"Playing gooseberry" is being the third, unwelcome, person to a couple.
Apparently chaperones used to pick gooseberries whilst chaperoning, which
would appear to limit the courting season somewhat.
Does anyone know whether this term has any connection with the saying about
babies being found under gooseberry bushes?
All I know about gooseberries is that they used to be reliably sour and now
much of the acidity has been bred out of them, thus spoiling the piquancy.
However, they are still very thorny. Didn't somebody make a connection
between gardens and pricks, a while back? This is beginning to feel as
though it might carry echoes of Elizabethan-type metaphor!
joanna
>>> Dearest Joanna, what does that mean, "playing gooseberry"? It sounds
>> quite
>>> delish! Anything like "GrammaGooseberry"?
>> It's like being a wallflower, only edible.
>>
>> R.
>>
>>> > Good grief Judy, what am I doing playing gooseberry here?
>>> >
>>> > joanna
|