3 ms·
This is not sour grapes; sour grapes is trying to get something, failing, and then pretending you didn't actually want it in the first place. It's from one of
by wool_gather 6y ago
This is not sour grapes; sour grapes is trying to get something, failing, and then pretending you didn't actually want it in the first place.
It's from one of the "Aesop's Fables". A fox sees a bunch of grapes hanging a ways over his head. He spends a while jumping and trying his best to reach them, then gives up and stalks away muttering "they're obviously sour".
- matthoiland 6y agoThanks for the reminder! Sometimes the meaning of these colloquialisms are diluted or lost.
- awakeasleep 6y agoIf anyone's interested, the fables make terrific conversation starters with your kids, and also they give me a lot to think about. At their best, they seem to describe timeless patterns in human behavior. http://read.gov/aesop/001.html http://read.gov/aesop/001.html (note, the library of congress version has the 'moral' spelled out at the end, in a way that sucks the life out of what you just read)
- wmeredith 6y agoThe original fable is so short that it merits recounting the entire thing here: "Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on the vine but was unable to, although he leaped with all his strength. As he went away, the fox remarked 'Oh, you aren't even ripe yet! I don't need any sour grapes.' People who speak disparagingly of things that they cannot attain would do well to apply this story to themselves." Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes