(colloquial) have a
lot of
special reasons of one's own for being
involved in something. This expression is from a story entitled "Who'll
Turn the Grindstone?" first published in 1811. It purports to relate an
incident in the boyhood of the author One morning a
man with an
ax over his shoulder greeted the
boy most pleasantly and asked if his father had a grindstone. When the
boy said, "Yes," the
man complimented him upon his good looks and
intelligence and asked if he might borrow the
use of the stone. The
boy, flattered by the
attention, was sure that he could. The
man then remarked that the
boy appeared to be unusually strong for his age. The lad fell for all this flattery, and before he knew it he had been tricked into turning the stone until the very
dull ax was as
sharp as a razor. Just then the
school bell was heard to
ring; the
man's manner changed abruptly, and without a
word of thanks or a
coin, he berated the
boy for being a sluggard and ordered him to be off instantly so as not to be
late for
school.