School phrases

[boitoi87]

What does "In two shakes of a lamb's tail, ang three dog night" mean?

[Quizmonster]

A "three-dog night" is a night that is very, very cold. It comes from either Australian (Aborigine) or Canadian (Eskimo) culture, depending on which source one consults. The underlying concept is that - if you are a nomadic person often obliged to sleep in the open - you need to cuddle up with three of your dogs (dingos/huskies?) in order to keep warm. If you click here, a link will take you to the appropriate page of a North American idiom website. There you will see the Eskimo version outlined.

Since lambs are constantly shaking their tails, obviously two shakes take no time at all. So, the phrase just means 'very quickly/soon'.