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Originally Posted by dar512
But American Heritage Dictionary of the English language has this to say:
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Interesting. Almost all sites returned from a google search agreed with you, except that many of them also involved the riding-the-donkey origins...
From
Merriam-Webster:
"Etymology: from the traditional alternatives of driving a donkey on by either holding out a carrot or whipping it with a stick: characterized by the use of both reward and punishment to induce cooperation."
But what do you hold the carrot out with, if not a stick? You have to carry
two sticks to ride a donkey? They must be damn stubborn.
