sour grapes is the false denial of desire for something sought but not acquired; to denigrate and feign disdain for that which one could not attain. this metaphor originated from the fable The Fox and the Grapes by Aesop, where the protagonist fox fails to reach some grapes hanging high up on a vine, retreats, and rationalizes that the grapes are probably unripe anyway. the grapes in the original fable is more accurately described as unripe, and the word "unripe" may have been replaced with "sour" by the fable's Victorian translators due to the latter's simpler sound, and because of the former's connotation as an innuedo (ie. an unripe woman).

the phrase is sometimes also used to refer to one expressing, in an unsportsmanlike or ungracious way, anger or frustration at having failed to acquire something (i.e. being a "sore loser"), regardless of whether the party denies their desire for the item (i.e. hypothetical girl, Alice, being jealous of the fact that no one buys her lunch). not including the denial of desire is technically a slipshod extension of the metaphor because it is inconsistent with the phrase's origin in the fable and the notion of the grapes being declared "sour".

SOUR GRAPES.

yay! tell your mom you learnt something new today.




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