Better than a poke in the eye….

We have purposely left the expression unfinished because there are countless ways of finishing the expression, all of which mean 'better than nothing'. Perhaps the most common versions are 'better than a poke in the eye from a sharp/blunt/ burnt stick' but this is only a guess. Partridge & Beale's Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2002) claims that the versions just mentioned date from the mid-19th century, but confirms that Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue 2nd edition (1788) has 'better than a thump on the back with a stone'. Fairly recently, 'better than a poke in the eye with a plastic duck' has been cited. And so, the list goes on and on, which goes to show that there are many things in life that are better than nothing.