2006-07-04 11:33:00 · 9 answers · asked by Joe Schmoe 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
I can't give you first use or origin,but the meaning is clear. If you are left hanging (the most innocuous case), it means that your status or your question is left unresolved, you're possibly in a state of suspense. If you are left hung out to dry, mama has put you on the clothesline with no indication when, if ever, you are going to be taken down. You are in an exposed position, "blowing in the wind," often in the role of sacrificial goat. Thus it is often used in regard to someone left carrying the can or holding the bag. During the investigations which culminated in the impeachment charge against Richard Nixon (U.S. President), several underlings were serially left hanging out to dry or blowing in the wind. It was hoped, in a few cases, that they would take the heat off, or take the fall, be the patsy, for the iniquities of their superiors.
One of the most enduring lines of the Nixon investigations was provided by John Ehrlichman, one of Nixon's top political advises. He suggested that the confirmation hearings for Patrick Gray as head of the FBI be delayed, and that Gray be left "twisting slowly, slowly in the wind," in order to distract the press from more damaging things. The image suggests a hanging, but most of the unfortunate victims left "hanging in the wind" or "blowing in the wind" or "twisting slowly in the wind," at least during and after Watergate, were not actually hanged. You can say that they were hung out to dry, however.
2006-07-04 11:37:26 · answer #1 · answered by SurfinOnDryLand 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It means you don't have the full expression.
The correct expression is "Run through the ringer and hung out to dry."
It relates to laundry and the way the ringer would squeeze out all the water from the cloth before it could then be hung out to dry. It is a metaphor for being drained dry of all your energy.
You are looking 1920's to 1960's, while ringers were in use in this country as to where and when the metaphor originated.
2006-07-04 12:02:02 · answer #2 · answered by LORD Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hung Out To Dry
2016-11-04 22:25:14 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you are all way to modern! It relates to an incident during the battle of Flodden (Between the English and Scots) During the battle, a messenger was sent back to the reserve lines of the Scots to gather the reserves as the Scots were fairing badly. He stopped in the village of Coldstream for a rest and some sustenance. His shoes and socks were soaked so he hung his socks to dry by the fire. The sustenance he had partaken of (possibly of a liquid nature) got the better of him and another messenger was sent who caught up with the first and warned him of the dire straits the Scots were in. They both rushed off to get the reserves, but too late to save the day. The Scots lost the battle. A pair of old rough wool socks left by the fleeing messenger, encased in an antique cabinet and a brass plaque describing the story of how the Scots were "Hung out to Dry" can still be seen today in a pub on the main street in the village of Coldstream, Scotland.
2016-08-24 06:24:25 · answer #4 · answered by Sjt Jeffrey 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hang Out To Dry
2016-12-15 04:30:00 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
What does the expression "hung out to dry" mean and where does it originate from?
2015-08-25 07:10:53 · answer #6 · answered by Carlita 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Way back before you were thought of they use to add to that....put through the ringer and hung out to dry.When one did clothes before electricity was used,people had a washer that had a tub with a wash board in it and a ringer on top. Once you hand washed the clothes by scraping them up and down on the board, you would ring them out and hang them to dry.Therefore,you are put through the ringer and hung out to dry when you are taken advantage of or you go through a hard situation.
2006-07-04 11:44:49 · answer #7 · answered by Tyna S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It means you were betrayed. It was probably oroginally "skinned and hung out to dry"
2006-07-04 11:37:01 · answer #8 · answered by lindalitz 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
means wrung out and wasted.
When clothing was washed in a hand turned washing machine the water was twisted tight and shaken to ring it out then it was put on a closesline. whenre it is hung out to dry
2006-07-04 11:38:05 · answer #9 · answered by ML 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe it orginated from the old women who used to hang their wet clothing out to dry, before dryers were invented.
Hung out to dry means you are literally hung out to dry, to get the lies, deceat, or just left out there to your lonesome.
2006-07-04 11:38:46 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