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Lipstick on a Pig
County and state fairs have all sorts of contests and judging. Most of them are for the quality of an item (Best okra pickles) or for the largest or smallest of an item (fattest pig, smallest acorn carving). There are races like sack races and three legged races for humans, or person against animal contests like catching a greased shoat.
All of it is meant to be fun. One fairly common one is the dressed pig contest. I have a feeling it was originally what I thought it was and an animal was slaughtered and dressed for serving -- much like a sheep to shawl contest with blood and guts. However, at some point it metamorphosed into a drag contest for sows. The animals are dressed in human clothing and accessories and paraded. Very often, the accessories include lipstick.
When I was a kid, my maternal grandfather would occasionally use the phrase "like putting lipstick on a pig" to indicate changes were merely cosmetic. I'm reasonably certain I heard it from my paternal grandfather, too, but I didn't know him as well so can't be 100% sure. It's even a phrase I've heard very occasionally from both my parents (both of whom were 4-H kids growing up).
I say this because, without all the media coverage, it would never have occurred to me that anyone could take Mr. Obama's remark about Republican policies as a slur against Sarah Palin.
Seriously. This is an old, old saying. There are fingers to point at Mr. Obama for using it. He may be a Midwestern Senator, but he's not naturally "folksy." It's not a slur to say that, none of the candidates in the primaries this year were particularly folksy. I've never thought it was a sufficient or necessary qualification for the Presidency anyway.
(In the same vein, I tried to find an old Doonesbury that I love about Al Gore. It referred to him as bilingual and showed him in the last panel in Tennessee saying "Y'all want hear my coon dog call?")
Now part of me is rolling my eyes that Mr. Obama tried to be folksy and didn't think it through, but by far the larger part is pointing and laughing at the Republicans for trying to make this remark into a direct insult when it isn't.
*sigh*
Is it November yet?
All of it is meant to be fun. One fairly common one is the dressed pig contest. I have a feeling it was originally what I thought it was and an animal was slaughtered and dressed for serving -- much like a sheep to shawl contest with blood and guts. However, at some point it metamorphosed into a drag contest for sows. The animals are dressed in human clothing and accessories and paraded. Very often, the accessories include lipstick.
When I was a kid, my maternal grandfather would occasionally use the phrase "like putting lipstick on a pig" to indicate changes were merely cosmetic. I'm reasonably certain I heard it from my paternal grandfather, too, but I didn't know him as well so can't be 100% sure. It's even a phrase I've heard very occasionally from both my parents (both of whom were 4-H kids growing up).
I say this because, without all the media coverage, it would never have occurred to me that anyone could take Mr. Obama's remark about Republican policies as a slur against Sarah Palin.
Seriously. This is an old, old saying. There are fingers to point at Mr. Obama for using it. He may be a Midwestern Senator, but he's not naturally "folksy." It's not a slur to say that, none of the candidates in the primaries this year were particularly folksy. I've never thought it was a sufficient or necessary qualification for the Presidency anyway.
(In the same vein, I tried to find an old Doonesbury that I love about Al Gore. It referred to him as bilingual and showed him in the last panel in Tennessee saying "Y'all want hear my coon dog call?")
Now part of me is rolling my eyes that Mr. Obama tried to be folksy and didn't think it through, but by far the larger part is pointing and laughing at the Republicans for trying to make this remark into a direct insult when it isn't.
*sigh*
Is it November yet?
Pssst. Pass it on.
Oct. 11, 2007
Re: Pssst. Pass it on.
I guess we're lucky he didn't charge Mr. Obama with plagiarism.