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168:". All tell a similar story: a slow-witted New York farmer is outfoxed by his (presumed urban) boarders; after they complain about the poor food being served, the farmer discounts the complaint by claiming he "kin eat anything", and the boarders wonder if he can eat a crow. "I kin eat a crow!" the farmer says. The boarders take him up on the challenge but also secretly spike the crow with Scotch
172:. The story ends with the farmer saying: "I kin eat a crow, but I be darned if I hanker after it." Although the humor might produce only a weak smile today, it was probably a knee slapper by 19th-century standards, guaranteeing the story would be often retold in print and word of mouth, thus explaining, in part, the idiom's origin. In 1854,
279:" (1885). Morrowbie Jukes, a European colonist in India, falls into a sand-pit from which he cannot escape. Another man, a native Indian, is also trapped there who catches wild crows and eats them, saying "Once I was Brahmin and proud man; and now I eat crows." Morrowbie Jukes is also reduced to eating crow.
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and the presidency. Later, CNN retracted the call and put
Florida back in the too-close-to-call column before finally awarding Florida to George Bush. One of the anchors, Greenfield, likened CNN's error to eating crow. Many other newspapers throughout the country retracted, and were also said to eat
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You Are Hereby
Invited To A "Crow Banquet" To Which This Newspaper Proposes To Invite Newspaper Editorial Writers, Political Reporters And Editors, Including Our Own, Along With Pollsters, Radio Commentators And Columnists ... Main Course Will Consist of Breast of Tough Old Crow En Glace. (You Will
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men were croweaters… because it was asserted that the early settlers… when short of mutton, made a meal of the unwary crow". According to a newsletter of the
Australian National Dictionary Centre, early settlers did in fact eat cockatoo and parrots. How they became known as crow eaters instead is
55:-eater that is presumably repulsive to eat in the same way that being proven wrong might be emotionally hard to swallow. The exact origin of the idiom is unknown, but it probably began with an American story published around 1850 about a dim-witted New York farmer.
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chapter 11 as being unfit for eating. Scavenging carrion eaters have a long association with the battlefield; "They left the corpses behind for the raven, never was there greater slaughter in this island," says the
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65:", to "eat your hat" (or shoe), or to put one's foot in mouth; all probably originating from "to eat one's words", which first appears in print in 1571 in one of
198:. Pies made of this were said to be served to those of lesser class who did not eat at the king's/lord's/governor's table, possibly following speculation in
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unknown but notably this term appears after the
American usage in 1850 but does not carry the same idiomatic or pejorative meaning of being proven wrong.
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defines crow (sb3) as meaning "intestine or mesentery of an animal" and cites usages from the 17th century into the 19th century (e.g., Farley,
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47:, used in some English-speaking countries, that means humiliation by admitting having been proven wrong after taking a strong position. The
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of seeing them as distasteful (even illegal at times) to eat, and thus naturally humiliating if forced to consume against one's will.
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119:, and other carrion-eating scavenging animals, there is a tradition in Western culture going back to at least the
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194:. The English phrase is something of a pun—"umbles" were the intestines, offal and other less valued meats of a
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Literally eating a crow is traditionally seen as being distasteful; the crow, if understood to be a type of
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present a grand dish with exotic spices. Another dish likely to be served with humble pie is
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The following examples illustrate notable uses of the idiom after its origin in the 1850s.
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is of a family of idioms having to do with eating and being proven incorrect, such as to "
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by J. C. F. Johnson who writes: "I was met with the startling information that all
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but there is little evidence for this. Early references in cookbooks such as
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probably first appeared in print in 1850, as an
American humor piece about a
615:"Headline headaches: Many newspapers throughout the country had to eat crow"
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232:: "the harslet, which consists of the liver, crow, kidneys, and skirts)."
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but it does not carry the same idiomatic meaning as eating crow.
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152:(3 December 1851), but two other early versions exist, one in
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73:: "God eateth not his words when he hath once spoken".
252:". The earliest known usage dates to 1881 in the book
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In the modern figurative sense of being proven wrong,
275:(1865–1936) used this concept in his short story "
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313:On 7 November 2000, the election night of the
8:
468:The Beast Within: Animals in the Middle Ages
218:). "Pie" is also an antiquated term for the
649:When Eating Crow Was an American Food Trend
558:The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories
588:"What Have We Learned from Election 2000?"
442:, October 2003, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 7–9.
292:1948 United States presidential election
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201:Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
142:says the story was first published as "
686:Metaphors referring to food and drink
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385:Eating Crow, and other indigestibles
296:media predictions of a Dewey victory
214:pie (rooks being closely related to
485:Mrs. Partington's Carpet-Bag of Fun
277:The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes
182:Mrs. Parkington's Carpet-Bag of Fun
25:
613:Angeles, Mark (9 November 2000).
560:. Oxford University Press, 1999.
100:, is one of the birds listed in
534:. ABC NewsRadio. Archived from
304:sent a telegram to the victor:
158:(date unknown), and one in the
391:, last accessed September 2014
317:, after the polls had closed,
1:
506:The New Century Book of Facts
427:, Gerald Leonard Cohen 2006,
36:Black crow painted on a plate
681:Metaphors referring to birds
176:published a version called "
236:South Australian croweater
187:A similar British idiom is
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315:2000 Presidential Election
164:(2 November 1850) called "
518:Oxford English Dictionary
363:Oxford English Dictionary
225:Oxford English Dictionary
254:To Mount Browne and Back
676:English-language idioms
671:American English idioms
620:Philadelphia Daily News
488:, "Crow eating", 1854,
265:Notable examples of use
532:"Wordwatch: Croweater"
434:26 August 2011 at the
423:26 August 2011 at the
387:by Michael Quinion at
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149:Daily Evening Picayune
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27:English-language idiom
440:Comments on Etymology
418:Studies in Slang, VII
366:2, "crow", n. #1, 3a.
240:A popular Australian
161:Saturday Evening Post
146:" in San Francisco's
108:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
35:
538:on 15 September 2005
180:" in his collection
577:, 15 November 1948.
480:Samuel Putnam Avery
340:Foot in Mouth Award
301:The Washington Post
230:Lond Art of Cookery
174:Samuel Putnam Avery
470:, Routledge, 2011.
464:Joyce E. Salisbury
438:. Re-printed from
207:Liber Cure Cocorum
38:
594:. 7 November 2000
556:Rudyard Kipling.
452:"Leviticus 11:13"
166:Can You Eat Crow?
155:The Knickerbocker
16:(Redirected from
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429:pp. 119–122
248:people is "
178:Crow Eating
144:Eating Crow
128:eating crow
121:Middle Ages
67:John Calvin
59:Eating crow
41:Eating crow
665:Categories
626:30 January
598:5 November
325:would win
321:predicted
191:humble pie
84:people is
286:defeated
250:croweater
102:Leviticus
86:croweater
502:"Magpie"
432:Archived
421:Archived
334:See also
258:Adelaide
113:buzzards
71:Psalm 62
63:eat dirt
18:Eat crow
542:12 July
327:Florida
323:Al Gore
290:in the
242:demonym
189:to eat
78:demonym
53:carrion
490:p. 145
330:crow.
140:OED V2
691:Error
346:Notes
216:crows
170:snuff
98:raven
51:is a
45:idiom
628:2024
600:2016
575:Time
544:2017
244:for
212:rook
196:deer
132:rube
117:rats
80:for
49:crow
592:CNN
504:in
319:CNN
667::
651:,
617:.
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573:"
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466:.
416:,
396:^
371:^
354:^
298:,
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602:.
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20:)
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