Put up your Dukes!
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325385)
Rockingham, Australia
December 8, 2016 7:53am CST
I wrote recently about strange phrases that English speakers might use but which might sound very strange to someone for whom English is not their first language. 'Put up your dukes' came to mind as a suitable caption for this photo of new bracken shoots about to open up. Put up your dukes means put up your fists ready to defend yourself. Although it seems the answer isn't certain, it is believed that rhyming slang used 'dukes of York' instead of 'fork' which in itself was slang for 'hand' or 'fist'.
The other one I was pondering was 'wrong end of the stick'. If you have a weak stomach, stop reading now. One explanation is that before toilet paper was invented and in the days of communal toilets, a sponge tied to the end of a stick was used to wipe yourself after defaecation. You might ask your neighbour to 'pass the stick' and woe betide you if you grasped the wrong end.
24 people like this
25 responses
@moffittjc (118365)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Dec 16
I have heard of both phrases, and knew exactly what 'put up your dukes' meant, but I never knew the origin of 'wrong end of the stick.' Thanks for enlightening us with the explanation.
4 people like this
@moffittjc (118365)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Dec 16
@JudyEv Very enlightening! I certainly wouldn't ever want to grab the wrong end of that stick, so you definitely have opened my eyes to what I should be on the lookout for! haha
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325385)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Dec 16
@moffittjc I would have thought maybe you'd rather not know anything about it. 
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@JudyEv (325385)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Dec 16
Oh well, I guess there are plenty of other words and sayings that you can use. Just be careful not to get the wrong end of the stick! 
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
9 Dec 16
Oh yuck and I mean sharing a sponge as much as passing the stick, Yuck, yuck yuck lol
2 people like this
@Jessicalynnt (50525)
• Centralia, Missouri
8 Dec 16
the thought of sharing a stick is.... awful
2 people like this
@allknowing (130067)
• India
9 Dec 16
No more for the day Judy that sponge thing is truly revolting. I had an Ango Indian friend who would use the phrase 'visiting Aunty Jane' whenever she had to go to the restroom
.
.1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325385)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Dec 16
@allknowing I don't know why we can't all just say 'we're going to the toilet' or whatever. Mostly we do 
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
8 Dec 16
For what I know the stick and the sponge have only been used by the Romans, so I have a doubt about this explanation. We have an expression "to put yourself on the right end of the stick" meaning to choose the stronger side, where the stick is supposed to be any any tool, like a pick, a shovel or a hammer, that one should better handle by the right end. It might be the same origin for the English expression.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
14 Dec 16
I don't normally consider my stomach to be weak, but that is just disgusting, Judy! A handful of nice fresh leaves would seem to be preferable to using a sponge on a stick and passing it around!
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (79592)
• United States
8 Dec 16
Both phrases are familiar to me and I knew the put up your dukes meant fists and fight but I never knew that the explanation of wrong end of the stick. ewwwwww
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
9 Dec 16
Well now, I never knew the back story on those sayings. I would wish to avoid either end of that stick if possible. "Put up your dukes" was familiar too, but I thought if a person had two John "Duke" Wayne puppets, they could just hold those up. (Lame)
2 people like this
@youless (112100)
• Guangzhou, China
9 Dec 16
I am the one who will make a huge mistake in it since my first language is not English Perhaps you can understand why sometimes I can't respond to some discussions because I have no idea about them at all. Besides the language itself, sometimes I also don't know much more about the local culture, too.
Perhaps you can understand why sometimes I can't respond to some discussions because I have no idea about them at all. Besides the language itself, sometimes I also don't know much more about the local culture, too.1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325385)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Dec 16
I guess it did. I don't want to think about it any more!!
@epiffanie (11326)
• Australia
11 Dec 16
eww! to the last part of your discussion .. lol ...
and thanks for sharing with us another one of those strange phrases .. ;)
1 person likes this
@Jackalyn (7559)
• Oxford, England
14 Dec 16
I have never heard anyone say "put up your dukes" so that is a new one on me and I have mashed the tea and sold buns in Yorkshire.
As a child, I climbed the apples and pears to the land of nod and lost things were up in nanny's room under the wallpaper.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325385)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Dec 16
Rhyming slang is so interesting isn't it? A lot of it has migrated to Australia too - or at least some.
@crazyhorseladycx (39515)
• United States
9 Dec 16
a sponge'n a stick??? i think i'll forgo supper tonight, lol.
1 person likes this
