>From GOOGLE: STICK TO YOUR GUNS/STAND TO YOUR GUNS - It's a military term. "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman. (Random House, New York, 1996) states: "Stick to your guns - hold to your convictions and rights. The proverb has been traced back to the 'Life of Samuel Johnson' by James Bobswell (1740-95). It was first attested in the United States in 'Seven Keys to Baldpate (1913) by Earl Derr Biggers (1884-1933)." The "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997) says the term may be military in origin and lists a mention of the term "as late as 1839, in a popular novel called 'Ten Thousand a Year' the words put in the mouth of a civilian named Mr. Titmouse." "Fighting Words: From War, Rebellion, and Other Combative Capers" by Christine Ammer (NTC Publishing Group, Chicago, 1989) has the most detailed explanation, ".Less in doubt than managing to hit a target was a gunner's obligation to stay at his post, whence the British term 'stand to one's guns' (in America, 'stick to one's guns'), meaning to persist and not give way. James Boswell, Samuel Johnson's biographer, writes in 1769, 'Mrs. Thrale stood to her gun with great courage in defense of amorous ditties.' A more perplexing use of this phrase occurred in a 1909 account about the staunchly pacifist Society of Friends: 'The Quakers stood to their guns, and without any resort to brute force, finally won.'" > Sounds like one for the Americans! > > Georgina > 10821 > > Georgina Colwell > www.musicair.co.uk > www.musictheatrebritain.co.uk > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <Dkn72a@aol.com> > To: <SFHG-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 5:30 AM > Subject: [SFHG] Query > > >> Does anyone know where the expression " Stick to your guns " >> originated >> and why ? >> >> Diane 10813 >> >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> SFHG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes >> in the subject and the body of the message >> >> > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SFHG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in > the subject and the body of the message