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Pchuang Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary

'throwing more than the kitchen sink' what is the origin of the expression?

do more to express their anger at someone?
to give someone a good bash?
  

Top answer

'The kitchen sink ' = the last item of all possible items , and the normal phraseology is t o throw/try/eat/gather/buy/build/etc everything but the kitchen sink . The kitchen sink itself is an arbitrary but jocular choice for this idiom: it is a large, awkward and immovable item that normally is used for nothing other than washing dishes. Throwing more than the kitchen sink is, to me, a neologism-- a bit of hyperbole on the traditional idiom.

— Mister Micawber

  • 'The kitchen sink ' = the last item of all possible items , and the normal phraseology is t o throw/try/eat/gather/buy/build/etc everything but the kitchen sink .
  • The kitchen sink itself is an arbitrary but jocular choice for this idiom: it is a large, awkward and immovable item that normally is used for nothing other than washing dishes.
  • Throwing more than the kitchen sink is, to me, a neologism-- a bit of hyperbole on the traditional idiom.
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6 Answers
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'The kitchen sink' = the last item of all possible items, and the normal phraseology is to throw/try/eat/gather/buy/build/etc everything but the kitchen sink. The kitchen sink itself is an arbitrary but jocular choice for this idiom: it is a large, awkward and immovable item that normally is used for nothing other than washing dishes.

Throwing mo
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still have no idea about the expression.
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What part of my explanation or the expression itself do you not understand?
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thanks for your reply.
would you be able to give me some examples that use the expression?
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Those kids ate everthing but the kitchen sink. (They ate a lot.)

You packed everything but the kitchen sink. (You packed a lot.)

That exam included questions on everything but the kitchen sink. (The exam asked questions about a lot of topics.)
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have a look at this site: http://www.goenglish.com/EverythingButTheKitchenSink.asp

(Edited to create live link-- MM)
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