What's that got to do with the...?

History

Linguist Pascal Tréguer has traced variations of the phrase back to at least 1832, using various commodities as the comparison. He dates the common variation, the price of tea in China, to 1930, relating it to the late 19th century phrase, not for all the tea in China. The latter phrase indicates totality, and its use in the sarcastic version might emphasize the mocking tone ("what does your statement have to do with anything whatsoever"). Prior to 1930, other versions of the price of tea in China variation do exist, as far back as 1895, though not using the same phrasing as the subject of this article, and perhaps meant as a straight question, and not an objection.

Variations

Many variations of the phrase exist in English, and there are similar phrases with the same purpose in other languages.

English

What's that got to do with the price of tea in China? appears to be the most common version in American English. A common variation is "What's that got to do with the price of eggs?", dating back to the 1920s. and possibly the progenitor of "What's that got to do with the price of fish?" Another common version is "What's that got to do with the price of cheese?", "Bread" is also an alternative. Another version can be found in Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent, with the quote being "What's that got to do with the price of feet."

Other languages

A related expression in Hebrew can be found in a commentary on the Biblical commandment of the septennial Shmitah or sabbatical year. Leviticus 25:1 specifically states that God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai; while this was a common location for God to speak to Moses, the text's explicit reference to it is very rare. Accordingly, Rashi's commentary begins with the question "What does Shmita have to do with Mount Sinai?" (מה עניין שמיטה אצל הר סיני?) In modern Jewish discourse, this phrase is taken to question the connection between any two seemingly disparate points, as in the comparable English phrase.

There is also a similar phrase in Polish which says: "What does a piernik have to do with a windmill?" (Co ma piernik do wiatraka?). The exact origin of the expression is uncertain. Another similar phrase also exists in French, Quel est le rapport avec la choucroute?, which translates to "What does it have to do with the sauerkraut?"

References

References

1. Rees, Nigel. (2001). "Oops, Pardon, Mrs Arden!: An Embarrassment of Domestic Catch Phrases". Robson.
2. Tréguer, Pascal. (2023-12-02). "'what has that got to do with the price of tea in China?': meaning and origin".
3. Tréguer, Pascal. (2023-11-25). "'what has that got to do with the price of ——?': meaning and origin".
4. (1895-09-05). "Hardy's Wonderful Discovery". The Kansas Democrat.
5. "The price of fish - phrase meaning and origin".
6. "what's that got to do with the price of cheese".
7. (2011-09-01). "What's that got to do with the price of fish? Buyers behavior on the Ancona fish market". Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.
8. Pratchett, Terry. (2006). "The Last Continent". Corgi.
9. David Seidenberg. "Shmita: the purpose of Sinai". neohasid.org.
10. Kasher, H. E.. (1989). "The Torah". ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications.
11. Bańko, Mirosław. "Co ma piernik do wiatraka?".