Skip to main content

Like Nailing Jelly to a Tree

 

Like Nailing Jelly to a Tree 

Watch this on YouTube here - Tree Video - YouTube Video


Meaning:

Like Nailing Jelly to a Tree means to deal with a very difficult problem or a problem that cannot be solved. a foolish or worthless attempt at something. 

“Ha, that will be like nailing Jelly to a tree.”

In America they say "to nail jello to a tree", Jell-O being a gelatin dessert that comes in fruit flavors.


Origin:

The origins of both these phrases actually lie in politics. Theodore Roosevelt, in 1915 wrote a letter to William Roscoe Thayer talking about the difficulty he was having negotiating with Columbia regarding the Panama Canal, it said:

'You could no more make an agreement with them than you could nail currant jelly to a wall - and the failure to nail currant jelly to a wall is not due to the nail; it is due to the currant jelly.'


Example:

Today we do not hear this expression as much, but if you did hear it, it would mean that a task or situation is impossible. An example sentence would be:

“Trying to have a reasonable debate with her father is like nailing Jello to a tree.”


Watch this on YouTube here - Tree Video - YouTube Video



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bad Egg

  Bad Egg Watch this on YouTube here - Eggs Video - YouTube Video Meaning: Bad Egg is a disappointing or unpleasant person, someone who fails to meet expectations.  “What a Bad Egg!” Origin: The Term Bad Egg has been around since the 1800s; back in the days before food standards were so high, it was necessary to check that you didn’t crack a bad egg in amongst the other ingredients. Cookbooks advised cracking eggs into a separate bowl to be sure. One bad egg could spoil it all, and the phrase was born; now, it refers to one bad person amongst all the other good ones, can spoil the mood. The phrase bad egg first appeared in print in the novel “Captain Priest” by Samuel A Hammett in 1855; it read: Some birds are said to carry brick-bats under their wings to sharpen their bills, and others, stones in maws to whet their appetites, but the Perfect Bird carries a brick in his hat and a stone in his boot. In the language of his class, the Perfect Bird generally turns out to be ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Piece of Cake

  Piece of Cake Watch this on YouTube here - Dessert Video - YouTube Video Meaning: Piece of Cake means A straightforward task that can easily be accomplished. An easy chore, A no-hassle task  “Ahh, piece of cake.” Origin: There is another expression similar to this one that goes ‘as easy as pie.’ -But that's another video - Both sayings have identical meanings—they express ease, but why? It probably doesn’t have to do with the cooking part of these desserts, because baking a cake or pie requires a fair bit of work. First, you have to buy all of the ingredients. Then you have to make it by mixing all the necessary parts together. Then it has to be made up and put in the oven, and you wait for it to cook. Okay, it’s not exactly difficult, but I wouldn’t say it’s easy either. I am not so sure the origin of this idiom comes from the baking of the cake . However, eating the cake once it finishes cooking, now that is a different story that is way ...
Post a Comment
Read more

To Hit the Road

  To Hit the Road  Watch this on YouTube here - Traveling Video - YouTube Video Meaning: To Hit the Road means to begin a journey, set out on a trip, to be asked to leave.  “Time to hit the road” Origin: This phrase means to leave, it can be good or bad. The bad way is when someone is telling you to go home or to get out “hit the road” or in the good sense it means that you are about to set out on a trip of some kind “all ready? Let’s hit the road.” The phrase has origins in the 1800s when it meant the pounding of a horse’s hooves hitting the trail, re was first written in W. F. Butler’s book ‘The Wild North Land: being the story of a winter journey, with dogs, across northern North America ‘ in 1873. The phrase meant “to get going,” “let’s hit the trail”, and “start our day.” This phrase took on more of a negative twist to say “get out of here” or “Leave” in the 1960s when Ray Charles sang the hit song “Hit the road, Jack”. Example: Today we still see the phrase Hit ...
Post a Comment
Read more