![]() ![]() If medical requests in your prison service used to be regularly turned down, then they might also have been associated with “kite-flying”?īy the way, I notice a citation in the OED entry has this:ġ831 Visct. I remember that, in the Royal Navy, “to fly a kite” also meant, by extension, “to make a request that you had little expectation of having accepted”. The OED suggests that it comes from the practice of putting up a kite to see which way the wind is blowing at altitude. This may come from a variation on the common English expression, “to fly a kite”, meaning “to make a suggestion in order to guage the response” before committing to a course of action. This entry was posted in Inmate issues, Jail culture, Language and tagged correctional medicine, inmates, jail medicine, jails, Kite, language, prisons, slang by Jeffrey Keller MD. But is it true?Ĭan anyone out there shed some light on this subject? Where did the term “kite” originate? This explanation of the term makes sense to me, so I tend to believe it. Since the folded up note attached to a piece of string resembled a kite, it was called a “kite,” and the term “kite” then became a universal prison term for any written communication, including requests for medical care. He then swings the note attached to the string underneath his cell door and into the cell of his friend. The inmate folds up a note and ties it to a long piece of string. “Kite” probably came instead from the prison practice of communicating with another inmate in the next cell or even many cells away. I need to see the doctor.” Deputy: “Oh, go fly a kite.” Although many inmates believe this, I myself don’t think this is where the term comes from. Some inmates believe that the term “kite” implies that we don’t care about them, as in: Inmate: “I’m sick. So where did the term “kite” come from? I have heard two explanations. Even the dictionaries devoted to slang, like The Online Slang Dictionary or the Slang Dictionary don’t list the term “kite.” How can a slang term be so common in jails and prisons yet be unknown to linguists? If you unsubscribe, please know that you will be disliked.Yet I cannot find this definition of “kite” listed in any dictionary. To unsubscribe, respond to the email with “unsubscribe” in the subject line. ![]() You are currently subscribed to: REMA’s “Making Heads or Tails of Idioms” Newsletter! REFERRALS: Do you LOVE Rema’s Idiom Email and look forward to it all the time? If so, refer your friends! Stuart….recalls that ‘go pound sand in your ears’ meant to soft-pedal the noise” It dates back to the early 20th century in which a more vulgar version was used in 1969 by Max Yasgur when arguing with local dignitaries over bringing his Woodstock to Bethal, New York, saying: “Well, you can all go pound salt up your because come Aug 15, we’re going to have a festival!”Įarlier, a less vulgar version appeared in the Southeast Economist, Chicago, 1948: “From her store of memories, Mrs. The phrase originated in the US and is more common in the Midwest. The origin of the expression “go pound sand” is from a longer expression, “not to know / have enough sense to pound sand down a rat hole.” Since filling rat holes with sand is menial work, telling someone to pound sand down a hole is like telling them to go fly a kite. ![]() Origin: Apparently, “Go pound salt” is the less vulgar version of “go pound sand”. What does it mean? Basically another way to say “get lost” or “go away” What was said? Go Pound Salt ( aka Go Pound Sand)ĭid someone really say that? Yes, in a meeting about a month ago, the client said “if we tell our sales teams that, they’ll tell us to GO POUND SALT!” “Making Heads or Tails of Idioms” Newsletter. ![]()
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