What does "to shake a stick at" mean now?

What does "to shake a stick at" mean now?
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Answer :

answer:I think the actual origins on this are still unclear, but the "shaking of the stick part" seems to stem from a gesture of threatening with an actual stick, with the original meaning loosely being "more than one can threaten." These days, it's used to indicate a large number of something, i.e. "more than you can shake a stick at" - which would imply that the actual number is more intimidating than the threatening stick shaking behavior. I know, that sounds wacky. Here are some additional links: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sha2.htm http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/mifmrthnycnshkstck.shtml
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