Ann from Fort Worth, Texas, says her elderly aunt was talking disparagingly about two people who, in her words, wet around the same stump. This expression isn’t all that common, but it does appear in Sarah Bird’s 1999 novel Virgin of the Rodeo. Another version, to smell around the same stump, is likewise rare, but also suggests that the two people are thick as thieves or at least have much in common. The word stump figures in several colloquial English expressions where the stump is a metaphorical point of contention or a problem that needs to be solved. Two ways of getting around the same stump means two ways to solve a problem. There’s also the phrase go around the same stump, and whip or beat the devil around the same stump, which means to avoid one’s responsibilities. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Around the Stump Expressions”
Hi there, you have A Way with Words. Hi, yes, I’m Ann Norman from Fort Worth, Texas.
Hi, Ann, welcome to the show. What’s up?
My elderly aunt, Benny Louise, lived with me for six years, and I was privy to a lot of her great colloquial expressions. One she used was a way to describe people who were birds of a feather, who were alike politically, or were in sync in other ways. One day we were talking about two world leaders who were really chummy. They got along very well together, and she wasn’t too crazy about either one of them. And so she said, well, those two wet around the same stump. They wet around the same stump. They wet. She didn’t want to use the stronger verb for urinate. This is her way to make it sound a little bit nicer. But she said, yeah, those two wet around the same stump. Oh, my.
I’ve never heard anybody else say it. So I just wondered if you’ve ever heard of it.
I have not, but that conjures some picturesque images, doesn’t it?
Oh, it does, definitely.
There is a similar expression, which is a little more common, which is that someone smells around the same stump. It’s exactly the same meaning, if you know that one.
Yeah.
On Google Books, there is one novel from 1999 that uses wet around the same stump in the same way that you’re talking about.
Really?
Meaning that they pal around.
Yeah, it’s called Virgin of the Rodeo.
Oh, I’m very familiar with that book.
You are?
Are you?
A friend of mine wrote that book.
Yeah.
I wonder if she did.
Okay, great.
All right.
Well, I’ll have to go look at it.
Okay.
Well, ask Sarah Bird if when she wrote Virgin of the Rodeo, she’d heard that expression from you or your aunt.
He heard it from me, I think.
Oh, that’s great.
She’s mining you for material.
No, no, no.
She’s just a good novelist, and novelists pick up, you know, you pick up all kinds of stuff.
Absolutely.
Yeah, well, to me it’s funny.
Yeah, it sounds like dogs sniffing around the same stump, doesn’t it?
I used to call that, you know, reading their pee mail.
-huh. Yeah.
You know, there are a bunch of expressions that have different meanings, but they all involve the stump as a source of contention or a problem that needs to be solved. And I’m not really seeing it here, but I’m throwing it out there for what it’s worth.
There is an expression, two ways of getting around the same stump, meaning two ways to solve a problem. Or to go around the same stump. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard that one.
And then there’s another one, which is to whip or beat the devil around the stump.
Oh, my.
And that just means to avoid your responsibilities and goof off when you should be working.
Well, do these all have a southern origin, or are they just all over the place?
Well, southern, plus country, plus old-fashioned. So there’s a lot of intersection there and overlap, but in general they’re not exclusive to the south. The South has hung on to some things that once used to be more general American.
Well, that’s great.
Well, thank you so much. This is just fun. I just love your show.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Ann.
If we find out anything more about Wet Around the Same Stump or if we hear from other callers about it, we’ll let you know, all right?
Okay.
Take care now.
Thank you so much.
Bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
