If you write it on the ice, what you write will be impermanent, or not to be counted on–the opposite of carved in stone. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Write It On The Ice”
We got an email from Sarah in San Diego who says she recently learned of the phrase,
Write it on the ice.
Write it on the ice.
Yeah.
Right.
Okay.
Yeah.
And she thinks it means not to take a promise seriously or that something heard can’t be counted on.
And she’s never heard the phrase, wonders where it might have come from.
You know, I’ve seen this pop up in Middle Eastern context.
Actually, I can find it in text from 1878 where the English were in Afghanistan.
And the emir of Afghanistan at the time, writing in a letter, talks about the English, how their words were written on ice, meaning that they would melt away and there’d be nothing left.
Oh, wow.
So it talked about the impermanence of promises, really.
It’s kind of the opposite of carved in stone.
Oh, interesting.
Yeah, that reminds me of the phrase, charge it to the dust and let the rain settle it.
Oh, yeah.
Did we talk about this on the show before?
I think we did.
Like, I’m the proprietor, and you come in, and you want to buy something, and it doesn’t cost very much.
And I just say, I’ll charge it to the dust and let the rain settle it.
In other words, you can have it for free.
Right.
Okay.
But the write it on ice is something where you’re not making a contract.
You’re just kind of like it’s a temporary thing.
Whether you like it or not, it’s a temporary agreement that we’ve had.
Right.
Right.
That’s what they do back east here in San Diego.
We write it on the sand.
Exactly.
Right below the tide lines.
Exactly.
Call us with your language questions, 877-929-9673.
Or like Sarah, you can send us an email to words@waywordradio.org.
