throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.92 in modern English
77
Scrabble Score
43
Letters
6
Syllables
18
Unique Chars
Meaning
proverb
Try the same thing (or similar things) often enough, and, even if the general standard is poor, sometimes one will be successful.
proverb
If enough (perhaps false or reckless) accusations are made against someone, their reputation will suffer, whether or not this is deserved
Example Sentences
- "2005, Mike Busson (poster on UKScreen forum) Re: Voiceovers!, read at http://www.ukscreen.com/board/General/0/28899 on 02 Nov 06, In terms of places to send your URL or CD's, there's no easy answer. It really is a case of throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick."
- "2005, "forwardone" (administrator posting on the HYIPForum), re: Alertpay phishing email, read at https://web.archive.org/web/20071208195751/http://www.thehyipforum.com/message15022-alertpay-phishing-email.html on 02 Nov 06, I also think that sometimes they send out phishing e-mails in the hope that it`ll hit people who do have an account with a particular organization. You know, throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick theory."
- "2006, Rob Manuel, How to be funny, read in Comedy Soup on the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/comedysoup/robmanuel on 02 Nov 06, Throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick. Be prolific and don't be afraid to make stuff that's rubbish. If you keep trying eventually you'll get there."
- "2006, Rex Pierce, Re: [303rd-Talk] D Day read on 303rd Bomb Group Talk Forum at http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/303rd-talk/2006-June/002689.html on 02 Nov 06, Believe the planners worked on the principle of "throw enough mud at the wall, and some of it will stick"."
- "2006, "money" (poster on eTalk Money), Some thoughts about compact surfing, read at http://www.etalkmoney.com/category/closed-scam-folder/page/2/ on 02 Nov 06, Word of advice NVUS time to distance yourself from LuukH as quickly as possible and dish some dirt, otherwise well the saying goes - throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick."
Etymology
Possibly based on a technique of building wattle and daub walls by throwing daub (mud mixed with straw) at the wattle, throwing hard enough that some obtained a good key and remained in place, (compare slapdash, a pebbledash effect produced by throwing pebbles at a rendered wall). Sense 2 is probably influenced by throw dirt enough, and some will stick.