Talk:Eating crow

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??? The phrase in the US is--Macrakis 03:46, 31 May 2007 (UTC) "to eat crow" ... in a half-century of traveling around American, I've never heard "boiled" added in. - DavidWBrooks 03:31, 9 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Not a joke. You just haven't been wandering long enough. For the past half century, the phrase has been "to eat crow". Circa 1850, "boiled" was added more often than not.

Then perhaps the name of the article should be 'to eat crow' with a note that in the 1800s people tossed in 'boiled'. 204.69.40.7 12:21, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] "proven wrong after having strongly expressed your opinion"

Proven wrong about anything particular? Opinions are neither right nor wrong. -- Smjg 09:09, 10 May 2005 (UTC)

It is assumed that the person putting forth the incorrect point of view does not present it as fact. That would be an example of being caught in a lie, not eating crow. To eat crow, one must voice an opinion that is later proven, to the satisfaction of the opinion holder, to be false. --skia 05:56, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] [It is well known that Crows are carriers of disease....

I removed this paragraph after not being able to confirm it with a simple web search. If it is in fact true, it should be footnoted. The only disease currently associated with crows is West Nile virus, and the expression predates WNV by many years.

[edit] Link to Crow Article

Kind of funny that an article on eating crows doesn't actually link to crows themselves, no? :) Added link to where seemed to be an appropriate location. --Shane Lawrence 06:18, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unlikely histories

I have removed two paragraphs claiming to explain the expression because they are implausible and give no sources:

Another possible connection comes from a short story by Rudyard Kipling. In his story “The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes,” Morrowbie Jukes falls into a place from which he cannot escape. Another man trapped there catches wild crows and eats them, but Morrowbie in his pride declares, “I shall never eat crow!” After days of nothing to eat, his hunger and desperation finally forces him to do what he swore he would never do—literally eat crow.

The story does indeed involve eating crows, but the OED has quotes of "eat crow" from the 1870's, and the story was only published in 1885. So it seems more likely that Kipling was using an existing expression. (By the way, some previous comments here mention quotes from the 1850's -- documentation, please?)

"Eating Crow" Refers to the Native American Crow tribe. They were crazy and would kill anyone that trespassed on their territory. They were also very superstitious. An early colonist was lost one day and was attacked by a few crow indians. He killed one and pretended to eat it, letting the other indians see him and they left him alone. hence eating crow.

This seems to be pure invention, and was added by a one-edit anon. Any sources? --Macrakis 03:46, 31 May 2007 (UTC)