More [Blank]
than you can “shake a stick at” – is an American idiom that refers to:
A large quantity, more than one can count . . . . This idiom
presumably refers to brandishing a stick as a weapon, but the precise allusion
is unclear.
Dictionary.com,
citing, Christine Ammer, The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms,
Houghton Mifflin Company.
Curiously,
perhaps, this idiom may not be the only American idiom that harkens back to
gentlemen (and others) brandishing sticks, or canes, as weapons. The idiom, “to raise Cain,” meaning “to
become angry or violent” or “to behave in a boisterous manner; cause a
disturbance,” may be derived from a punning reference to raising a cane in the
air to fight. This joke is one of the
earliest examples of the idiom in print:
Why
have we every reason to believe that Adam and Eve were both rowdies!
Because
Eve raised the Old Harry, and they both raised Cain.
The Maumee City Express (Ohio), May 16,
1840, page 1.
Although the
allusion may not be obvious to a modern reader, the widespread, idiomatic use
of “raising one’s cane” in descriptions of fights, suggests that people of the
period would have easily understood the joke as a pun.
Walking Sticks and Canes
Throughout
the 1800s, a walking stick or cane was a fashionable symbol of status. Even into the early 20th Century,
a good walking stick or cane lent an air of “jauntiness and dash” to a debonair
gentleman.
And (like
pants before them), emancipated women in 1916 adopted the “swagger stick”
as their own – oh, how “ka-tish”!
The Swagger Stick or Walking Cane Will Be “Ka-Tish”
This Spring
Even today, who can say that they do not respect a woman wielding a
well-made riding crop?
But, long before they became a mere fashion accessory, canes and
walking sticks served, perhaps, a more important function – self-defense.
 |
| The Mt. Sterling Advocate (Mt. Sterling, Kentucky), July 21, 1915, page 3. |
In the early 1800s, “shaking sticks” and “raising one’s cane” were viewed
as threatening gestures; they could get you in trouble, and even land you in
jail.
Raising Canes
The phrase, “to raise one’s cane,” was in widespread and regular use
for many decades before the idiom, “to raise Cain” first appeared. “To raise one’s cane” appears in hundreds of
sources, referring to menacing, threatening, or attacking with a walking stick;
or defending one’s self against such an attack.
The common use of the expression suggests that a mid-1800s audience
might easily have understood “to raise Cain” as a punning reference to causing a
disturbance with walking stick.
This small sampling of such references illustrates how well known the
expression was, and how canes were raised while “raising Cain”:
With
regard to the allegation that Purser Southall had raised
his cane upon the soldier, Mr. Sturgis, acknowledging that he had raised his cane, (a small rat of whalebone,)
denied that it was for the purpose of striking. . . . “Strike if you dare! I am
an American officer – strike me if you dare!” – not intending, said Mr.
Sturgis, to strike the soldier; but merely defying him to strike.
Nicholas Philip Trist, Case of
Captain Abraham Wendell, Jr., of the Brig Kremlin of New York, Arising from an
Outrage Perpetrated by Him Upon William Bell, First Officer of Said Brig, in
the Port of Havana, July, 1838, [Washington DC, 1840], page 54.
The
first blow, as sworn to by every witness who said any thing upon the subject,
was given by Darnes with his hand. Darnes then raised his cane, and Davis his umbrella;
blows were dealt in quick succession by Darnes, and for a short time Davis
wielded his umbrella pretty vigorously; Darnes bent his
cane, turned it in his hands and used the heavy end. From that time Davis’s slender umbrella was
only held up, or whirled backwards and forwards as a shield.
Egerton Browne, Trial of Judge
Wilkinson, Dr. Wilkinson, and Mr. Murdaugh on Indictments for the Murder of
John Rothwell and Alexander Meeks, Louisville, Daily Reporter, April, 1839.
The
old woman cried, “Oh Lord!” and the youth, in ire, muttered an oath, and raised his cane; but I was too quick for him.
Oasis (Oswego, New York),
volume 1, number 1, August 12, 1837, page 11.
Mr.
Cophagus immediately raised the cane from his
nose high above his forehead in so threatenting an attitude, as almost to
warrant the other swearing the peace against him . . . .
