I recently heard a similar mis-quote of this common phrase on a conference call with work. Our project has had considerable trouble yielding the required results; senior leadership has gotten involved to get the team into shape. We recently had preliminary good news, and one of the team members said, “We’re not out of the woodshed yet.” Clearly, the team members felt they had been “taken to the woodshed” for their poor perfomance, and that the preliminary results didn’t mean “we were out of the woods yet.” This is now my new favorite saying; mix-up in the subconscience mind to come up with a real truth: “We’re not out of the woodshed yet!”
“It crawled out of the woodwork” was the title of an original outer limits episode that aired december 9, 1963…
Nick:
December 30th, 2019 at 9:06 pm
I have a really hard time believing the first usage of the “…woodwork” idiom was the mid 1960s. If I had to make a cold guess I’d say more like the mid 1860s (or before) when both literal woodwork and insects/rodents were far more common in the average home than 100+ years later. In fact, for one example, I’m certain I read the phrase in an H.P. Lovecraft story (maybe “The Rats in the Walls”?) which would put it no later than 1937. Lovecraft was known for his use of archaic language and outdated turns of phrase even then, so wouldn’t be surprised to learn it was much older.
I think, with all due respect for you run a great site, this one needs a bit more research. The OED, as great as resource as it may be, has in my experience not always been right.
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Mark Klein:
December 5th, 2011 at 11:23 am
I recently heard a similar mis-quote of this common phrase on a conference call with work. Our project has had considerable trouble yielding the required results; senior leadership has gotten involved to get the team into shape. We recently had preliminary good news, and one of the team members said, “We’re not out of the woodshed yet.” Clearly, the team members felt they had been “taken to the woodshed” for their poor perfomance, and that the preliminary results didn’t mean “we were out of the woods yet.” This is now my new favorite saying; mix-up in the subconscience mind to come up with a real truth: “We’re not out of the woodshed yet!”
Mike:
June 27th, 2012 at 4:59 am
“It crawled out of the woodwork” was the title of an original outer limits episode that aired december 9, 1963…
Nick:
December 30th, 2019 at 9:06 pm
I have a really hard time believing the first usage of the “…woodwork” idiom was the mid 1960s. If I had to make a cold guess I’d say more like the mid 1860s (or before) when both literal woodwork and insects/rodents were far more common in the average home than 100+ years later. In fact, for one example, I’m certain I read the phrase in an H.P. Lovecraft story (maybe “The Rats in the Walls”?) which would put it no later than 1937. Lovecraft was known for his use of archaic language and outdated turns of phrase even then, so wouldn’t be surprised to learn it was much older.
I think, with all due respect for you run a great site, this one needs a bit more research. The OED, as great as resource as it may be, has in my experience not always been right.