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Ka Hoerschaf Posted 14 years ago
Vocabulary

beat like a rented government mule

Hello,

just another question ... person X is very angry on person z ... and person x says:
Give me the wisdom not to beat him like a rented government mule.

What exactly is meant by governtment mule??

Thanks for your help!
  

Top answer

I can think of two possibilities: (1) it is a mule supplied by the government, hence its ill-treatment is not of much concern to the person using it, or (2) it is a mule with the same slow work habits as other government employees, hence it needs to be beaten to make it do any work.

— Mister Micawber

  • I can think of two possibilities: (1) it is a mule supplied by the government, hence its ill-treatment is not of much concern to the person using it, or (2) it is a mule with the same slow work habits as other government employees, hence it needs to be beaten to make it do any work.
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3 Answers
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I can think of two possibilities: (1) it is a mule supplied by the government, hence its ill-treatment is not of much concern to the person using it, or (2) it is a mule with the same slow work habits as other government employees, hence it needs to be beaten to make it do any work.
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Here in the southern US you hear this expression a lot, most often without the extra fillip of "government" -- "I swear, I'm going to beat him like a rented mule." Mister Micawber's first interpretation is correct. If you don't own the animal, you only care about getting as much work as possible out of it, not whether it is damaged in the process. And yes, a "free" mule supplied by the government
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"Rented mule" and "government mule" are two different idioms which have been combined in the question.

The prior answers adequately addressed the "rented mule" scenario: Abusing the animal because it (and mules are always "it"... they can't reproduce) is merely rented and not owned.

The "government mule" may refer to either 1) a mule owned/loaned by the government, perhaps as part

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