Have you ever heard that phrase before? Someone is surprised to find out you like Gears of War and says, "I never would have pegged you as a moron."
To all those who like Gears of War, I just want you to know that I've never played any of them. So choose your offense wisely.
Using context clues, or perhaps because somebody explained this to you in your life, that phrase means "I wouldn't have mentally placed you in a group of people that I associate with that thing/activity/etc." Sometimes there's a stated reason, such as "I wouldn't have pegged you as a football player since you have the same proportions as a small sapling" or "I wouldn't have pegged you as a good driver since you're a woman and I'm wildly sexist."
The phrase also works in the affirmative, as in "I totally pegged you as a Whovian due to the cardboard Tardis you just walked out of!" or "I totally pegged you with this ball!"
Wait, what was that last one? I think we've got a different definition there. Let's examine the word pegged more closely, shall we?
From the 15th century, the word peg meant, in Dutch, a "gauge rod or watermark", and in Middle Dutch a "little knob used as a mark." We sometimes use the word peg as something below a shelf you might hang a coat on, but the original definition seems to be in line with a peg on a peg board, marking a position of something. In fact, if you look at, say, entomology, you see pegs used to mark the position of a specimen.
That verb form of peg, from the late 16th century, means "to fasten as if on a peg." There's our "pegged with a ball" definition. If you were going to peg someone in the 16th century, you best be planning on hitting them with something. But wait, a peg was a knob used as a mark! True, and the slang use of pegged as a verb meaning "to classify" hits somewhere around 1920. You know who first used it?
Entomologists. To describe their collections. Because they were classifying insects by, you know, stabbing them with a pin. Pegging a person would be a tad macabre, don't you think?
So there you go. I, personally, wouldn't have pegged you because I'm not a serial killer. I'm not in the habit of building collections of people, all classified in their neat little rows.
And if you are... Well then.
To all those who like Gears of War, I just want you to know that I've never played any of them. So choose your offense wisely.
Using context clues, or perhaps because somebody explained this to you in your life, that phrase means "I wouldn't have mentally placed you in a group of people that I associate with that thing/activity/etc." Sometimes there's a stated reason, such as "I wouldn't have pegged you as a football player since you have the same proportions as a small sapling" or "I wouldn't have pegged you as a good driver since you're a woman and I'm wildly sexist."
The phrase also works in the affirmative, as in "I totally pegged you as a Whovian due to the cardboard Tardis you just walked out of!" or "I totally pegged you with this ball!"
Wait, what was that last one? I think we've got a different definition there. Let's examine the word pegged more closely, shall we?
From the 15th century, the word peg meant, in Dutch, a "gauge rod or watermark", and in Middle Dutch a "little knob used as a mark." We sometimes use the word peg as something below a shelf you might hang a coat on, but the original definition seems to be in line with a peg on a peg board, marking a position of something. In fact, if you look at, say, entomology, you see pegs used to mark the position of a specimen.
That verb form of peg, from the late 16th century, means "to fasten as if on a peg." There's our "pegged with a ball" definition. If you were going to peg someone in the 16th century, you best be planning on hitting them with something. But wait, a peg was a knob used as a mark! True, and the slang use of pegged as a verb meaning "to classify" hits somewhere around 1920. You know who first used it?
Entomologists. To describe their collections. Because they were classifying insects by, you know, stabbing them with a pin. Pegging a person would be a tad macabre, don't you think?
So there you go. I, personally, wouldn't have pegged you because I'm not a serial killer. I'm not in the habit of building collections of people, all classified in their neat little rows.
And if you are... Well then.
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