Can you see the wood for the trees?
Hi, it’s Susie Dentinfang, dictionary diva at the Greenygrey and Countdown to the Full Moon. While you are probably eager for completely new Greenygrey material, the recording of Greenygrey history can be a slow, laborious and painstaking task, so please bear with us.
New Greenygreyism similar to Seeing Wood for Trees
And it is very exciting news for us, and we hope it will be for you too. We think we have a new greenygreyism.
While Martin ‘Werewolfie’ Adams was an amazing sportswerewolf, and is a great sports correspondent, he’s not an etymologist. And he is the first to admit that when he used the phrase ‘not seeing the Green for the greenygrey’ in his recent post about goalie kits that he was unaware (not un-a-were) he was making Greenygrey history.
I can confirm that it was the first time the phrase ‘not seeing the green for the greenygrey’ has been used in the Greenygrey world. I have found a related phrase in the English language, which goes something like: ‘not seeing the wood for the trees’.
It is explained by our beloved free English dictionary as: ‘if someone can’t see the wood for the trees, they are unable to understand what is important in a situation because they are giving too much attention to details.’
Maybe Green’s greenygrey kit disguised the West Ham goalie so much that the Blackpool strikers spent too much time looking for details, such as aiming for the goalposts, but sent most shots wide; meaning they couldn’t see the goal for the posts, like the wood for the trees.
Werewolf of Oz poems in Tips for Writers
Secondly, an addition to the recent post about Grey’s Oz poems in Tips for Writers. Greenygrey admits just skimming through Tips before blogging that Tips 89 contained the Oz Flight poem, which is the opposite to not seeing the wood for the trees; more like not seeing the trees for the wood!
Turns out that after a closer look there are several Werewolf of Oz poems in it. Altogether there’s: Rainbow Valley Shropshire Lad, The Greycliffe House Mouse, Oz Flight, New Day, 3×4 and Tree to Sea.
Thanks to Tips for publishing them. They’re all available in the Werewolf of Oz, and will be blogged here over the next few months. Cheers.
mistYmuse 