Re: Native Japanese Saying ``Barrel''

Peter T. Daniels wrote:
On Sep 23, 10:54 am, Adam Funk <a24...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 2008-09-23, António Marques wrote:

The interesting question is, with americans in general so much
fonder of beef, how come 'pork barrel' is so readily interpretable?

Originally (in the 18th century?) a pork barrel was (seriously) a
barrel of pieces of pork that had been heavily salted to preserve
them over the winter (after slaughtering a lot of one's pigs in the
autumn to reduce the demands for feed over the winter, I think).
Perhaps this doesn't work as well for beef, or "beef barrels" never
caught on for some other reason.

It's a lot harder to raise cattle than pigs.

Is it? Not in my experience. A better reason might be that it's easier to keep cattle fed over the winter (since pigs don't eat hay). Also, cattle mature more slowly, so you have to keep them for a winter or two anyway before you kill them (unless you're aiming at having a veal barrel).

Certainly people (sailors, anyway) used to keep corned beef ("salt beef" in USA-speak?) in barrels, but I never heard of them being called "beef barrels".

I think the metaphor was that the politician gave pork barrels or
pieces out of the barrel to the constituents to keep them fed and
happy (a bit like bread and circuses).

I picture the voters reaching into the barrel provided by the campaigning polly at a party meeting and pulling out lumps of pork to chew on; which wouldn't be possible with corned beef, since it has to be cooked

J.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Native Japanese Saying ``Barrel
    ... how come 'pork barrel' is so readily interpretable? ... Perhaps this doesn't work as well for beef, ... A better reason might be that it's easier to keep cattle fed over the winter. ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Native Japanese Saying ``Barrel
    ... how come 'pork barrel' is so readily interpretable? ... Perhaps this doesn't work as well for beef, ... keep cattle fed over the winter. ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Native Japanese Saying ``Barrel
    ... how come 'pork barrel' is so readily interpretable? ... this doesn't work as well for beef, or "beef barrels" never caught on ... It's a lot harder to raise cattle than pigs. ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Native Japanese Saying ``Barrel
    ... how come 'pork barrel' is so readily interpretable? ... this doesn't work as well for beef, or "beef barrels" never caught on ... pieces out of the barrel to the constituents to keep them fed and ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Tagliatelle alla Bolognese
    ... it can also be prepared using all beef or 2 parts beef to one part ... pork if you like. ... cups hot meat broth ...
    (rec.food.recipes)
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