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Feb 21, 2011 · There is no definitive history on the origin of the phrase, though there is plenty of speculation. The term, which is universally recognized as words that concede defeat (i.e., "I give up"), was ...
1 day ago · cry uncle (third-person singular simple present cries uncle, present participle crying uncle, simple past and past participle cried uncle) (US, colloquial) To beg for mercy; to give up, admit defeat. [from 19th c.]
This phrase originated about 1900 as an imperative among school-children who would say, "Cry uncle when you've had enough (of a beating)." By the mid-1900s it was being used figuratively, as in the examples. See also: cry, uncle.
Nov 28, 1998 · This call by one child for another to submit or cry for mercy — which appears variously as say uncle!, cry uncle! or holler uncle! — is first recorded in print in the US early in the twentieth century. The Oxford English Dictionary ’s first example is from 1918, but I’ve found an instance in an advertisement in the Modesto News of ...
This phrase originated about 1900 as an imperative among school-children who would say, “Cry uncle when you've had enough (of a beating).” By the mid-1900s it was being used figuratively, as in the examples. Discover More. Example Sentences.
Apr 7, 1985 · The recorded origin is relatively recent, according to Mitford Mathews in his Dictionary of Americanisms. ... was the double meaning of ''Uncle.'' As both the signal for surrender and the short ...
Dictionary; Blog; Idiomology. cry uncle. Facebook Email. Meaning of the phrase:-admit defeat · Origin of the phrase: Next . ace up your sleeve.
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