Not a sausage

[meia@bristol]

Does anyone know the origin of this expression as I know what it means? meia x

[tartanwiz]

From going to the pantry and finding it empty of any food, perhaps? Same with 'not a bean'.

[smudge]

No, but my late Mum-in law used to say 'Oh well must go, it's six o'clock & no sausages pricked'.

[Quizmonster]

It first appeared in print - and that could conceivably be the first time it appeared anywhere - in a novel by Margery Allingham in 1938.

[Quizmonster]

There is also a suggestion that it may be derived from Cockney rhyming slang in which 'sausage and mash' meant 'cash'. Hence, 'not a sausage' meant 'no money'. The phrase is not applied solely to a lack of money nowadays, though, but can refer to anything that's absent.

[smudge]

Nice one Quizmonster - very logical!

[tartanwiz]

Q - When is a sausage not a sausage? A - When it fails to meet EU regulations on the % of meat (otherwise it's called a phallic shaped gristle pudding or something). :o)