Meaning & Analysis
Someone is as shy, resistant, or pretending to be modest as a specific, now-forgotten, mare owned by a person named Croker. The original story is lost, but the mare was proverbial for its coyness.
Insights
Feigned Reluctance
The proverb is a metaphor for feigned or strategic reluctance. It describes someone who pretends to be shy, demure, or hesitant in order to be difficult, avoid a task, or manipulate a situation.
Stubbornness as Coyness
It symbolizes a form of stubbornness that is masked by a veneer of modesty. The 'coyness' is not about genuine timidity but about a willful and frustrating lack of cooperation.
Obscurity and Lost Meaning
The phrase itself has become a metaphor for lost cultural knowledge. Like the story of Croker's mare, some meanings and references become obscure over time, leaving behind only an enigmatic expression.
Lost Folklore
This proverb is a 'fossil' phrase, whose original context—a presumably well-known local story or fable about a man named Croker and his difficult mare—is now lost. Its survival demonstrates how idioms can outlive their source narratives, leaving behind a ghost of meaning.
Psychology of Feigned Reluctance
The phrase captures the psychological dynamic of feigned reluctance. The 'coyness' is likely not genuine shyness but a form of passive resistance or stubbornness, a tactic to frustrate or manipulate. It highlights the ambiguity between modesty and strategic obstinacy.
The Power of Specificity
The specificity of 'Croker's mare', as opposed to any mare, suggests it was a potent and widely understood reference in its time. This specificity gives the proverb a concrete, anecdotal quality that has ironically become a symbol of cultural and linguistic obscurity.
Rhetorical Devices
Simile
The proverb is a classic simile, using the structure 'as...as' to create a vivid, if now obscure, comparison.
Alliteration
The alliteration of the hard 'c' sound in 'coy' and 'Croker's' makes the phrase catchy, rhythmic, and more memorable.
Proper Noun Reference
The use of a specific proper name, 'Croker', roots the expression in a tangible, albeit lost, anecdote, giving it a sense of authority and specificity that a more generic phrase would lack.
Transcription
Quotations
She was to theim as koy as a crokers mare.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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