ha ha ha ha clean as a whistle?? How clean would that be?
uhh really clean? I dunno
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.
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
how can a whistle be clean though? You're dirty mouth is all over it!
ha ha case in point ;)
Although actually your mouth is a lot cleaner than most other parts of your body
most people's mouths are at least..
ha ha ha ha what are you insinuating?
I'M NOT DIRTY! I SWEAR!
lol yeah yeah we believe you hun
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?"
interesting, i never knew that - thanks
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
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
i dont know. maybe cuz it's me against the world.
Or maybe, just maybe - you are the world
that makes no sense, but i'll just go with it
ha ha i kjnow - it just sounded good, or so i thought