DON'T TEACH YOUR GRANDMOTHER TO SUCK EGGS: Sucking eggs was an old English (and possibly elsewhere) tradition going back centuries, and normally done at Easter. An egg would be pierced with small holes at either end, and the contents sucked out. The combined white/yolk (plus some inevitable saliva!) would then be used in cake making and other foods, whereas the intact eggshell could be painted and used for decoration. My own grandmother - who cames from Essex in the south east of England - did this as a little girl in the early twentieth century. I think it was quite tricky to do succesfully - thus it was left to the experienced grandmothers who'd been doing it for years. It would have been considered an insult to try to "teach" her how to do something she was so expert in. The lack of teeth probably helped though! I've always understood this to be the source of the phrase. \
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Sucking eggs was an old English (and possibly elsewhere) tradition going back centuries, and normally done at Easter. An egg would be pierced with small holes at either end, and the contents sucked out. The combined white/yolk (plus some inevitable saliva!) would then be used in cake making and other foods, whereas the intact eggshell could be painted and used for decoration. My own grandmother - who cames from Essex in the south east of England - did this as a little girl in the early twentieth century.
I think it was quite tricky to do succesfully - thus it was left to the experienced grandmothers who'd been doing it for years. It would have been considered an insult to try to "teach" her how to do something she was so expert in. The lack of teeth probably helped though!
I've always understood this to be the source of the phrase.
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haha sweet
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i can always count on you for this sort of thing
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