Atkinson’s Casket
(Philadelphia), Volume 10, Number 5, May, 1835,
page 274.
Anti-Slavery Principles of the Rev. Elijah P.
Lovejoy, published in the Alton Observer of July 20, 1837. For maintaining
which he was – MURDERED!
What
are the Doctrines of Anti-Slavery Men? – A young man had become exceedingly
angry with an ancient philosopher, and had raised his
cane to strike him. “Strike,” said the philosopher – “strike but hear
me?”
Vermont Telegraph (Brandon,
Vermont), December 6, 1837, page 42.
“By
the Lord Harry, I’ll slash you into such ribands that your b—h of a mother
shan’t know her cub again.” . . . But no
sooner had he raised his cane to strike . . . .
The Frolics of Puck, Volume
1, 1834, page 76.
“You!”
cried the duke, in a rage, “you – “
“The
Duke of Friedland bears with no varlets amongst his servants, and George
Rothkirch with no insult.”
The duke raised his cane in excess of irritation,
and George threw open the window. “I will die,” he exclaimed, “my lord, rather
than submit to this . . . .”
The Ladies Museum, volume 30, 1829.
The
Milanese . . . – no longer shrinking under the
up-raised cane of an Austrian corporal, flet to arms at the first blast
of the trumpet that sounded in the cause of Italian independence.
Lady Morgan, Italy, Volume
1, London, H. Colburn, 1821, page 253.
I
reproached him with cruelty, no doubt in terms as unbecoming as my passion,
till at length irritated by my audacity, he raised his
cane to strike me.
The Magpie, or The Maid: a Melo
Drame, 1815.
Raising Cain
The idiom, “to raise Cain,” first appeared in print in late 1839; just
months before the earliest known publication of the bad pun about Adam and Eve being rowdies because they, “raised
Cain”:
The earliest example is a shaggy dog story that ends with yet another bad
pun:
A
Street Mother. – A married lady at Marblehead, Mass., being often annoyed by
her children breaking the Sabbath, once agreed to supply each with a piece of
cake who behaved properly upon this day.
They all came in for a share at night, excepting Jo – a ragged little
urchin, who cared more for raising Cain than for
nick-nacks. Jo, however thought his
claim to a share was as good as any of them, and stepped up to receive it with
all the freedom imaginable, but this kind mother put a damper on his hopes, by
saying – ‘No, my dear Jo, you have been a bad boy – and you know the Bible
says, there is no piece
for the wicked.’
The Long Island Farmer, and
Queen’s County Advertiser (Jamaica, New York), September 25, 1839, page 3.
Another early example is literally about wielding sticks (shillelaghs);
just a coincidence? - or an indication that the writer appreciated a connection
between “raising cane” and “raising Cain”?
The
Irishmen at the Croton Water Works are raising Cain
once more. Two companies have been
ordered to the scene of action this morning to prevent mischief – the workmen
threatening to destroy the works and shellalah
any body who attempts to prevent their righteous operations.
The Times-Picayune (New
Orleans, Louisiana), April 18, 1840, page 2.
The earliest example of the “raising Cain” joke appeared a few
weeks later,[i]
and took on a life of its own; appearing regularly for more than a century:
What
did Adam and Eve do when they were expelled from Eden? They raised Cain.
The Home Journal, April 18,
1857, page 1.
First
Family Row.
“Do
you know who created the first family row on record?”
“I
suppose it was Adam and Eve when they raised Cain.” – Stray Stories.
The Chickasha Daily Express
(Oklahoma), July 16, 1907, page 7.
The joke appeared in print as recently as the mid-1990s; it was mentioned
in an article about an amateur, octogenarian comedian who memorized jokes from
old joke books.[ii]
The close proximity in time of the earliest example of the joke and the earliest example of the idiom does not answer the question of which was first. But bad jokes and puns were the stock-in-trade of
traveling minstrel shows during the period, so the joke may have been in
circulation long before it was picked up and memorialized in print. It is also possible, however, that the
idiom existed before the joke without appearing in print until just before the joke appeared. Although it is impossible to determine, with certainty, which came
first, the joke appears to have played some role in its longevity. Even if the joke was not first, the obvious pun would have made it memorable, and may have helped the idiom secure a permanent place in the language.
