When You’ve Had the Radish

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, Martha. This is Donna. I’m calling from Ithaca, New York.

Excellent. Well, welcome, Donna. What can we do for you?

So, I have a very interesting phrase that I’ve used. For many years, I’ve been saying to my family, I’ve had the radish. And I use it when I become frustrated with a project or with someone and I need to walk away from it. I don’t remember any of my family members ever using this phrase when I was growing up outside of Boston, Massachusetts. But every time I say it, everybody always kind of smiles at me because it’s kind of recognized as my go-to remark. And I’m just interested in hearing from you and knowing when you think when and where I might have picked it up.

So when you say, I’ve had the radish, you’re just absolutely, what, frustrated, exhausted?

Frustrated, walking away.

Yeah.

I’m working on a project, and it just isn’t working for me, and I’m not going to complete it. I’ll kind of throw my hands up and say, I’ve had the radish.

Got it. And have you used this your whole life or since you got to Ithaca?

I don’t ever remember using it growing up in Massachusetts. So, yes, I’ve used it here in New York for the entire time that I’ve lived here. I will tell you, and now in Ithaca, for the people who don’t know, position it in the state of New York first. It’s to the east, right?

It’s upstate.

Upstate, but to the east upstate, right?

To the west upstate, central, kind of south of Syracuse.

Okay, gotcha. Finger Lakes, it’s in the Finger Lakes.

Okay. The reason I ask is because it’s a little far out from the center of where we know lots of people actually say, I’ve had the radish, and that’s in Vermont. We do find some instances of people using it, of course, in New Hampshire and eastern New York, which is why I was trying to pin that down. So it’s not your expression alone. It is something, but it really belongs to that part of the country, though. It doesn’t exist outside that, outside that area.

That’s very interesting because after I graduated from college, I lived in Vermont for five years before moving to Ithaca, New York. That makes, that makes, that clicks for me. So you will find this expression, I’ve had the radish pop up in New England, but Vermont is the, it’s known to be the home for it. It’s almost what I would call a chamber of commerce word, which is people from Vermont know that they say this expression and they’re rather proud of it.

So as to the origins of it, there are some theories floating around that I give no quarter to, but the one that is most likely, the one that any etymologist would prefer, is that it comes from a French expression. And the French expression is n’avoir plus un radis, which means to not have a radish any longer, or to not have a radish, or je n’ai plus un radis. I don’t have a radish. And I know that it’s the opposite of I’ve had the radish, but the thinking is in the French expression, which means I’m broke, I don’t have any money, I’m exhausted, my funds are exhausted, my resources are depleted, that there’s a flip there because not only do you not have a radish, you ate the radish, or the radish is already gone that you did have. So it’s an extension of the French expression, I believe, and as do other people who’ve looked into this term.

Very interesting, Grant. Well, that solves the mystery, and I probably picked it up in those few years in Vermont. The other part of this that makes me think that it comes to French, besides the proximity of Vermont to French-speaking Canada, is there’s also a French expression, which is tenir sans radis, which means to have one’s radish. And that means you fight or defend something vigorously. And if you’ve had the radish, it means you are no longer capable of defending or fighting vigorously. You’re done with the battle, which is why I’ve had the radish to mean I’m finished, I’m done, I’m tired, I’m exhausted, I’m sick of this.

That makes perfect sense to me. I can see the logical progression between the French into the English.

Good. Well, you’ve solved the mystery for me.

Excellent. Thank you so much for your call. We really appreciate it.

Thank you.

All right. Take care.

Bye-bye.

So the quibble I might have with that argument is, how does it go from meaning I’m broke, I have no money, to meaning I’m exhausted? And that’s just because we have these similar verbs in both languages, French and English, where to be depleted could be resources, like money, or it could be energy, or interest even, or ambition.

Sure, it makes sense to me.

Yeah, it’s both talking about a kind of depletion.

Yeah, I’ve had it.

Yeah, I’m done. I’m exhausted.

Yeah, done-ski.

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