Speaking "southern" - - - - - - - - - - - - - dispensing (with) wisdom.

I have a very southern accent - southern African, that is. Can’t shake it, and just like the famous Dixie, I "donnnnnn’ care". But I can tell you, there is justice in this world - that’s what kids are for. I grew up amusing myself by speaking "Inglish vis a Tchurman eksint", like some of my uncles and aunts, and not a few of my parents’ good friends. Now my kids imitate me. Ah, the joys of parenthood, the wheals of fortune.

Over the years, I have picked up some gems of southern expression, with their bits of wisdom. "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" is sage advice not to complicate something that’s basically quite functional - fixin’ it leads to more trouble than it is worth, and, indeed, more trouble, then it is worse. So, "go figure". . .

Of course, one shouldn’t complain, I mean, there’s not much you can do about things. It’s just the “same ol’ same ol’…”

But wait! "You’ll catch more flies with honey than vinegar" is a good one. Then again, who wants to catch flies?

Which brings me to "Fish or cut bait". Having not heard this one before, I was initially left to try to make sense of it on my own. I have fished a little, when I was a kid, and later when my boys were less than 10 years of age. I am not crazy about it. Somehow the experience never set me dreaming - I prefer music and photography - boring!, you might say. Which might explain how I settled for the incorrect interpretation, according to the experts.

The picture that came to my mind on reading “Fish or cut bait” was equal to "take it or leave it" (or other variations like "like it, or lump it" - the play on the "l" sound having some alliterative merit). I thought "cutting bait" might refer to cutting a baited line to quit fishing and leave. Turns out otherwise, if you are a purist - for in commercial fishing, two fairly equal tasks are part of the process, cutting the bait (dead fish used to catch live fish) and the other the task of actually doing the fishing. The meaning of "Fish or cut bait" is an instruction to get past your indecision, quit milling around and get on with the work. In other words - "Fish! or fish! already."

Life is full of double, doubtful and dubious meanings. “Many a true word is said in jest”. Many people scoff at Freud’s ideas, even as they live in denial about one thing or another ( such as * _____ *fill in the blanks). They might even deny their Freudian slips. (This is a reference to missteps of the mouth, not to ladies’ petticoats!)

Someone found an online reference for me (many thanks) dealing with the origins and meaning of “Fish or cut bait”. Interestingly, in the reference itself, the person who poses the question thinks the expression means "Get serious, or get out" (not too different from “Take it, or leave it!”). This may have more to do with the context in which the expression is used, than with what the expression was originally supposed to mean.

And so, let me make a prediction . . .

The expression “Fish or cut bait” is inherently confusing. This may be due to our increasing distance from the life of the commercial fishingman. But perhaps more importantly, I think the confusion is due to the other associations of the word “cut“. Expressions such as "to cut class" and " to cut your losses" come to mind, and deal with leaving something, not holding on, or staying with it. My prediction, therefore, is that in time, the “experts” will include a "new" meaning for this expression. In the future, the dictionaries that define our ever-evolving forms of speech will include the following: "Fish or cut bait" originally meant "stop dithering and get on with the job". But with time and use (or misuse?), also came to mean - "Take it or leave it", "Get serious or get out".

Go figure . . . or fish?
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PS - "Fish or cut bait" is the title of the President's Message in the current issue of the BSBI Messenger. See page 8.

PPS - have you answered the Questions of the week?

PPPS - If you haven't had your fill of fishy expressions, try this link.