Raising the Devil
Most sources attribute the origin of the idiom, “raising Cain,” to the
sense of raising the murderous spirit of Cain, the son of Adam and Eve who
murdered his brother Abel. “To raise,”
in that case, would be used in the sense of, ““to summon or cause a spirit to appear by
means of incantations” (as if “raised from the underworld”).”[iii] The suggestion is that “to raise Cain” may have served as
a less offensive alternative to the widely used expressions, “to raise the
devil” or “to raise hell.”
There is no doubt that the expression, “to raise Cain,” was ultimately used as a
less onerous alternative to “raise the devil,” but that does not necessarily explain how or
why the expression came into being. The
timing of the pun appearing at about the same time as the expression is
suggestive, at least, that the idiom could have been derived from the joke. Without the pun, it does not seem natural
that “Cain” would be used. Several alternatives
for “raise the devil” were already in circulation long before “raising Cain”
appeared in print, all of which followed a similar format – “Old [Name]”:
Old
Scratch, Old Harry, Old Nick, or the Devil, it’s all one to me!
The Monthly Traveler, or Spirit
of the Periodical Press (Boston), volume 3, number 5, Mzay 1832, page 181.
“To raise Old Scratch,” “to raise Old Nick,” and “to raise Old Harry,”
all had their day; “Old Harry” seems to have been the most widely used (as
judged by ‘hits’ in database searches), followed by “Old Nick” and “Old
Scratch.”
“To raise old Harry” dates to at least 1812, and was used regularly
into the early 20th Century.
In the earlier examples, it was used in a literal sense, referring to
sorcerers or magicians who could literally “raise Old Harry;” in later
examples, it was used idiomatically, similar to “raising Cain”:
By
his sly subtle looks, and his magical books,
Some
would think he was raising “old Harry.”
The Gentleman’s Diary; or, The
Mathematical Repository; an Almanack, London, 1812.
Patience
Be
patient, though the load you carry grows heavier with every verst; it does no
good to raise Old harry, e’en when our woes are at their worst.
Evening Star (Washington
DC), July 31, 1917, page 20.
“Old Scratch” and “Old Nick” were similarly used as a euphemisms for the devil; and the expressions, “raise Old Scratch”
or “raise Old Nick,” were used with a meaning similar to “raise the devil,” “raise hell,” or “raise Cain.”
Although there is a clear connection between Cain’s sin and the Devil, the idiom does not appear to be based on an earlier tradition of using “Cain” as a general euphemism
for the devil, or a tradition of invoking the name or spirit of Cain. Other than the pun, there does not appear to
be any specific reason to use “Cain,” as opposed to one of the other,
well-established alternatives.
Clearly, “to raise Cain” could have been, and may have been,
understood as a mild oath; even without the pun. But the expression did not appear in print
until nearly the same moment that the pun appeared in print. Without an earlier example of the idiom, or
some other evidence suggesting some motivation for using “Cain,” as opposed to
the several, common alternatives, I believe that the pun may well have been the
origin of the idiom; if not the final straw, helping the idiom take root and grow.
Cain in Minstrelsy
The joke about Adam and Eve being rowdies was not the first bad pun to compare Cain with a cane:
Why are Adam and Eve the oldest sugar planters? Because they were the first to raise Cain.
Geneva Gazette and Mercantile Advertiser (Geneva, New York), August 29, 1832, page 4.
Cain puns were also known in non-blackface minstrel shows in England,
as early as 1832. In a spoken portion of
a comic song/story entitled, The Mail-Coach Adventure, the narrator (speaking
for two characters) runs through a whole litany of biblical puns, in what may be a Cockney accent. One of the puns swaps "cane" (as in a walking stick) with "Cain":
I
had rather stay in that place to all eternity than ride with a naked man,
that’s what I would. Poor fellow, he has
been robbed, and almost beaten to death.
Robbed! Zounds, let us make all
imaginable haste, or we shall be robbed too.
Begar, madam, vat objection can you make to have the man vat is killed
in the coach? He is dressed as well as the first man in de vorld. The first man, I grant you, Mounseer, Adam,
for instance. You
deserve a Cain for that observation. Ah, but are you Abel to give it me?
I was on the Eve of doing it. Here’s language! Punning upon Scripture; I wish I
was out of the coach, my goodness! – They’ll all be punished, that’s one good
thing – My goodness!
