more than one can shake a stick at
Appearance
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unknown. American English, in use since about 1800.[1]
Adjective
[edit]more than one can shake a stick at (comparative form only)
- Occurring in abundance; of a large quantity; many.
- 1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 16, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC:
- "[L]aziness, cousin, laziness,—which ruins more souls than you can shake a stick at."
- 1883, Edward Payson Roe, chapter 39, in His Sombre Rivals: A Story of the Civil War:
- "[H]e's laid out more 'Federates dan he can shake a stick at."
- 1910, Jack London, chapter 16, in Burning Daylight:
- "I've got more companies than you can shake a stick at. There's the Alameda & Contra Costa Land Syndicate, the Consolidated Street Railways, the Yerba Buena Ferry Company, the United Water Company, the Piedmont Realty Company, the Fairview and Portola Hotel Company, and half a dozen more that I've got to refer to a notebook to remember."
- 2004 August 15, Ben Stein, “For Sale: The Ultimate Status Symbol”, in New York Times, retrieved 12 June 2014:
- There are more billionaires than you can shake a stick at.
Usage notes
[edit]- The modified noun is placed between more and than.
Translations
[edit]occurring in abundance
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References
[edit]- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “shake”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.