Does anyone know the origin of the phrase “More _____ than you can shake a stick at”?
I guess you shake sticks at threatening animals to get them to go away, so If Im in over my head with shit I will attempt to shake a stick at it so it will go away.
Maybe shaking a stick at means threaten. So if lets say theres a poodle, you grab a stick and you hold and shake it in a threatening manner and hopefully the poodle runs off. But if there are maybe 50 poodles you’d not want to shake a stick at them for fear of them calling you bluff.
It’s pretty old, wherever it came from.
From the OED online:
Well, I heard it come’s from cowboys counting cattle as they pass through a gate by pointing at them with a stick.
Peace,
mangeorge
The 1818 quote from Exapno would probably preclude cowboys.
Ah, but I’m sure the cowboys didn’t invent the process of counting the herd with a stick. I would venture a quess that shepherds and goatherds from time immemorial have used their staffs (a big stick) to help keep track of their charges. When viewed from a distance it would certainly appear that they were shaking their stick at the flocks while counting or herding them from one place to another.
Make’s sense to me, Stana Claus.
I’m pretty sure the phrase didn’t originate from counting taverns. 
To address this in a scientific manner we would have to determine how many poodles we know you can shake a stick at and then add one more and see what happens. So, how many poodles are you certain you can shake a stick at?
(Someone is grinding his teeth seeing so many phrases ended with a preposition)
Actually, it seems more like something people say because it’s alliterative and has a nice ring to it. There’s probably not much more meaning to it than that.
It reminds me strongly of phrases my grandfather used to use like “best food I ever flapped my lips around.” He meant them to be amusing and have an interesting ring to it. The repetition of the “f” and “p” sounds were a definite part of it.
“(Someone is grinding his teeth seeing so many phrases ended with a preposition)”
That’s something he’ll just have to get used to.