Monday, January 19, 2009

Horse of a different color


Did you ever wonder where the phrase, "horse of a different color," came from? Do you know what it means?

According to answers.com, it is used to refer to "Another matter entirely, something else. For example, I thought that was her boyfriend but it turned out to be her brother--that's a horse of a different color.

"[The] term probably derives from a phrase coined by Shakespeare, who wrote 'a horse of that color' (Twelfth Night, 2:3), meaning 'the same matter' rather than a different one. By the mid-1800s the term was used to point out differences rather than likeness."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing that with me. I had no idea of what it meant. Now that I know, what shall I do with the information?

Lowell said...

Well...when it comes to important stuff like this, I figure it's always better to know than not to know.

Right?

Jacob

Anonymous said...

Yes! That is why I collect belly lint. One never knows when someone might need some, although I do not know what it might be used for.

Anonymous said...

My step-dad used to say, "That's a gray horse of a different color" when two ideas were closely related but not exactly the same.

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