Search results
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 ...
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 ...
“origin of cry uncle” (English) in Spanish is
Origen del tío llorón
Google's service, offered free of charge, instantly translates words, phrases, and web pages between English and over 100 other languages.
A fanciful suggestion is that it may be based on a joke from 19th-century England about a bullied parrot being coaxed to address his owner's uncle. Another suggested origin is from the English phrase “time out”, a plea to cease hostilities. The abbreviated usage "T.O." was mistaken for the Spanish “tío”, which means "uncle".
People also ask
Where did the phrase 'Say Uncle' come from?
What does Cry Uncle mean?
Where did 'uncle' come from?
Why do people cry for their uncle?
Jan 25, 2001 · The form of "uncle" used in the Latin phrase ("patrue") tends to support this theory, inasmuch as it specifically denoted your paternal uncle, as opposed to the brother of your mother ("avunculus"), who occupied a somewhat lower rung in patrilineal Roman society. from the Word Detective.com. Phrase Finder. Say 'UNCLE' - the meaning and origin ...
Aug 1, 2014 · A more plausible explanation, though, dates back to the days of the Roman Empire. When young children of that era were attacked by bullies, they wouldn’t be set free until they uttered "Patrue ...
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 ...
