How many times could you ask the coach what he thinks of Bigelow or how he's going to use him before it just gets repetitive? Im sure the coach appreciated a non-football question here and there.