“All broth and no beans” is another way for a Texan to say “All hat and no cattle.” In other words, “all puffery and no substance.”
The phrase doesn’t appear to be very old, dating only from possibly the late 1990s and spread by copied internet lists of “Texas Sayings.”
More Texas Talkin’
He’s all broth and no beans.
Texas Sayings about being Boastful and Big
He’s all broth and no beans
Texas Monthly
Texas Sayings
by Anne Dingus
BOASTFUL
He’s all broth and no beans.
Free Republic
Posted on 03/01/2001 09:45:32 PST by grammarman
(...)
He’s all broth and no beans.
The White House (parody website)
For Immediate Release - Office of the Press Secretary - September 25, 2002 - 2:27 P.M. (CST)
PRESIDENT BUSH’S 100% FOOLPROOF NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY, AS PRESENTED TO “THE BOYS IN LUBBOCK”
Remarks by the President
(...)
Our so-called “allies” are making Saddam think the sun comes up just to hear him crow. Just because those folks in the UN want to suck ribs at his little Kurd barbeque, he thinks he’s a smart feller, but he’s not. Hell - he couldn’t pour rain out of a boot with a hole in the toe and directions on the heel. He’s as sharp as mashed potatoes and as full of wind as a corn-eating horse. But mostly, he’s all broth and no beans. And it’s a damn shame the Democrats wouldn’t let my daddy sop up that sumbitch with a chunk of cornbread, chew him up, and be done with him once and for all.
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
•“Laughter is the best medicine…except for treating diarrhea” (4/15)
•“Laughter is the best medicine. Unless you have diarrhea” (4/15)
•“If you know someone who is effortlessly happy in the morning, that is a demon. You’re friends with a demon” (4/15)
•“You know you’re a bad driver when Siri says: ‘In 400 feet, stop and let me out’” (4/15)
•“You know your driving is really terrible when your GPS says ‘After 300 feet, stop and let me out!’’ (4/15)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik. These are the Cookies and Privacy Policies.