english-test.net/forum/ftopi … high_hopes
Cerberus™ wrote: At the risk of [color=red]turning stones, I will comment on this.
What does “turn stones” mean?
That cryptic phrase seemed evocative at the time, but when I read back it seems just, well, cryptic. I meant to allude to the expression “to leave no stone unturned”, which means to try in every way you can. That was supposed to mean that I risked putting too much effort into something that wasn’t even my business. At the same time, I had in my mind the image of turning over a stone in a forest, from which various creepy, dirty bugs are bound to emerge. In the process of defending the past subjunctive, which I knew I would be doing again sooner or later, old business was bound to be raked up. So, eh, just forget it…
Hi Cerberus,
Excuse my meddling, but in my poor opinion, there is a more likely story concerning the expression in question. You may read something about the three devils temptations offered to Jesus when he was in the wilderness for 40 days without food. The first one of them was “To turn stones to bread”.
thechristheals.blogspot.com/2007 … es-to.html
Ivo
The expression ‘leave no stone unturned’ is not related to the idea of turning stones into bread.
It is generally attributed to an ancient Greek legend about a general who buried a large treasure in his tent when he was defeated in battle. Those seeking the treasure consulted the Oracle of Delphi, who advised them to move every stone. Euripides used an ancient Greek version of this phrase in the play ‘Heraclidae’ circa 428BC.
The present form dates from the mid-1500s