Topical Guide 698
Mark Dorset
Idioms: “take the lead out of his pencil”
What a Piece of Work I Am, Chapter 25:
“I didn’t realize this at the time, to my eventual dismay, but I had made him feel ashamed—but not for what he’d done. For being discovered. I had diminished him, made him feel small—”
“—like a child on the edge of adolescence who dreams adult dreams and ventures into adult company and is greeted by the pet name his mother gave him in the crib—”
“—I had taken the wind out of his sails—”
“—taken the lead out of his pencil.”
Pascal Tréguer, “‘Lead in One’s Pencil’: Meaning and Origin,” word histories:
The phrase lead in one’s pencil denotes male vigour, especially sexual.
In this phrase, there is wordplay on the noun penis, and, interestingly:
– via a post-classical alteration of the classical-Latin diminutive form pēnĭcillus, denoting literally a little tail, hence a painter’s brush or pencil,
– the noun pencil is ultimately derived from the classical-Latin noun pēnis, denoting literally a tail, hence the penis.
put lead in one’s pencil
Enhance or restore sexual vigor, as in Try one of these hot peppers; that’ll put lead in your pencil. This phrase, a euphemism for causing an erection, is considered far more vulgar than the contemporary synonym put hair on one’s chest, alluding to a secondary male sex characteristic. [Colloquial; c. 1900]
So, to take the lead out of a man’s pencil is to diminish his vigor, his virility, his manhood, his self-esteem. MD
Paolo Nutini, “Pencil Full of Lead”:
Oh, 1, 2, 3, 4
Ooh, I got a sheet for my bed
And a pillow for my head
I got a pencil full of lead
And some water for my throat
I’ve got buttons for my coat; and sails on my boat
So much more than I needed before
I got money in the meter and a two bar heater
Now it’s getting hotter
Oh it’s only getting sweeter
I got legs on my chairs and a head full of hair
Pot and a pan
And some shoes on my feet
I got a shelf full of books and most of my teeth
A few pairs of socks and a door with a lock
I got food in my belly and a license for my telly
And nothing’s going to bring me down
Oh no, oh nothing’s, oh nothing’s, oh nothing’s
Nothing’s gonna bring me down
I got a nice guitar and tyres on my car
I got most of the means; and scripts for the scenes
I’m out and about, so I’m in with a shout
I got a fair bit of chat but better than that
Food in my belly and a license for my telly
And nothing’s going to bring me down
Nothing’s going to bring me down
But best of all (best of all)
I’ve got my baby
She’s mighty fine and says she’s all mine
And nothings going to bring me down
Ooh, best of all
I’ve got my baby
[x2]
She’s mighty fine and says she’s all mine
And nothing’s going to bring me down
Ooh, best of all
I’ve got my baby
[x2]
She’s mighty fine and says she's all mine
And nothing’s going to bring me down
[x3]
Not today, no, no
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