What does this phrase mean and how is it used?
“To live off the fat of the land” is to hunt, fish and gather food from nature, instead of working for someone else in order to buy it.
“We’ll live off the fat of the land” is basically saying you’ll derive substinance from what is available naturally. This could involve hunting, fishing, farming, raising rabbits etc…
Tell me about the rabbits, George
stooped hampsters
It’s actually quoted in Genesis in the Bible as
But rather than living off nature, I think the expression as understood in the last few centuries implied the best or richest of anything.
So it’s living the hunter-gatherer style?
Nope, you’re all wrong. The phrase is Sioux. When they killed animals, they refrained from eating the fat. Their first encounter with Europeans occurred when a starving party ventured onto their land, who they called the “men with upside down faces,” due to the beards.
The Europeans begged for food, so the Dakota gave them what was extra, the fat. Thereafter that was what white people were called - Wachitou - I’ve probably spelled that way wrong, but it means fat eaters. Turned out to be a bad joke, but it’s worth repeating.
As stated above, hunting and gathering would qualify, but farming and ranching would as well. The point is that you derive sustenance from the land and nature, without relying on the local grocery store.
Again, no. It refers to consuming things you don’t own and didn’t earn, and it is a scathing insult.
Yes, that’s what it originally meant. Now, though, it means making a living by serving the obese people (the fat) of the land. Thar’s gold in them thar love handles, baby!
I’ve never heard that context, Not In Anger. Have you read Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men?
My little joke above was in reference to that book, which uses it in the context I’m familiar with. George and Lenny dream of owning their own land, and living off the fat of it.
I don’t have the actual quote handy, but here is one from a review of it.
Oh thank God. I saw a reply and figured someone would ask, “cite?” Like there were libraries or something. My cousin told me, that’s good enough for me. Heh.