How does it relate to wanting to discuss something with someone else?
2006-08-19 07:53:03 · 14 answers · asked by 7robbo 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
From my searches.. it seems to be from Old English slang.. and originally it meant "something to mull over" in the way that a dog is pre-occupied with a bone.
In modern day the expression means to settle a complaint with another person. And it may come from the imagery of 2 dogs fighting over a bone.
2006-08-19 08:12:39 · answer #1 · answered by Fruityloop 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In ancient times when mankind were still mostly nomads (and actually some tribes still do this) everything was eaten or used off a killed food animal such as a deer.
Bones hold marrow, marrow is a very rich fatty source of food. Marrow was a good thing, especially in tribes were food was scarce and you needed all the calories you could get.
The bones, along with several internal organs, like the liver and kidneys, were the prized parts of the kill. Most times they were given to the head man of the tribe. Usually a leader that was responsible for the safety and well being of the tribe. You wanted this person to stay healthy and not worry about hunger, they made the decisions that kept you alive....all the more reason he eat the best high calorie foods.
To say you "had a bone to pick" with him meant you needed to get his attention. You basically bribed him with a marrow rich bone you had scavenged off the animal you were eating.
While he was munching away contentedly at the marrow you discussed your problem with him. Something that would have normally gotten you hit, kicked or in some rare cases...killed if you had approached him empty handed. Now your problem was heard by the one person who had the power to fix it.
2006-08-19 08:04:53 · answer #2 · answered by Miss Guided 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Miss Guided got it, except for the "nomads" part. The pactice of sitting around gleaning the last meat off the bone and picking the marrows out was pretty boring, but necessary in the days before Safeway and Piggly Wiggly and refrigeration made food so common that we could pitch out the left-overs. So while they were engaging in this tedious and not terribly demanding job, the people would gossip and chat and share ... so the expression means "I've something to talk to you about" with mildly negative connotations.
2006-08-19 09:03:23 · answer #3 · answered by Grendle 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ROFL...do not even get me all started about Corpus Christi, l. a., Santa Cruz... looks like you managed to get an improve out of a number of the more beneficial 'renowned' Libtards on the area; there's a touch element talked about as a 'humorousness' that Liberals lack-their theory of humorous is observing someone getting robbed at gunpoint and the proceeds given to crackheads
2016-11-05 04:28:38 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
"Bone to pick," dates back to the 16th century, simply refers to a dog chewing endlessly on, and "picking clean," a large bone. A "bone to pick" is an issue that is expected to require considerable discussion or argument. A similar phrase, "bone of contention," meaning an issue over which two people argue, also dates back to the 1500s and refers, appropriately, to two dogs fighting over an especially choice bone.
It has a slightly different meaning in Uk and Ireland. 'I have a bone to pick with you' means 'I believe you have done me wrong and I want to know why.'
2006-08-19 14:28:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is an allusion from the kennel.
Two dogs and one bone invariably form a basis for a fight.
'By these ten bones, my lords,' meaning the fingers, and calls the ten fingers 'pickers and stealers'
(Hamlet, III, ii(1600))
2006-08-23 00:37:38 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dont know where it came from, but when i was a kid my aunt told me that she had a bone to pick with me, but being a stupid kid i went to where she keeps her dogs bones and i started to look through them and i said this one looks good! She then turned around and started to tell me off for something i had done, i was totally confused! =]
2006-08-20 01:29:36 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Don't know.
Lots of answers from everyone, but let's not let it become a bone of contention.
2006-08-22 03:21:11 · answer #8 · answered by Pretty Tough Girl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I reckon England everyone old over here uses the term.
2006-08-19 08:00:45 · answer #9 · answered by Sereniti 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
If somebody says this, they mean that they have some complaint to make against the person they are addressing.
unknown just who started it.
2006-08-19 08:02:14 · answer #10 · answered by jaimestar64cross 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