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- Due to heavy Irish immigration in eastern Canada and New England in the 19th century, it is likely an anglicization of the Irish 'anacal', meaning deliverance or quarter. A less likely theory is that it derives from a phrase uttered by youngsters in the Roman empire who got into trouble, patrue mi patruissime (“uncle, my best of uncles”).
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Where did the phrase 'Uncle my Best of uncles' come from?
Where did the phrase 'Cry 'Uncle' come from?
Where did 'uncle' come from?
When did a parrot Say 'Uncle'?
Why do we say “uncle” when admitting defeat? The only facts we know for sure are that it’s strictly a North American phrase, and that it first appeared in written English in 1918.
Origin. There are several theories on the phrase's origin. Due to heavy Irish immigration in eastern Canada and New England in the 19th century, it is likely an anglicization of the Irish 'anacal', meaning deliverance or quarter.
Nov 28, 1998 · This is the earliest he has found, from the Iowa Citizen of 9 October 1891: A gentleman was boasting that his parrot would repeat anything he told him. For example, he told him several times, before some friends, to say “Uncle,” but the parrot would not repeat it.
There is at least one major competing theory, that “saying uncle” is derived (over a 2000-year history) from the Latin “Patrue, mī patruissime! (O uncle, my best of uncles!), used for the same function by Roman schoolboys.
Although it is often regarded as an Americanism, there are at least two differing theories as to the true origin of the phrase: ancient Rome and 19th-century England. There are various opinions as to the reason that Roman bullies forced their victims to "cry 'Uncle! ' ".
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It seems that while “crying uncle” is today regarded as an Americanism, its origins go all the way back to the Roman Empire. Roman children, when beset by a bully, would be forced to say “Patrue, mi Patruissimo,” or “Uncle, my best Uncle,” in order to surrender and be freed.
