There is a proverbial phrase
"You have to eat a peck of dirt in a lifetime (or before you die)"
A peck is an old imperial measurement still recognised in the USA and equivalent to two gallons or nine litres.
The point of the saying is that no-one can escape eating a certain amount of dirt on his or her food or more broadly that everyone must endure a number of unpleasant things in his or her lifetime. It is often said to console someone who has eaten some dirt or had to endure something unpleasant.
My grandfather's twist on it was that
"You don't want to do it all at once"!
It can't be unique to my granddad as it occurs in that modified form in L M Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables.
This is a phrase my mom used while I was growing up. I always felt comfortable and that it was healthy to play in the dirt. I would eat veggies straight out of the ground, clean a cast iron pan with a bit of dirt while camping. I feel knowing it was ok to be dirty made life less stressful!
ReplyDeleteAnd our pediatrician told me to let the kids eat some dirt because it built immunity. Good old common sense that we could use more of in these times of sanitizing everything’s in sight!
ReplyDeletewhen I was a kid, my grandma used to say "You've got to eat a peck of dirt before you die". I decided that you could live forever if you just avoided eating dirt. (when i was pretty young.)
ReplyDelete