… is in the tent"
Where does this saying come from? I know what it means. This is my first GQ post, and I think I covered all the bases. I googled it (got lots of hits, zero origin info), checked Cecil’s archives and searched the SDMB. If there are steps I missed, please feel free to inform me. Thank you.
Whilst camping in the desert with a camel as your conveyance, if the camel is to stick his nose through the tent flap that is a very bad thing indeed, because very shortly thereafter there will be much more camel inside the tent than outside it and, when one is also in the tent, this is rumored to be unpleasant in the extreme.
Thanks Ethilrist, but as I said, I know what it means. I’m interested in knowing where it came from. If anyone knows, that is.
Acording to websites I’ve been browsing, they point to it coming from a “Bedouin parable”. A mention at the top of this page.
Short of anyone finding a collection of Bedouin parables to check this, I think the origin might remain murky.
A Google search finds various cites claiming it’s an old Arab proverb - “Once the camel’s nose is in the tent, the rest is sure to follow” - but no clear origin.
This could have the same dead end of the alleged “old Chinese curse,” “May you live in interesting times.”
The most reliable backtracking seems to date it a speech by RFK in the mid 60s.
The “camel’s nose” may have a similar domestic origin.
Where’s Collounsbury when you need him? I wonder if he’s ever heard of this?
And, more importantly, is this true or fanciful? Do camels really worm their way into people’s tents?
Those desert nights can be cold.
I heard it was because of sandstorms. Soft-hearted camel riders would want to provide shelter for the camel’s head so it could breathe, leading to another truism that no good deed goes unpunished. Of course, I have no info to address the actual OP.
I have asked my students about this in the past. They never heard of it.
Strangley, “The dogs bark but the caravan continues on.” is well-known here.
How remote and ominous sounding. What’s the meaning?
Not so ominous. It means despite the “barking” of critics and nay-sayers, the greater project/mission oe “caravan” continues on.
thanks.