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cerbrato May 3, 2002

Yo dont knock it till you try it! i'm joking!

pinks May 4, 2002

ha ha ha - words of wisdom and experience eh?

cerbrato May 4, 2002

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

pinks May 4, 2002

dont try and deny it - i know your sordid secrets

cerbrato May 4, 2002

no really I'm clean as a whistle! hey who are you anyways?

N
nine9starOG 2001

ha ha ha ha clean as a whistle?? How clean would that be?

cerbrato cerbratoOG 2002

uhh really clean? I dunno

N
nine9starOG 2001

i was just thinkin how funny some sayin we have are, i mean take clean as a whistle for example - to us it means really clean but why would a whistle be so clean? - side point sorry just musing away.

legs legsFounder

well...for a whistle to actually "whistle" it would have to be real clean right? not dirty at all riiiight? hence the saying "clean as a whistle" well thats my guess lol

thatdarngirl thatdarngirlOG 2002

how can a whistle be clean though? You're dirty mouth is all over it!

N
nine9starOG 2001

ha ha case in point ;)

N
nine9starOG 2001

Although actually your mouth is a lot cleaner than most other parts of your body

thatdarngirl thatdarngirlOG 2002

most people's mouths are at least..

P
pinksOG 2002

ha ha ha ha what are you insinuating?

thatdarngirl thatdarngirlOG 2002

I'M NOT DIRTY! I SWEAR!

P
pinksOG 2002 thatdarngirl

lol yeah yeah we believe you hun

sux2beme sux2bemeOG 2002

plageristic response:

It's somewhat unclear where the phrase "clean as a whistle" came from. The phrase actually has two meanings: "clean or pure" and "absolutely, completely." "Utterly or completely" is the original 18th century meaning -- a roof blown off in a tornado might be said to have been torn off "clean as a whistle," leaving no remnants. The "pure or unsullied" meaning ("Wash that deck until it's clean as a whistle, sailor") came later, and may have its roots in a misunderstanding of the sense of "clean" in the original phrase.

If that seems a little mysterious, the answer may lie in the fact that the original phrase wasn't really "clean as a whistle." Christine Ammer, in her book "Have A Nice Day -- No Problem, A Dictionary of Cliches," points to the phrase "clear as a whistle," very common in the 18th century. While spoken commands might be misunderstood in a noisy environment, no one could mistake a loud whistle for anything else, so "clear as a whistle" came to mean "unmistakable" or "unambiguous."

The later substitution of "clean" meaning "completely" for "clear" therefore makes a certain amount of sense, but the subsequent drift of "clean" in the phrase to mean "pure" is what has led to folks like you wondering "what's so clean about whistles?"

P
pinksOG 2002

interesting, i never knew that - thanks

thefunkyfresh thefunkyfreshFounder

THAT IS WHAT I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT!! i always thought that clear as a whistle made sense, and then some idiot started saying "clean" instead

P
pinksOG 2002

man you were right all along - why do we keep on doubting you when u r always proved to be right??? I will never understand

thefunkyfresh thefunkyfreshFounder

i dont know. maybe cuz it's me against the world.

N
nine9starOG 2001 thefunkyfresh

Or maybe, just maybe - you are the world

thefunkyfresh thefunkyfreshFounder nine9star

that makes no sense, but i'll just go with it

ha ha i kjnow - it just sounded good, or so i thought

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