THE CAT'S PAJAMAS LV

Tad Tuleja

 

A collection of the (mostly) true origins of familiar phrases

 

CHEWING THE FAT

 

Why did traditional Eskimos eat blubber? Why would a people with ready access to Arctic hare, salmon, and reindeer want to eat whale fat? The answer lies not in gastronomy, but in sex.

 

Since the earliest days, great whales have been symbols of virility, and in the more traditionally-minded clans, an adolescent boy only becomes a man after he has harpooned a whale. This kind of child-to-mighty-hunter ritual is common among traditional peoples. What is not so common is the use of the slain animal's meat in a further ritual proof of manhood. Once the boy has killed the leviathan, the carcass is dragged up on shore, the boy's father carves off several large chunks, and they are presented to the youngster with the injunction, "Eat this mighty beast with your bride, and you will father five thousand hunters."

 

What ensues is an often lengthy seclusion ritual in which the young man and his betrothed, confined in a special hut, discuss their wedding plans while mutually devouring the fat. Since this fat-chewing ceremony is thought to be essential to the couple's fertility, they cannot be married, or engage in any sexual contact, before it is all consumed. Thus the Eskimo expression, chewing the fat, refers to any sexually promising encounter that has not yet proceeded beyond the talking stage. It was American explorers early in the 20th century who extended the image to refer to any long, drawn-out conversation.

The fat-chewing practice is now almost extinct, but the Eskimo tongue retains at least one pithy expression that recalls its earlier importance. "The fat is in the fire," which used to indicate the most grievous of social offenses - the couple's secretly burning the fat to hasten the wedding - and now has come to mean the beginning of any long-anticipated event. Ironically, in current usage, the phrase is used to describe the beginning of an event that is bound to end badly.