When you reach a certain age, you realize that your brain is cluttered with trivia. The trivia ranges from the rattly noises and old-car smells of the first car you owned to bad jokes you learned in sixth grade, to minor vulgarities in foreign languages that you otherwise know nothing about. Included in that trivia are corny sayings that you may have learned from your father or from small-town guys you knew in college or the army. I have this theory about Alzheimers's disease, which is that this useless stuff collects in the grey cells like barnacles until there is no room for new but useful trivia such as the names of people you 've met in the past week and you know you will see again.
At dinner time tonight, the expression "grab a root and growl" bubbled up in the back of my mind for no reason at all except that I was unloading a bag of take-out food to serve for dinner.
Grab a root? Growl? What in hell does that mean?
("What in hell" is another of those useless expressions. The meaning of "grab a root and growl" is not in Hades. Hotter than hell, colder than hell, slower than hell, faster than hell, smart as hell, dumber than hell. . .the list goes on forever, all the way to hell and all useless. But I digress.)
I consulted Google, the source of all that I know, and I found at least three possible sources for the expression. One is, "sit down and eat." Another comes from railroad workers and means, "grab hold and lift." The third means "hold on and fight," or a stubbornness associated with the Dust Bowl farmers of the 1930's who never left their farms but held on, waiting for rain.
"Sit down and eat" is the meaning I associate with the phrase. I think I learned it in a fraternity house dining room. Wherever it came from, I'd like to unload it and make room for some useful trivia such as the exact day in 2009 which will be Bush's last day in office, a mere 517 days from today if anyone's counting.
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13 comments:
Dear Al,
I have a family Civil War letter dated May 8th, 1863 in which the expression, "Grab a root," is used. It seems the Northern Troops were suddenly disturbed in the night by an unknown source and one man in a panic began to yell, "I surrender, I surrender." His fellow soldiers told him to "Grab a root." This meant, at that time, that he should get a hold on himself and not give up so easily. By the sound of the letter, this man was held in derision for his outburst of cowardice.
I hope this helps.
Oh, that's a great story and I love the authenticity of it. That's consistent with the third meaning I've found - grab hold and keep up the fight. I'm sure every farm boy who's dug up a tree root knows the meaning of being "rooted," or firmly attached to the Earth. Grab a root, hang on, don't get blown away.
My family have used "grab a root and growl" ever since I can remember. They used the phrase when we were ready to eat. I have always wondered where that expression came from.
Hi Al,
I have been reading a book about the dust bowl and read the expression "grab root and growl." I hadn't heard it in years and remembered that my dad would say it sometimes before we sat down to eat. Just thinking of the expression brought back great memories of my childhood in the 60's-- and just gave me good vibes.
Jill
My grandfather always used to say that when it was time to eat. He was born in 1914 on a northwest Arkansas farm.
You almost had it, Al, in refering to farmers and roots. When plowing fields where tree stumps were left after cutting down trees, early settlers would have to dig them out. Once they had dug a substantial hole around the stump and exposed the roots, they would cut the larger roots and then get down in the hole and use them as leverage to help the plowmule or horse to extricate the stump and any remaining roots. "Grab a root and growl" originally meant something akin to "Give it all you got!"
That explanation -- from farmers wrestling tree stumps out of the ground -- makes a lot more sense than the railroad workers explanation. I like it! But, how that expression got to the dinner table is a mystery to me.
thanks Al! i remember my grandmother saying "grab it & growl" when referring to dinner (or as she said, supper) time. then my mother said it! i always took it to mean "eat what we have - leftovers or whatever, and if you don't like it, you can growl" - but it's interesting to see the other meanings. take care!
Grab a root and growl was a slogan for the Last Man's Club established in the Texas panhandle during the dust bowl. It was a club vowing not to leave the area for California and to be the last people to stay no matter what. It's explained in a PBS documentary I saw on the dust bowl.
My family were Western Mo farmers who cleared their land with mules and by hand before the Civil War. Grandpa, born in 1900, used the term with the meaning you suggested. Having yanked a few foots from the ground while growling myself and given my family's dirt farmer origins, I must agree with your take.
I'm 60 and have known this expression since childhood. In my family it goes back to our Appalachian roots. My father used it regularly to encourage us to have gumption, to not give up, to work hard. He said it derives from the irrepressible activity of a spirited working dog on the farm who, bristling with energy and a willingness to be engaged, demonstrated his enthusiasm by grabbing a root with his teeth and growling. That's how I use the term.
My high school football coach used the saying to remind us to keep low in our stance.
I used to help my grandfather remove stumps in the fields at the farm. He used that saying all the time when we were removing stumps. And I always attributes it to work hard when you have too to get the job done I was watching McIintock starring John Wayne and this saying is in the movie in a scene right after the daughter gets home and they are setting up for the party.
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