An irish saying that goes "A body can get used to anything, even to being hanged"
- Thread starter J.Anne
- Start date
Where did you find this saying?
This is a type of Wellerism - Wikipedia, possibly a quote from Anne of Green Gables but now become proverbial.
In a book titled Anne of Green Gables!
Below are the sentences related.
To be sure, they seem contented enough; but then, I suppose, they’re used to it. A body can get used to anything, even to being hanged, as the Irishman said.”
Thank you!
"A body (= a person) can get used to anything." Then the rest is added as a joke.
Now I see. Thank you for your help!!
There's a certain dark humor to it, since one can't, of course, get used to being executed by hanging. It sounds more like Samuel Beckett than L.M. Montgomery!
Your mentioning Wellerism helped me as well. I didn't know what it was, but now I know and knowing what it is helped me a lot to understand the sentence. Thank you!!
Thanks, thanks! Your reply helped a lot!
I suppose this suggests that it is "Irish logic" - illogical. See this definition of "Irish" In the WordReference dictionary:
2 (informal, offensive) ludicrous or illogical
irish - WordReference.com Dictionary of English
... or does it suggest that the Irish are subject to being hanged a lot.
A body can get used to anything, even to being hanged, as the Irishman said.... is the original sentence. I supposed the sentence was an Irish proverb from the context. I'll check out "Irish logic". Thank you.
Hm.... maybe... there might be some stories about that expression from history. Thank you for your opinion!