spare ribs

[flashpig]

why spare?

[Hippy]

Genesis, the Bible book, says how that the woman Eve was created for Adam by God removing a rib from the man as a starting point for the creation process. This is a neat explanation for men having one less rib than women. It seems that Adam had a "spare" that he could donate for the creation of woman.

[Quizmonster]

The phrase �spare ribs' has nothing to do with their being somehow �extra'. In the original old Germanic, the word was 'Ribbesper', but that somehow got its two parts transposed in English into 'spare rib'. The 'spare' part of that refers to the fact that pork ribs generally have their meat very closely trimmed to the bone. The word 'spare' here means the same as it does in the sentence: "He was a man of very spare build", meaning lean, even skinny.

[Ashley]

I hate to be the party pooper Hippy- but men and women have exactly the same amount of ribs. People make this assumption when reading the bible that because God took a rib from Adam to create Eve that therefore he must have one less. Assumptions assumptions assumptions-- who's to say God didn't create the second human- Eve- with the number of ribs Adam had after one was removed. Who's to say he didn't start with one extra. The only sure way to find out how many ribs men and women have is to cut them open and check- or x-ray them- both I hasten to add we have done. By the way- I'm a complete athiest- I just like to clear things up. Cheerio.

[Hippy]

I feel well and truly pooped, Ashley and newly informed as to the number of ribs. I remember the formation of the feminist mag "Spare Rib" and that was the explanation given then. Oh pooh! Thanks QM. I never heard of that skinny man explanation.

[TommyC]

But you're absolutely correct, Hippy... That WAS the reason for the naming of that magazine. But it was named in complete ignorance of the facts, by the kind of people - like Ashley - who wouldn't read the Bible if it was the last book on earth.