-2

If you were sending an invite for a weekly workout challenge at the end of which there would be winners, would you be able to use this phrase?

If you did, could it sound rude?

Is this a British, an American or an internationally accepted phrase?

Thank you!

Jada
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
    It does sound rude: chaff is worthless, or trash. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Jul 21 '17 at 11:12
  • Probably best to use something motivational, rather than depressing (for those that didn't make it) – marcellothearcane Jul 21 '17 at 11:28
  • 2
    Judging by the community's acceptance of this idiom over "separate the men from the boys" it seems that "separate the wheat from the chaff" is less offensive, relatively speaking...https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/377460/how-to-degender-separate-the-men-from-the-boys – thomj1332 Jul 21 '17 at 12:55
  • @thomj1332 only on a gender-neutrality basis. – marcellothearcane Jul 21 '17 at 13:42
  • I think it could be used humorously, however only if you're comfortable with that type of jocular humor and would be willing to say something like "winners from the losers" or "men from the boys" or "Pros from the scrubs". Guys commonly joked around that way among themselves, although with the changes in social mores about always being supportive, that sort of teasing and playful boasting probably isn't as common anymore. – Tom22 Jul 21 '17 at 22:38

1 Answers1

0

Separating the wheat from the chaff suggests that the process - whatever it is - is going to separate that which is useful (the wheat) from that which is useless (the chaff). If used in a context like you suggest, it would imply that the non-winners are useless - essentially insulting them for not being 'the best' in whatever way your 'workout challenge' defines. Don't use this phrase for this purpose.

Jeff Zeitlin
  • 6,776
  • 2
  • 21
  • 38
  • Are you aware that the link goes to a 'no results' page? – Spagirl Jul 21 '17 at 13:12
  • @Spagirl - It works for me. – Jeff Zeitlin Jul 21 '17 at 13:20
  • Something else to consider is that this is a biblical reference to the parable in Matthew 3:12 where John the Baptist is talking about the one to come after him. It's a general usage phrase/cliche generally, but it's just about conceivable that some audiences may be discomfited. Same would apply to 'sheep from goats' and wheat from tares'. – Spagirl Jul 21 '17 at 13:25
  • http://www.dictionary.com/browse/separate-wheat-from-chaff Maybe it's a browser issue, I'm on a phone right now. – Spagirl Jul 21 '17 at 13:26
  • That's weird, just tried on pic and its fine, on safari the search puts dashes between the words! – Spagirl Jul 21 '17 at 13:27
  • @Spagirl - the link does have dashes between the words. – Jeff Zeitlin Jul 22 '17 at 12:21
  • When I follow the link in Chrome on a PC, it works: taking me to results for 'separate wheat from chaff', with no dashes. When i follow it on my phone, either in Chrome or Safari, it returns a 'no results' page for 'separate-wheat-from-chaff', with dashes. So it looks like a mobile phone glitch rather than a problem with your link. – Spagirl Jul 22 '17 at 12:26
  • @Spagirl - looks that way; Chrome on my Android tablet works just fine... – Jeff Zeitlin Jul 22 '17 at 12:37