Clean as a whistle or…

It would have been useful to have been a beer drinker!

After four days of a non-residue diet (and my mean non-residue or absolutely nothing that might stick to one’s ribs at all!) I was ready for the great event: a colonoscopy.

There is some question as to the origin of the phrase “as clean as a whistle” or “as slick as a whistle” but it was what came to mind after processing that last 2 liters of prep and 1 liter of water!

Some say it refers either to the ease of producing a whistle or to its clear tone.

Others that the basic idea suggests the clear, pure sound a whistle makes, or the slippery smooth surface of a willow stick debarked to make a whistle. But there is also a chance that the phrase may have originally been 'as clean as a whittle,' referring to a piece of smooth wood after it is whittled.'" (From the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997.)

What it has to do with cleaning out one’s intestines I don’t know, but that is definitely how I felt going into the exam.

Good news: a five-year reprieve by which time I may (note the emphasis on MAY) have just barely forgotten the process.