tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post2223002512288690097..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Washington’s Mickles in a PickleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-82539926788577909892016-06-08T09:50:33.508-05:002016-06-08T09:50:33.508-05:00I used the Google Ngram Viewer to test different v...I used the Google Ngram Viewer to test <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=mickles+make+a+muckle%2Ca+mickle+makes+a+muckle%2C+little+makes+a+mickle%2Clittle+makes+a+muckle&year_start=1700&year_end=1900&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cmickles%20make%20a%20muckle%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ca%20mickle%20makes%20a%20muckle%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Clittle%20makes%20a%20mickle%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Clittle%20makes%20a%20muckle%3B%2Cc0" rel="nofollow">different versions of the phrase</a> from 1700 to 1900.<br /><br />"Many a (or Every) little makes a muckle" is by far the most popular form in that period. Toward the end "Many a mickle makes a muckle" starts to gain popularity regardless of whether it literally means "Many a big mess makes a big mess." Washington's preferred form, "Many mickles…," continues to lag.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-46497780024561902812016-06-05T12:15:58.960-05:002016-06-05T12:15:58.960-05:00Here in Scotland we still say "many a mickle ...Here in Scotland we still say "many a mickle maks a muckle"!The Greenockianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05241154433325603580noreply@blogger.com