# Was "a horse of a different color" a common phrase around the time of The Wizard of Oz? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2021, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164 "2021-01-22T03:20:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/21 "2021-01-25T01:04:03Z")
Another variant: “That’s a horse of a different feather.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/22 "2021-01-25T01:38:36Z")
Not one I’ve ever heard. Not disputing you; thanks for the interesting data point. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/23 "2021-01-26T06:30:52Z")
Exactly. Taking the phrase literally is the joke, and it joke works because the phrase was well-known. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/24 "2021-01-26T12:58:38Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Another variant: “That’s a horse of a different feather.” That’s a reply to “birds of a feather flock together” when you disagree with it. Similar to “apples vs oranges”. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/25 "2021-01-26T14:47:04Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Similar to “apples vs oranges”. Well, that’s an orange of a different… Wait. If an orange is of a different color, is it still an orange? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/26 "2021-01-26T16:22:55Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > If an orange is of a different color, is it still an orange? [Ripe oranges are often green.](https://fruitguys.com/2011/04/citrus-greening/) ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2021, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/27 "2021-01-30T00:12:22Z")
You don’t have to be familiar with horses to use idioms with horses in them, any more than you have to be a mariner in the era of sailing ships to use the hundreds of nautical phrases which have become part of the English idiom, such as at the helm, run a tight ship, loose cannon, the devil to pay, all hands on deck, get on board, sailing close to the wind, batten down the hatches, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2021, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/28 "2021-01-30T00:47:49Z")
Or all the agricultural words and phrases that you might not even recognize as related to farming: broadcasting, reaping what you sow, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/29 "2021-01-30T14:10:30Z")
Without checking, I’m fairly sure the Marx Brothers used it as a sight gag, probably in A Day at the Races, which was released in 1937. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/30 "2021-01-31T17:23:34Z")
Wasn’t that a B&W flick? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/31 "2021-01-31T21:36:44Z")
Well, _How Green Was My Valley_ and _The Scarlet Empress_ were both B&W. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164/32 "2021-02-02T10:48:06Z")
Yeah, it is a B&W film. That wouldn’t rule it out completely though and I really can’t think where I saw the scene if it wasn’t there. Three people are talking in the foreground as several dark coloured racehorses are led past in the background. A much lighter coloured horse appears and Groucho remarks out of the blue, ‘now, that’ s a horse of a different colour’ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-horse-of-a-different-color-a-common-phrase-around-the-time-of-the-wizard-of-oz/931164.md?page=1)