Timeline for Origin of the term "toad-choker" meaning a rainstorm
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 2023 at 13:10 | answer | added | SE Louisiana | timeline score: 1 | |
| Aug 3, 2017 at 21:40 | vote | accept | RaceYouAnytime | ||
| Aug 3, 2017 at 12:12 | comment | added | Hot Licks | What part of "exaggeration" do you not understand? | |
| Aug 3, 2017 at 7:34 | comment | added | Flater | @HotLicks: You've changed your argument. (1) "The implication is that it rains hard enough that the water gets deep enough to drown a toad." (2) "far less that what's needed to support swimming in turbulent water". I'm not disagreeing with your second argument, but I do with your first. | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 23:24 | answer | added | Brrrrrrr | timeline score: 1 | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 20:44 | comment | added | Hot Licks | @Flater - A: It's an exaggeration (sorta). B: I would bet you that after a good "toad choker" one does sometimes find dead toads/frogs. Swimming is a fast, turbulent current is quite energy intensive, and the through-the-skin respiration rate is quite limited -- far less that what's needed to support swimming in turbulent water. | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 18:05 | comment | added | Flater | @HotLicks: I don't quite follow. How is being submerged into deep water, as opposed to shallow water, relevant to an animal that can live underwater without needing to hold its breath? | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 17:14 | answer | added | JEL | timeline score: 2 | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 16:09 | comment | added | Hot Licks | @Flater - Right (more or less), so the water must be pretty deep, eh? | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 15:49 | comment | added | Ralph Crown | In the South there is a similar phrase, "frog-strangler." The source may be alluding to Dan Rather's alleged penchant for using elaborate rustic metaphors. I've never heard "toad-choker." | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 15:27 | comment | added | Flater | @HotLicks: But toads are amphibians. They can live underwater. How do frogs breathe? Most frogs and toads breathe (and take in moisture) through their skin through a process called cutaneous gas exchange, but they also have lungs with which they breathe. During the time they stay submerged under water or buried in soil (such as during hibernation) they ONLY breathe through their skin. Unless it's a sarcastic saying, i.e. rainfall so heavy it would even kill amphibians? But that makes no sense as to why they'd choke. | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 15:20 | answer | added | Flater | timeline score: 1 | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 13:51 | history | edited | RaceYouAnytime | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
deleted 2 characters in body; edited title
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| Aug 2, 2017 at 12:03 | comment | added | Hot Licks | I've heard it a few times -- not real common (outside of parts of the rural South, at least), and probably falling out of use. The implication is that it rains hard enough that the water gets deep enough to drown a toad. | |
| Aug 2, 2017 at 11:51 | history | asked | RaceYouAnytime | CC BY-SA 3.0 |