graywolf wrote: > Old American joke. The Brooklyn Bridge between Manhattan island and Brooklyn was > started in 1867 just after the Civil War and not completed until 1883. There > were many people killed in the construction of it including the designer. Most > of them from a mysterious caission disease, now know to have been the bends > caused by working at depths as much as 78 feet below sea level. > > At the time it was built it was the longest open span bridge in the world. It > was also the first steel cable suspension bridge, and had the highest towers of > any bridge (200ft). The New York (Manhattan) side tower was built on sand as > they never found bedrock though having gone down to that 78 feet below sea level > mentioned above. > > It was the biggest engineering feat in the world at the time, but it took so > long, had so many problems, and cost so much that "buying the Brooklyn bridge" > became a joke meaning buying something that was very expensive and would never > be completed. In other words a very stupid thing to buy. Most people use the > joke without having any real idea how it came about. > > http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridge/bbridge.html > > -- >
Glad to hear that story, as I've often used the expression - to mean selling something that one does not own. I think that is the more popular meaning these days. ann