The Universal Songster, Volume 1,
London, Jones and Co., page 135 [1832].
Cain imagery may have been even more widespread in the United States, at least within the context of
American blackface minstrelsy. Historian, W. T. Lhamon, Jr. based on entire
book on the connection between the theme of Cain and blackface minstrel
performances of the 19th Century:
Raising
Cain by referring often to his story is a way to license minstrel practice and
to establish minstrelsy’s cardinal theme as the constant struggle between
resistance and its discipline. . . .
At
every phase of blackface performance, the Cain trope was present.
Raising Cain: Blackface
Performance from Jim Crow to Hip Hop, Boston, Harvard University Press,
1998, pages 117, 118.
The book explores the political and sociological messages inherent in
the various versions of the Cain story.
For example, the “mark of Cain” was seen, in part, as a metaphor for
blackness and blackface. If his thesis
is correct, the idiom, “raising Cain,” may have had an even deeper significance
to audiences at the time, beyond being simply a bad pun. His assertion of a rich
tradition of discussing Cain in minstrel shows also puts the existence of the two “raising
Cain” jokes into context. The British “Cain”
pun may also suggest that whatever Cain meant in American blackface minstrelsy
may have been more universal.
Or, perhaps bad puns are universal. In any case, the various punning references to Cain support the notion that “raising Cain” may have originated primarily as a pun, and not as a mild oath.
Or, perhaps bad puns are universal. In any case, the various punning references to Cain support the notion that “raising Cain” may have originated primarily as a pun, and not as a mild oath.
Shaking Sticks
The phrase, “to shake one’s stick,” in reference to threatening
gestures, was in constant and regular use for many decades before the idiom,
“more [Blank] than you can shake a stick at” first appeared in print. “To shake
one’s stick” appears in dozens of sources before 1817, the date of the earliest
known example of the idiom in print.
“Shaking a stick” was frequently used to describe one-on-one
confrontations. But it was also used in
where a single person threatened, or tried to control, several people or things
at once; shaking just the one stick. One
possible, underlying meaning of the idiom may be that if there are too many
things to threaten or control shaking just your own stick, there are more than
you can “shake a stick at.”
This small sampling of early, literal stick-shaking references may
illuminate the underlying allusion latent in the idiom; you be the judge:
[An
old boarding-school schoolmaster] has been mentioned as possessing an influence
over the manners and conduct of the inhabitants almost unbounded. . . . “If he shook his stick at the Hall Green, (the place of
his residence,) the boys trembled as far as the town land end” (distant half a
mile).
The Monthly Repository of Theology
and General Literature (London), Volume 18, Number 214, December 1823, page
683.
As
Young Francis was walking through a village with his tutor, they were annoyed
by two or three cur dogs, that came running after them . . . . Francis every now and then stopped and shook his stick at them, or stooped down to pick up a
stone . . . .
J. Aikin and Mrs. Barbauld, Evenings
at Home, or, The Juvenile Budget Opened, London, Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy,
1819, Volume 6, page 58.
My
master saw me and stopped the drove for me to come up; when I got near him he
threatened me, shaking his stick over my head,
to let me know what I had to expect if I dared to commit another fault.
James Riley, An Authentic
Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, Hartford, Connecticut,
1817, page 87.[iv]
Sir
Oran shook his stick over his head, and the
reverend gentleman dropping on his knees, put his hands together, and entreated
for mercy, saying “he would confess all.”
Melincourt (Volume 3),
London, Hookham, and Baldwon, Cradock, and Joy, 1817, page 202.
Our
allusion to the venerated name of the Rector of Aston Sandford, has led this
gentleman actually to drag his excellent father before the public, for the
purpose of gravely shaking his stick at us.
The Eclectic Review
(London), Volume 6, December 1816, page 528.
Tayler
stepped quicker and shook his stick. Van Rensselaer, when he got to the corner,
sprung across the gutter. Tayler had
almost overtaken him. Van Rensselaer
turned, and held up his stick in a posture of
defence. Tayler struck twice. A scuffle ensued. Van Rensselaer lost
his cane. Saw three sticks aimed at Van Rensselaer’s head . . . .
