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Sour grapes is an expression used to describe making a false pretense to form a rationalization, i.e., expressing a reason not to care for something one wants, but does not or cannot have. The expression originated in "The Fox and the Grapes," one of Aesop's Fables.
In the fable, a fox attempts to reach grapes growing on a vine; after failing to do this, he dismisses the grapes as "sour". Although the fable describes purely subjective behavior, the English idiom "sour grapes" which develops from the story is now often used also of envious disparagement to others. Variations exist in other languages.[1] For example, the Scandinavian equivalent the fox makes its comment about rowanberries since grapes are not common in northern latitudes.[2]
References
edit- ^ The Concise Dictionary or European Proverbs, London 1998, p.989, proverb 986
- ^ See the Wiktionary definition of the Swedish proverb and the YouTube animation of its Finnish equivalent: "Quite sour, said the fox of rowan berries". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-08-20.