Where did eat sour grapes come from?

Answer 1

The expression comes from a fable of the very know greek Aesop. Sour grapes is a common expression to indicate that someone is despising something just because he cannot get it/have it/reach it. The fable goes like this: One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine which had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing to quench my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success. Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are sour." The morale ( It is easy to despise what you cannot get ) of this good old story have been attribued to the words sour grapes by mouth-to-mouth tradition.

Answer 2

This expression comes from the biblical prophets and can be foudn in Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

"In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge." jeremiah 31:29

"What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: "'The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? Ezekiel 18:2

-Rabbi Greengrass

Answer 3

Miringts from Britain who moved to New Zealand after the second world war

Answer 4

Sour Grapes is part of a greek tale about a fox who tried to get some grapes but failed to do so. It means that someone despises something because they can't have it.