The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations writes that a commentator in the Independent Magazine traced the origin of the phrase to British Liberal Party politician David Penhaligon,[2] who is quoted as saying: "Us voting for the Pact is like a turkey voting for Christmas" in reference to the 1977 Lib–Lab pact which he opposed.[3]
The phrase was soon borrowed by other politicians and public figures.[2] In 1979 Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan was faced with a vote of no confidence called by Scottish National Party, who were upset with Labour's treatment of the recent Scottish devolution referendum. In the resulting vote the Scottish nationalists sided with the Conservative opposition against the Labour government, despite the fact that the Conservatives opposed devolution. During his speech, Callaghan stated that "If they win, there will be a general election. I am told that the current joke going around the House is that it is the first time in recorded history that turkeys have been known to vote for an early Christmas." The Scottish National Party ultimately lost most of its representation in the resulting election. In 2000 British MP Teresa Gorman, who opposed the Maastricht Treaty, stated; "If the House of Commons voted for Maastricht it would be like 651 turkeys voting for Christmas."[4]
Similar conceptsedit
In the United States, the phrases turkeys voting for Thanksgiving (that being the holiday when turkey is more commonly served) and chickens voting for Colonel Sanders are often used. In Canada, the story of Mouseland has mice voting for cats. A similar German idiom is "Only the most stupid calves would vote for their butchers" ("Nur die dümmsten Kälber wählen ihre Metzger selber"). Bertold Brecht alluded to it in his Kälbermarsch ("March of the calves", 1933), a parody of the Nazi anthem "Horst Wessel Song", which was included in his play Schweik in the Second World War (1943). A similar photomontage of John Heartfield shows Hitler as a butcher with a chicken and the caption "Don't panic! He's a vegetarian."[5]
In 2015, Twitter user Adrian Bott wrote the viral tweet, “‘I never thought leopards would eat MY face,’ sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party”. The expression since became idiomatic of people who face adverse consequences of their own authoritarian, cruel or unjust policies.[6][7] A popular 2016 New Yorker cartoon by Paul Noth portrays a sheep viewing a billboard of a wolf political candidate whose campaign slogan is "I am going to eat you," and approvingly remarking "He tells it like it is."[8]
^John Harland (1858). The house and farm accounts of the Shuttleworths of Gawthorpe Hall in the county of Lancaster at Smithils and Gawthorpe: from September 1582 to October 1621. p.1059. Chetham society,
Look up like turkeys voting for Christmas in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
April 11, 2024
turkeys, voting, christmas, english, idiom, used, metaphor, situation, which, choice, made, clearly, against, self, interest, united, kingdom, turkeys, commonly, eaten, part, english, christmas, dinner, christmas, dinner, including, turkey, eaten, village, tri. Turkeys voting for Christmas is an English idiom used as a metaphor for a situation in which a choice made is clearly against one s self interest In the United Kingdom turkeys are commonly eaten as part of the English Christmas dinner 1 Christmas dinner including turkey eaten in the village of Trimingham Norfolk in 2019 Contents 1 History 2 Similar concepts 3 See also 4 ReferencesHistory editThe Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations writes that a commentator in the Independent Magazine traced the origin of the phrase to British Liberal Party politician David Penhaligon 2 who is quoted as saying Us voting for the Pact is like a turkey voting for Christmas in reference to the 1977 Lib Lab pact which he opposed 3 The phrase was soon borrowed by other politicians and public figures 2 In 1979 Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan was faced with a vote of no confidence called by Scottish National Party who were upset with Labour s treatment of the recent Scottish devolution referendum In the resulting vote the Scottish nationalists sided with the Conservative opposition against the Labour government despite the fact that the Conservatives opposed devolution During his speech Callaghan stated that If they win there will be a general election I am told that the current joke going around the House is that it is the first time in recorded history that turkeys have been known to vote for an early Christmas The Scottish National Party ultimately lost most of its representation in the resulting election In 2000 British MP Teresa Gorman who opposed the Maastricht Treaty stated If the House of Commons voted for Maastricht it would be like 651 turkeys voting for Christmas 4 Similar concepts editIn the United States the phrases turkeys voting for Thanksgiving that being the holiday when turkey is more commonly served and chickens voting for Colonel Sanders are often used In Canada the story of Mouseland has mice voting for cats A similar German idiom is Only the most stupid calves would vote for their butchers Nur die dummsten Kalber wahlen ihre Metzger selber Bertold Brecht alluded to it in his Kalbermarsch March of the calves 1933 a parody of the Nazi anthem Horst Wessel Song which was included in his play Schweik in the Second World War 1943 A similar photomontage of John Heartfield shows Hitler as a butcher with a chicken and the caption Don t panic He s a vegetarian 5 In 2015 Twitter user Adrian Bott wrote the viral tweet I never thought leopards would eat MY face sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People s Faces Party The expression since became idiomatic of people who face adverse consequences of their own authoritarian cruel or unjust policies 6 7 A popular 2016 New Yorker cartoon by Paul Noth portrays a sheep viewing a billboard of a wolf political candidate whose campaign slogan is I am going to eat you and approvingly remarking He tells it like it is 8 See also editFalse consciousnessReferences edit John Harland 1858 The house and farm accounts of the Shuttleworths of Gawthorpe Hall in the county of Lancaster at Smithils and Gawthorpe from September 1582 to October 1621 p 1059 Chetham society a b Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations by Ned Sherrin Oxford University Press Edition 4 2008 ISBN 0 19 923716 6 Introduction to the first edition The pact the inside story of the Lib Lab government 1977 8 by Alistair Michie Simon Hoggart Quartet Books 1978 p 156 Billericay The Dame who didn t give a damn Daily Gazette 18 February 2000 dead link Max Nyffeler Kalbermarsch Archived 23 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine In nmz neue musikzeitung 9 2005 Fred Clark The one way ratchet of the Leopards Eating People s Faces Party Patheos 16 July 2021 Goldberg Michelle Leopards Eat Kevin McCarthy s Face New York Times Retrieved 5 January 2023 A Cartoon from the New Yorker nbsp Look up like turkeys voting for Christmas in Wiktionary the free dictionary Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Turkeys voting for Christmas amp oldid 1195932373, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
