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A wigwam for a goose's bridle is a phrase, once popular in Australia, meaning "none of your business". A common usage is in response to an inquiry such as Q. "What are you making?", A. "A wigwam for a goose's bridle". The rejoinder was a code for "Mind your own business" and children acquired this pragmatic knowledge after repeated discourse with their parents ended with this response. It was a common family saying. The phrase was also in use in New Zealand〔 〕 and more generally by English speakers, for example in an 1836 magazine article referring to Calcutta and an exchange with a sailor.〔 First published in ''The New Monthly Magazine''〕 Originally, the phrase was "a whim-wham for a goose's bridle", with "whim-wham" a word meaning "a fanciful or fantastic object". The phrase was deliberately absurd as a goose would never wear a bridle. Folk etymology converted the word "whim-wham"—a word that was no longer much used—to "wigwam", an Ojibwa word for a domed single-room dwelling used by Native Americans. This change retained the phrase's absurd meaning and sense. The phrase is believed to be less popular than it once was.〔 〕 Other variations of this phrase are: *"Whim wham for ducks to sit on." (Stated by a woman of English heritage, first of six born (1907) in the US, in Rocks Springs, Wyoming) *"Whim whams to wind the sun up." (Said by an Englishman of Chester, Cheshire in the years 1930–1940) ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「A wigwam for a goose's bridle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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