# "I'll fix your wagon!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 25, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663 "2013-09-25T18:21:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/21 "2013-09-27T12:31:44Z")
[For those not getting the _“askew on treddle”_ bit…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLDVIViWW74) ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/22 "2013-09-27T13:12:55Z")
I’ve also heard the variant “I’ll fix your little red wagon”. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/23 "2013-09-27T14:21:29Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Now if you have a wagon, and I have a wagon, and I have a crowbar… And that crowbar reaches acroooOoOOooooOoOOOOOooooss the yard, to your wagon… ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/24 "2013-09-27T15:55:00Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I’ll clean your clock was one of my father’s favorite threats; he would also threaten to clean someone’s plow. I heard a guy say “Ill punch his lights out!” Stayed far away from him!! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/25 "2013-09-27T16:27:11Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > I’ve also heard the variant “I’ll fix your little red wagon”. That’s the only way I’ve heard it, and I haven’t heard it for a long time. And it was usually conditional. As in “he’d better finish his chores before he leaves to hang out with his friends or I’ll fix HIS little red wagon.” (For some reason there was always emplasis on the his/your part of the phrase.) ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/26 "2013-09-27T18:07:24Z")
I used to get from my Dad about being late for dinner; “… or I’ll tan you hide”. I always knew that it wasn’t a pleasant neighborly offer! ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/27 "2013-09-27T18:59:27Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > I used to get from my Dad about being late for dinner; “… or I’ll tan you hide”. My mother showed her Cherokee heritage by offering to tan my hide. I tried to explain that I was not proficient at hunting and that if I were I would have no idea on how skin the beast. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/28 "2013-09-27T19:04:47Z")
I always understood “tan your hide” to mean tan _your hide_ - that is, the speaker would skin the person to which they were speaking, and then prepare that skin properly. For instance, In “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport” the singer exhorts Fred to “tan me hide when I’m dead,” that is, the singer’s own skin - not an animal skin in his possession. I’m being whooshed, aren’t I? ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/29 "2013-09-27T21:06:47Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I always understood “tan your hide” to mean tan _your hide_ - that is, the speaker would skin the person to which they were speaking, and then prepare that skin properly. Are you implying that my own mother would have been threatening me with some not-insignificant physical harm? You must be pulling my leg. Which is impressive considering you don’t even know where I live! ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/30 "2013-09-27T21:36:18Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I’ll clean your clock was one of my father’s favorite threats; he would also threaten to clean someone’s plow. Plough. Tan your hide means a spanking ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/31 "2013-09-28T05:26:04Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Plough. > > Tan your hide means a spanking Well, spell check gave “plow” a pass but I’m always happy to learn something new. I did know that “tan your hide” meant a spanking in the near futures. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/32 "2013-09-28T16:22:48Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Plough. “Plow” is the spelling used in America. Apparently “Plough” is used some by the Brits, but not sure how common it is. And since **LousiB** is in Florida … ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/33 "2013-09-28T19:14:11Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I always understood “tan your hide” to mean tan _your hide_ - that is, the speaker would skin the person to which they were speaking, and then prepare that skin properly. > > For instance, In “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport” the singer exhorts Fred to “tan me hide when I’m dead,” that is, the singer’s own skin - not an animal skin in his possession. > > I’m being whooshed, aren’t I? Oh no, you mean that my Dad was not offering to treat the hide of an animal I had hunted and skinned?? It actually meant corporal punishment? Shocked I tell you:D ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/34 "2013-09-28T23:33:35Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > If you’re going to fix my wagon, I’d appreciate it if you paint it as well. And what do they call the wind? ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/35 "2013-09-29T00:34:42Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And what do they call the wind? Ask the trees. (Or, if you’re King Crimson, ask the wind.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/36 "2013-09-29T02:11:10Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And what do they call the wind? “Rio”? ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/37 "2013-09-29T04:10:27Z")
Asking the trees, okay. [Talking to the trees](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn8YubD01sk), well, not everyone can pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663/38 "2013-09-29T05:27:27Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > Asking the trees, okay. > > [Talking to the trees](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn8YubD01sk), well, not everyone can pull it off. Talking to fire hydrants doesn’t work, either. https://www.youtube.com/embed/3P1qnd65IjM?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ill-fix-your-wagon/669663.md?page=1)