atw: Aunt Sallies

'Twere 3. But I do remember we had sideshows at my primary school that had an 
Aunt Sally coconut shy. I have avoided 'old wives' tales' because 50% of the 
population think it's aimed at them, derisively.
Brian.
  Michael said:
  An Aunt Sally, eh Brian (C).

  My goodness.

  Now there's an obscure old British expression to keep out
  of our manuals, unless writing for a 19th Century
  fairground audience!

  I thought that I got the sense of what you were saying, as
  in old wives tales and widely held misconceptions but,
  wasn't entirely sure.  So I looked it up in the Collins
  BFHC Dictionary (Australian Edition) and it and "Aunt
  Sally" has some history that gives it far deeper resonances
  with old world English popular culture.

  So I thought that I might include that definition, which
  follows, for the edification and enlightenment of the rest
  of us:

  Aunt Sally . n. pl. -lies. Brit. 1. a figure of an old
  woman's head, typically with a clay pipe, used in
  fairgrounds and fetes as a target for balls or other
  objects. 2. any person who is a target for inslults and
  criticism. 3. Something set up as a target for disagreement
  or attack.

  Methinks that you meant that definition 3, although (on atw
  at least) many of us, including you and yours truly have
  floated to and from definition 2 status. ;-)

  Now where did I put my clay pipe?
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