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Chris -- 2018-04-11
i always thought the phrase was “to make ends meat” and not “to make ends meet” because the end piece of meat (like in a roast) is the toughest and least desirable. Thus, if I wanted to express how poor I am, I would say I don’t have enough money, even to afford an end piece…I can’t even make ends meat.
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Apparently you’re not the only one! This seems to be a fairly common interpretation.
http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/forum/view … hp?id=1976
Also (and some of these are used as plays on words):
ProudMary: Making Ends MeatAnyhow, I always thought that the phrase “making ends meet” was “making ends meat”, meaning that one was making at least enough money to afford ends meat. ...
proudmary.typepad.com/proudmary/2005/11/making_ends_mea.html – 15k – Cached – Similar pages
BBC News | BUSINESS | Making ends meatWater buffalo are an alternative source of income for UK farmers, helping them out of the troubled times caused by recent health scares.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/business/1181911.stm – 14k – Cached – Similar pages
Making Ends Meat Out Of Diving – Scuba Diving Board Archive[Archive] Making Ends Meat Out Of Diving General Travel and Vacation Discussions.
www.scubaboard.com/archive/index.php/t-9.html – 10k – Cached – Similar pages
Open Rage: Making Ends MeatThat’s what I used to think was the correct meaning of the phrase “Making Ends Meet” I thought that Ends Meat was a way of saying that you have enough meat …
theopenrage.blogspot.com/2005/05/making-ends-meat.html – 17k – Cached – Similar pages
FT.com / Home UK / UK – Making ends meatThe latest UK and international business, finance, economic and political news, comment and analysis from the Financial Times on FT.com.
www.ft.com/cms/s/2e286e18-c92c-11db-9f7 … 10621.html – 69k – Cached – Similar pages
FT.com / Arts & weekend / Books – Making ends meatMaking ends meat. By Anna Fifield. Published: March 2 2007 16:08 | Last updated: March 2 2007 16:08. FAMINE IN NORTH KOREA: Markets, Aid, and Reform …
www.ft.com/cms/s/14c10276-c6f9-11db-807 … 10621.html – 68k – Cached – Similar pages
Last edited by JonW719 (2007-09-13 15:24:27)
Feeling quite combobulated.
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anyone know what it is, the ends of which we are trying to make meet?
the imagery in my head is of a belt or similar going around something and meeting up, but I suspect the etymology may be “ends” as in “means to an end” ie a result.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will buy a ridiculous hat – Scott Adams (author of Dilbert)
Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day; set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life – Terry Pratchett
http://blog.meteorit.co.uk
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I wonder (and am simply speculating) if the imagery is of the end of one week or month meeting the next (i.e. living month-to-month but not really making it to the end of the month so there is a gap between the months).
Feeling quite combobulated.
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