A Conversation for The Origins and Common Usage of British Swear-words
St Paul: 'kicking against the prick'
TRiG (Ireland) A dog, so bade in office Started conversation May 12, 2006
Footnote 4: Surprisingly, the word 'prick' when used as an insult does not come from slang for male genitalia but from farming equipment; the prick was a shaft of sharpened wood used to keep oxen in place. A person was said to be 'kicking against the prick' if they resisted authority even if it meant harming themself. In other words, being a 'prick' was being unduly rebellious.
Does this not come from the Bible? Specifically, Acts 26:14. Here's the passage from the New World Translation:
12 “Amid these efforts as I was journeying to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests, 13 I saw at midday on the road, O king, a light beyond the brilliance of the sun flash from heaven about me and about those journeying with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground I heard a voice say to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? To keep kicking against the goads makes it hard for you.’ 15 But I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’
The King James might well have had "pricks".
TRiG.
St Paul: 'kicking against the prick'
Kerr_Avon - hunting stray apostrophes and gutting poorly parsed sentences Posted May 12, 2006
And, oddly enough, this month's SFX magazine has a big interview with Michael Morcock, which is entitled 'Kicking against the pricks'.
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St Paul: 'kicking against the prick'
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