Assault and Battery: Report of the Trials of
the Causes of Elisha Jenkins vs. Solomon Van Rensselaer etc., Albany, New
York, Croswell & Frary, 1808, page 22.
Too Many to Shake a
Stick At
The earliest known example of an idiom similar to, “more than you can
shake a stick at,” in print is from 1818:
We
have in Lancaster as many Taverns as you can shake a
stick at.”
Michael Quinion, WorldWideWords
(citing the Oxford English Dictionary).
This early version is slightly different from the now-familiar form of
the idiom; “as many as you can shake a stick at,” as opposed to, “more than.” But it seems to express the same or similar
sentiment; there are a lot of taverns. A
similar version appeared in 1824 (and a few more times throughout the 1820s):
I
tell you what, I’ve got a number of sons, a great many nephews and cousins, and
as many distant relations, as you can shake a stick at,
and they’ll a’ most all of ‘em go as I go in politics. . . .
Delaware Gazette (Delhi, New
York), August 4, 1824, page 2.
The now-familiar form, “more than you can shake a stick at,” appeared
in print as early as 1830; in a description of the colorful life of Colonel
Plug, an early Ohio River pirate:
His
slang-curses were ultra Kentuckian on a ground of yankee; and he had, says my
informant, more of this, “than you could shake a stick
at.”
American Masonick Record and
Albany Saturday Magazine, Volume 3, Number 52, January 23, 1830.
Another early example of the idiom shows that the life of a presidential candidate has not changed much in nearly 200 years:
To
be bamboozled about from four o’clock in the morning, till midnight, rain or
shine, jammed into one great house to eat a breakfast, and into another great
house to eat a dinner, and into another to eat supper, and into two or three
others between meals, to eat cooliations, and to have to go out and review
three or four rigiments of troops, and then be jammed into Funnel Hall
[(Fanieul Hall)] two hours, and shake hands with three or four thousand folks,
and then to go into the state House and stand there two or three hours . . . .
and then run into a great picture room and see more
fine pictures than you could shake a stick at in a week, and then go
into some grand gentleman’s house, and shake hands a half an hour with a flock
of ladies . . . and up again at four o’clock the next morning and at it.
Seba Smith, The Life and
Writings of Major Jack Downing of Downingville, Boston, Lilly, Wait, Colman
& Holden, 1833, page 203.
Conclusion
The idioms, “to raise Cain” and “more than you can shake a stick at”
both appear to be linguistic vestiges of the outmoded fashion of carrying
canes or walking sticks. Raising canes
could cause a disturbance. Shaking
sticks might fend off one or two attackers, but if there were too many – you
might not be able to shake your stick at all of them; at least not effectively.
The timing of the first appearance of, “raising Cain,” and the
appearance of the Adam-and-Eve “raising Cain” (raising cane) pun, seems to
support the notion that the joke may be the origin of the idiom. The well known, idiomatic us of the
expression, “raise one’s cane,” in reference to fighting, seems to support the
notion that people at the time, would have at least appreciated the pun, even
if it were not the absolute origin of the idiom. The widespread repetition of the joke
suggests that the joke may have been memorable enough to be responsible for the
spread of, and the persistence of, the idiom over time.
There is no clear or certain explanation of the allusion underlying
the idiom, “more than you can shake a stick at.” However, some of the earlier examples of the
expression, “shaking sticks,” suggest that the
allusion may relate to circumstances in which there are too many people (or dogs) to handle or control alone, with just one stick.
[i] Adam
and Eve as rowdies was not the only “raise Caine” joke making the rounds in
1840. Another joke, “Why were Adam and
Eve the originators of sugar planting? Because they raised the first Cain,” had been making the rounds
since at least 1832 (Long Island Farmer
and Queen’s County Advertiser, June 21, 1832, page 4); that joke also
persisted for decades.
[ii] “He’s
Got a Million of ‘Em,” Neal Pollack, Chicago
Reader, December 5, 1996 (http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/hes-got-a-million-of-em/Content?oid=892232).
[iv] The
brig Commerce was
an American merchant vessel that ran aground on the coast of Morocco in
1815. Surviving members of the crew were
imprisoned and enslaved by nomadic tribesmen.
The captain, James Riley, published an account of his experiences in the
1820s.
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