Saturday, March 6, 2010

What Does "Hold a Candle" Mean?

This is one of those clichés that I found myself saying the other day. Then I was upset with myself because I don't like clichés; I try to be more inventive in conversation. Then I really couldn't even figure out why I would say this. I really hate trying to find the facts about cliches because no one really knows because it was well before the camcorder. The best anyone can make is an educated guess.

Apparently the origins of this phrase have to do when an apprentice would hold a candle so the others could perform their jobs. I guess the candleholder hadn't been invented yet. It would probably be a pretty relaxing job, low stress, good hours. I really wouldn’t mind it.

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