The first use of this expression, and its likely origin, is by the writer Miguel de Cervantes, in his story Don Quixote de la Mancha written from 1605-1615. According to Bartlett's, the expression 'As well look for as needle in a bottle of hay' (translated from the original Spanish) appears in part III, chapter 10.
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jeffreyhill.typepad.com/english/2009/06/advertising-met...
jeffreyhill.typepad.com/english/2009/06/advertising-metaphor-of-the-week-needle-in-a-haystack.html
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The first use of this expression, and its likely origin, is by the writer Miguel de Cervantes, in his story Don Quixote de la Mancha written from 1605-1615. According to Bartlett's, the expression 'As well look for as needle in a bottle of hay' (translated from the original Spanish) appears in part III, chapter 10.
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jeffreyhill.typepad.com/english/idioms/
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Brewer (1870-94 dictionary and revisions) lists the full expression - 'looking for a needle in a bottle of hay' which tells us that the term was first used in this form, and was later adapted during the 1900's into the modern form."
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austinswingsyndicate.org/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t...
austinswingsyndicate.org/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t2929.html
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It's just a very old proverbial phrase. The older version is "a needle in a bottle [i.e. bundle] of hay". Sir Thomas More used a variant of it in 1532: "to go look for a needle in a meadow".
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yedda.com/questions/History_4950857174991/
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Phrase: the grapes are sour; non possumus; non nostrum tantas componere lites; look for a needle in a haystack, chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin; il a le mer _ boire. ... blind bargain, pig in a poke, leap in the dark, something or other; needle in a haystack, needle in a bottle of hay; roving commission.
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www.websters-online-dictionary.org/ha/haystack.html
www.websters-online-dictionary.org/ha/haystack.html
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(1870-94 dictionary and revisions) lists the full expression – ‘looking for a needle in a bottle of hay’ which tells us that the term was first used in this form, and was later adapted during ... But, if you are like me, you had no idea that sand dollars are really sea urchins. And really, they look like this:
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www.snedblog.com/index.php/tags/discovery-channel/
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Though within sitting there for less than 5 minutes, I got called in - the nurse didn't say my name loud enough, so when I got to her I did ask her "You did just call Dale Hay, yeah?", just to make sure. ... Take a look... here is a screenshot of the video, in low quality at 52 seconds:
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www.dalehay.com/
www.dalehay.com/
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Reference > Brewer’s Dictionary > Look not a Gift Horse in the Mouth. ... Look for a Needle in a Bottle of Hay (To). ... Look One Way and Row Another (To).
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aol.bartleby.com/81/10506.html
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From The Oxford English Dictionary, 1933, comes this definition for a bottle - a bundle of hay or straw; to look for a needle in a bottle of hay.
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www.chiptin.com/antiqibles/bottle_definitions.htm
www.chiptin.com/antiqibles/bottle_definitions.htm
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