A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
From everything that man erects and builds in his urge for living, nothing in my eyes is better and more valuable than bridges. They are more important than houses, more sacred than shrines. Belonging to everyone and being equal to everyone, useful, always built with a sense, on the spot where most human needs are crossing, they are more durable than other buildings and they do not serve for anything secret or bad. -Ivo Andric, novelist, Nobel laureate (9 Oct 1892-1975)2022/11/01
2022/10/31
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes. -Desiderius Erasmus, philosopher, humanist, and theologian (28 Oct 1466-1536)2022/10/27
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart, and that is softness of head. -Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (27 Oct 1858-1919)2022/10/26
sandboy
sandboy
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
noun:
1. A very happy person.
2. One who deals in sand.
1. A very happy person.
2. One who deals in sand.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Old English sand + boy. Earliest documented use: 1796.
NOTES:
The term is typically used in the construction “happy as a sandboy”. Who was this sandboy and why was he so happy? If you have ever seen a child building sandcastles or digging canals on a beach, it would seem obvious.
The reality is more grim. In Dickensian England, a child was more likely to be toiling in a factory or on the streets than playing on the beach: Consider these lines from a 1804 poem “The Rider and Sand-Boy: A Tale”
Originally, a sandboy was someone, not necessarily a child, who delivered sand to a pub, for example, where it could be used to soak up spilled drinks. Sandboys were paid for their labor in drinks. After a hard day’s labor, finally sitting down with a drink in hand and you can see why they’d be very happy. There’s also the term sand-happy, meaning very drunk.
Did you hear about the sandboy’s career change when he became an adult?
He now deals in sleep.
The reality is more grim. In Dickensian England, a child was more likely to be toiling in a factory or on the streets than playing on the beach: Consider these lines from a 1804 poem “The Rider and Sand-Boy: A Tale”
A poor shoeless urchin, half-starved and sun-tanned,
Went by the inn-window crying, “Buy my fine sand!”
Went by the inn-window crying, “Buy my fine sand!”
Originally, a sandboy was someone, not necessarily a child, who delivered sand to a pub, for example, where it could be used to soak up spilled drinks. Sandboys were paid for their labor in drinks. After a hard day’s labor, finally sitting down with a drink in hand and you can see why they’d be very happy. There’s also the term sand-happy, meaning very drunk.
Did you hear about the sandboy’s career change when he became an adult?
He now deals in sleep.
USAGE:
“And the carefree Costa Ricans, 12th in the contentment league, are not alone. Arabs and ex-pats in the United Arab Emirates (17th) are happy as sandboys. The UK rates only 18th, below Luxembourg (a made-up country), Belgium (ditto), Israel (all right if you’re not an Arab), the USA (ditto if not black), and Austria (the dull country).”
Paul Routledge; Stuff Your “Happy” Nations. GB’s Best; The Daily Mirror (London, UK); Apr 6, 2012.
See more usage examples of sandboy in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
Paul Routledge; Stuff Your “Happy” Nations. GB’s Best; The Daily Mirror (London, UK); Apr 6, 2012.
See more usage examples of sandboy in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.
2022/10/24
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand. -Emily Kimbrough, author and broadcaster (23 Oct 1899-1989)
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