Timeline for Opposite of 'Midas touch'?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
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| Apr 19, 2012 at 21:17 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @Jay: It was originally an expression almost exclusively used by sailors, and historically the UK was obviously more of a seafaring nation than the US. I lived some years in Portsmouth, a city with a very strong naval tradition, so perhaps that affects my perception too. But Google Books claims 507 instances of "he's a Jonah", as against only 50 for "he's the kiss of death" - so total upvotes notwithstanding, I stand by my answer here. | |
| Apr 19, 2012 at 14:33 | comment | added | Jay | Anyway, what I started to type before I went off on a tangent ... Maybe this is regional, but if you said to an American audience, "Bob is a real Jonah" or some such without explaining what you meant, I think most would think you meant that Bob was swallowed by a whale, or if that was clearly absurd in context, that he had some experience that could metaphorically compare to being swallowed by a whale. Few would immediately think, "Bob brings trouble to everyone around him." | |
| Apr 19, 2012 at 14:30 | comment | added | Jay | As you say, maybe it's regional. I would have thought that if you asked 100 people "Who was Jonah?", at least 90 would say, "the guy who was swallowed by a whale". I doubt most could tell you the part about preaching in Ninevah, how the other people on the ship felt about him, or probably anything else about him. But maybe that's just 90% of Americans or 90% of people I recall hearing mention him. I don't claim to have a survey to back it up. | |
| Apr 18, 2012 at 21:38 | comment | added | FrustratedWithFormsDesigner | @FumbleFingers: Yes, it might be regional. I have never heard the term used in Canadaian/US offices (IT and financial industries). | |
| Apr 18, 2012 at 21:37 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @Frustrated,Monica: I'm a bit surprised, since I know both you guys are "competent speakers" in general. Truth to tell, if I ever did know about Jonah being swallowed up & vomited out by the whale (and thus surviving), I'd long forgotten it until I did the checking here. But "He's a [right] Jonah!" seems commonplace to me, from high-tech office staff to building site workers. Perhaps it's another of those UK/US diferences. But I will say "He's got the Jonah touch" sounds weird to me - I only know it in the form I've set out. | |
| Apr 18, 2012 at 18:46 | comment | added | Monica Cellio | I agree with @FrustratedWithFormsDesigner. If I heard "he's a Jonah" or "he's got the Jonah touch" without the context of this question, I'd be thinking of fish bellies, not the turbulence. (If I chose to puzzle it out I'd probably get it, but we don't want people to have to puzzle out idioms most of the time.) This would be a nice usage to spread, though! | |
| Apr 18, 2012 at 18:18 | comment | added | Kevin | I really like this answer as it mirrors "Midas" nicely. Midas was ultimately brought to ruin by his "gift" but no one thinks about this when using this phrase. Similarly, no one thinks about the fact that Jonah ultimately did what God asked and ended up saving a whole city | |
| Apr 18, 2012 at 18:17 | comment | added | FrustratedWithFormsDesigner | That is probably closest to the meaning the OP is looking for, but I don't think I've ever heard this in common usage, and anyone not familiar with the story will be confused. Even I found it confusing initially because bringing bad luck to those around him was not the main point of the story of Jonah. | |
| Apr 18, 2012 at 16:59 | history | answered | FumbleFingers | CC BY-SA 3.0 |