Robbie in San Antonio, Texas, wonders about an expression he heard from his mother, who spent many years in Germany. If two people have the opportunity to do something, but neither of them does it, she’d say It fell between chairs. In English, we get across the same idea by saying someone sat between two stools or fell between two stools. In fact, versions of the phrases sitting on two chairs or sitting on two stools or falling between two chairs or falling between two stools occur throughout European languages, going all the way back to the ancient Roman philosopher Seneca. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Fell Between Chairs”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Robbie in San Antonio, Texas.
Welcome to the show. What can we do for you?
I had a question about a saying that my mom used to say to us kids when we were younger. She lived in Germany for a long time. And the saying, I know it’s a German saying, but she used to say it in English to us. And it was, it fell between chairs. And I guess, you know, it kind of means that two people had like an opportunity to do something, but then both of them didn’t do it. Anyway, I was wondering how come there isn’t like an American version of that or if that’s just a German specific saying.
Well, there is a very similar expression in English for that. So you’re saying the one that she uses, it fell between two chairs. So two people were supposed to do something, but neither one did it, so it didn’t get done, right?
Yeah, exactly. For me and my brother.
Okay, for you and your brother, yeah. So somebody was supposed to empty the trash, but nobody emptied the trash, right?
Exactly.
Okay, we all know that. We’ve all been there. So in English, we might say that a person sat or fell between two stools, or they sat on two stools rather than on two chairs, although sometimes on two chairs. And it occurs in English as early as the year 1390, if you can believe that.
Yeah.
And it occurs variations on this, either chairs or stools or sitting on two chairs or sitting on two stools or falling between two chairs or falling between two stools. It occurs throughout European languages and cultures as early as the year 60 BC. It occurs in Latin in the writings of Seneca. It’s crazy, right, that we can track it back that far. And often they also talk about falling on your bum, falling on your butt. And the whole idea is that if you can’t make up your mind between two things, you’re paralyzed by choice. And if you’re paralyzed by choice, you’re just not going to move forward and you’re just not going to do the thing that you should do. And you’re often going to end up in a ruinous situation.
Wow, that’s really interesting.
Yeah. I was curious because I remember being in school when I was a kid and I would use that saying and people would be like, what are you talking about? And it seemed to me that it was like a family-specific saying and it wasn’t until college that someone heard me say that. And they’re like, that’s a German saying. And then kind of figured it out from there. So it’s interesting. When we talk about these expressions on the show, Martha and I hear from listeners who also know them. So we know that they’re out there. But I guess we kind of need to reassure everyone that these proverbs, aphorisms, sayings are not pervasive. And there’s no reason that they should be pervasive. That they are sprinkled throughout English-speaking cultures and societies. There’s some that are more well-known than others and some less-known than others. But they’re out there in that they exist, and there’s always going to be some kind of uptake problem, some kind of record scratch moment where you say a thing and other people are like, what?
Yeah.
Well, I think what people are more used to hearing in this country is it fell between the cracks. If something didn’t get done, it fell between the cracks.
Yeah, well, that’s more what his mother was saying, which is a little different than the two stools problem, right?
Yeah, because that one’s a two-person specific kind of saying there. So falling between the cracks is about a thing not getting done.
Right. But falling between two stools is more about a person being indecisive and then not making a decision.
Yeah, it reminds me of somebody sending an email to two people thinking that maybe that will better ensure that they get an answer, but then they don’t get an answer from either one of them because each thinks the other is going to do it.
Well, I really appreciate it. I’ll definitely have to share it with her.
Well, Robbie, thanks for sharing it with us.
Yeah, of course. I love the show. I love listening every weekend.
Thanks, Robbie. Take care.
Take care.
All right. You have a good one.
All righty. Bye-bye.
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