"throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick" meaning in English

See throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

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. Head templates: {{head|en|proverb}} throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick
  1. Try the same thing (or similar things) often enough, and, even if the general standard is poor, sometimes one will be successful.
    Sense id: en-throw_enough_mud_at_the_wall_and_some_of_it_will_stick-en-proverb-CdZVVMHd Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 52 48 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 52 48
  2. If enough (perhaps false or reckless) accusations are made against someone, his reputation will suffer, whether or not this is deserved
    Sense id: en-throw_enough_mud_at_the_wall_and_some_of_it_will_stick-en-proverb-OgEIdos6 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English proverbs, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 53 47 Disambiguation of English proverbs: 39 61 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 52 48 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 52 48
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  "etymology_text": "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.",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2005, Mike Busson (poster on UKScreen forum) Re: Voiceovers!, read at http://www.ukscreen.com/board/General/0/28899 on 02 Nov 06,\nIn 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."
        },
        {
          "text": "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,\nI 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."
        },
        {
          "text": "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,\nThrow 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."
        },
        {
          "text": "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,\nBelieve the planners worked on the principle of \"throw enough mud at the wall, and some of it will stick\"."
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        "Try the same thing (or similar things) often enough, and, even if the general standard is poor, sometimes one will be successful."
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "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,\nWord 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."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If enough (perhaps false or reckless) accusations are made against someone, his reputation will suffer, whether or not this is deserved"
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  "word": "throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick"
}
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  "etymology_text": "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.",
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
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    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2005, Mike Busson (poster on UKScreen forum) Re: Voiceovers!, read at http://www.ukscreen.com/board/General/0/28899 on 02 Nov 06,\nIn 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."
        },
        {
          "text": "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,\nI 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."
        },
        {
          "text": "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,\nThrow 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."
        },
        {
          "text": "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,\nBelieve the planners worked on the principle of \"throw enough mud at the wall, and some of it will stick\"."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Try the same thing (or similar things) often enough, and, even if the general standard is poor, sometimes one will be successful."
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "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,\nWord 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."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If enough (perhaps false or reckless) accusations are made against someone, his reputation will suffer, whether or not this is deserved"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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