Chrysti The Wordsmith: Goose - 2

Greetings for the horse. Last time on Kristi the wordsmith we looked at the expression. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. One seventeenth century writer called this a woman's proverb because the phrase means what's good enough for a woman is good enough for a man and reminds us that whether it's goose or gander male or female on the dinner plate the same sauce dresses both another everyday expression inspired by this common barnyard fall is the verbal phrase. Take a gander meaning to look at something the gander in this phrase is of course the male goose who is constantly twisting and telescoping his neck to check out the source of any nearby movement. When we look closely by taking a gander we linguistically compare ourselves to the rubbernecking male goose. Now the generic name of this bird has inspired a verb with an entirely different meaning to goose someone is to jab or poke him in a certain private place in order to surprise or annoy as inquisitive or pug nation as

geese will often do to humans. The birds bills being at the proper height. Similarly when we goose a car engine we jab the accelerator like a belligerent goose poking at the fundaments of a surprised human being. I'm Christi the wordsmith. This series is recorded on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.