That's a gouda question.
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The expression comes from an old saying about lies and big lies.
Whenever someone would try to tell a very big lie (especially a politician), some people would counter with: you might as well tell people the Moon is made of greene cheese (and is no bigger than a cartwheel).
The idea was that no normal person would believe that the Moon is made of cheese (i.e., no one will believe the politician's lies).
(BTW, the word "greene" in this context meant "young", because young cheese is still loaded with milk, giving it a whitish color, like that of the Moon)
However, giving the rate at which Americans seem to believe in the latest hoaxes (Big 2012 Hoax, Aliens on the Moon, Solar flares burning their cell phones...), I am not so sure anymore.
Maybe the Moon really is made of cheese.
Whenever someone would try to tell a very big lie (especially a politician), some people would counter with: you might as well tell people the Moon is made of greene cheese (and is no bigger than a cartwheel).
The idea was that no normal person would believe that the Moon is made of cheese (i.e., no one will believe the politician's lies).
(BTW, the word "greene" in this context meant "young", because young cheese is still loaded with milk, giving it a whitish color, like that of the Moon)
However, giving the rate at which Americans seem to believe in the latest hoaxes (Big 2012 Hoax, Aliens on the Moon, Solar flares burning their cell phones...), I am not so sure anymore.
Maybe the Moon really is made of cheese.
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Of course not. If you really believe that, you are incredibly gullible. That is an obtuse way of insulting some one.
"...How did the myth about the moon being made out of cheese start?
— Yoshi1009, via AOL
That's the problem with being a smartass. You unload some priceless bon mot and 400 years later, out of context, you sound like an idiot. Here's an early green cheese citation from John Heywood's Proverbes (1546): "The moon is made of a greene cheese," greene meaning new, unaged. One can find similar quotes in the works of Francois Rabelais and Thomas More. I'm hearing sarcasm here, but in that era before ;-) one can't be sure. Other citations are clearer: "You may as soon persuade some Country Peasants, that the Moon is made of Green Cheese (as we say) as that 'tis bigger than his Cart-wheel" (Wilkins, New World 1, 1638), the implication being that Luna's non-cheesiosity was not a matter regarding which even the rustics were in doubt.
— Cecil Adams ..."
"...How did the myth about the moon being made out of cheese start?
— Yoshi1009, via AOL
That's the problem with being a smartass. You unload some priceless bon mot and 400 years later, out of context, you sound like an idiot. Here's an early green cheese citation from John Heywood's Proverbes (1546): "The moon is made of a greene cheese," greene meaning new, unaged. One can find similar quotes in the works of Francois Rabelais and Thomas More. I'm hearing sarcasm here, but in that era before ;-) one can't be sure. Other citations are clearer: "You may as soon persuade some Country Peasants, that the Moon is made of Green Cheese (as we say) as that 'tis bigger than his Cart-wheel" (Wilkins, New World 1, 1638), the implication being that Luna's non-cheesiosity was not a matter regarding which even the rustics were in doubt.
— Cecil Adams ..."
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