where did the frase “on the lamb” come from?
There once was a Simpsons where Grandpa was caught scamming the nursing home. When he was running away, well riding I guess, on his electric wheel chair he yelled out. “Call me mint jelly, cause Im on the lamb!”
Main Entry: 1lam
Pronunciation: 'lam
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): lammed; lam·ming
Etymology: of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse lemja to thrash; akin to Old English lama lame
Date: 1595
transitive senses : to beat soundly : THRASH
intransitive senses
1 : STRIKE, THRASH
**2 : to flee hastily : SCRAM **
The American Heritage dictionary identifies the origin of the phrase “on the lam [no b]” as “unknown.” Which of course means it’s time to open up the board to wild speculation and B.S. etymologies from untrustworthy websites and chain e-mails.
Okay, I see Johnny L.A. simulposted me. Just to clear up the confusion, his etymology is listed in the AHED dictionary as the origin of the word “lam,” meaning to beat. But the phrase, “on the lam,” is unrelated, at least according to AHED.
Found this on another board, hope it helps.
http://www.shu.ac.uk/web-admin/phrases/bulletin_board/6/messages/698.html