# "The camel's nose... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910 "2003-06-05T19:53:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![presidebt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@presidebt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/presidebt)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/1 "2003-06-05T19:53:26Z")
… 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. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/2 "2003-06-05T20:07:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![presidebt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@presidebt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/presidebt)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/3 "2003-06-05T20:25:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/4 "2003-06-05T20:39:24Z")
Acording to websites I’ve been browsing, they point to it coming from a “Bedouin parable”. A mention at the top of [this page.](http://www.apostasynow.com/articles/midrash.html) Short of anyone finding a collection of Bedouin parables to check this, I think the origin might remain murky. ---
**Author:** ![raygirvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@raygirvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raygirvan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/5 "2003-06-06T12:41:18Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/6 "2003-06-06T13:48:51Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/7 "2003-06-06T16:23:37Z")
And, more importantly, is this true or fanciful? Do camels really worm their way into people’s tents? ---
**Author:** ![Severian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Severian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Severian)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/8 "2003-06-06T16:26:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toadspittle \* > \*\*And, more importantly, is this true or fanciful? Do camels really worm their way into people’s tents? \*\* Those desert nights can be cold. ---
**Author:** ![micco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/9 "2003-06-06T16:35:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Severian \* > \*\*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. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/10 "2003-06-06T16:55:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/11 "2003-06-06T17:10:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Paul in Saudi \* > \*\*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? ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/12 "2003-06-06T19:46:28Z")
Not so ominous. It means despite the “barking” of critics and nay-sayers, the greater project/mission oe “caravan” continues on. From [here (a site from 1997).](http://www.opm.gov/speeches/html/091997.htm) > [@](#): > > In North Africa, they have a saying, The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on. There are a lot of dogs barking in Washington these days – perhaps you’ve noticed – a lot of charges being made, a lot of mud being thrown, but the great caravan of the Clinton Administration moves on with its exceptional record of success, particularly with regard to the economy. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-camels-nose/179910/13 "2003-06-06T20:05:19Z")
thanks.