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Nugso Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary

Flat on back instead of a stool?

Hi.

The following is a boxing quote by Muhammad Ali (Clay):

This time I’m an even bigger fool, flat on my back instead of a stool.

What does that mean? He's ill and not in a boxing ring (not being able to fight)?
  

Top answer

It could be that "stool" refers to the stool that boxers sit on between rounds. Rather than sitting on the stool, he is flat on his back in the ring. The line may have been invented as much for the rhyme "fool ...

— GPY

  • It could be that "stool" refers to the stool that boxers sit on between rounds.
  • Rather than sitting on the stool, he is flat on his back in the ring.
  • The line may have been invented as much for the rhyme "fool ...
  • stool" as anything else.
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5 Answers
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It could be that "stool" refers to the stool that boxers sit on between rounds. Rather than sitting on the stool, he is flat on his back in the ring. The line may have been invented as much for the rhyme "fool ... stool" as anything else.
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Hi, GPY. Thanks. Can 'flat on my back' mean standing up straight instead of being sick in bed?
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NugsoHi, GPY. Thanks. Can 'flat on my back' mean standing up straight instead of being sick in bed?
No, it means the exact opposite of standing up straight.

It does not necessarily mean sick in bed. It is often used of someone who has fallen over or been knocked over, as in the example you quote.
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Thanks GPY. I thought he was bragging about. Emotion: indifferent
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When Mohammad Ali said that, it was for Sonny Liston after the second match. The first match Liston abandoned the fight after 6th round (while sitting on the stool).... The second match he is knock out... That's why Mohammad Ali (funny Poet) said "Liston said it, this time I'm a bigger fool, I flat on my back instead of a stool"...
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