"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Saturday, 5 September 2009

As sure as eggs is eggs

 
The colloquial expression as sure as eggs is eggs, meaning absolutely certain, possibly comes from the mathematical expression x = x.

The expression is grammatically incorrect (as sure as eggs are eggs would be the correct version) and the use of the singular verb suggests that this origin could well be the one.
 
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