Unlock the origins and meaning of the expression “to pull a boner.” Delve into its history and unravel the unexpected journey of this intriguing phrase.
Key Takeaways:
- Uncover the historical context behind the expression “to pull a boner.”
- Explore its evolution and diverse interpretations.
- Gain insights into how language expressions can undergo unexpected transformations over time.
The expression “to pull a boner” means: To blunder; to make a stupid or ridiculous mistake; also, to be a bonehead.
By deduction, we figure that this American phrase, of about fifty years’ standing, came from “Bones” or “Mistah Bones” of the old-style minstrel show.
Originally there was but one of him, the end man in the show who played the “bones”, two pairs of ebony sticks (or, sometimes, pieces of seasoned and polished rib bones), about one inch wide and six inches long, clapped together in the performer’s fingers.
The other end man was “Tambo” or “Mistah Tambo,” from the tambourine played by him.
Both end men were later called “Bones,” but in either case the “interlocutor,” sitting in the middle of the line, directed such questions at the end men as would bring out jests or would evoke ridiculous answers or stupid blunders. He would, that is, “pull boners” from them.
