"People who think by the inch and talk by the yard…

“People who think by the inch and talk by the yard deserve to be kicked by the foot” is a jocular saying that appears to have developed in two parts. “Some men and women talk by the yard and think by the inch” was cited in print in many newspapers in 1882. “Those who think by the inch talk by the yard and get kicked out by the foot” was cited in print in 1939.

Chronicling America
7 January 1882, The Carbon Advocate (Lehighton, PA), pg. 4, col. 5:
Some men and women talk by the yard and think by the inch.

16 March 1882, Lawrenceburgh (IN) Register, pg. 4, col. 5:
Some men talk by the yard and think by the inch.

15 April 1882, Goshen (IN) Independent, “Gems of Thought,” pg. 2, col. 6:
Some men and women talk by the yard, and think by the inch.

21 August 1939, Lock Haven (PA) Express, pg. 4, col. 1:
Those who think by the inch talk by the yard and get kicked out by the foot.

30 June 1941, Racine (WI) Journal-Times, “Blue Monday In Burlington” by O. C. Hulett, pg. 19, col. 2:
Well, folks you wouldn’t be expected to be interested in anything outside of their home town can have opinions about world affairs, and people you would expect to be steeped in erudition up to their eyebrows can come through with a laugh now and then, and here is a case in point, attributed by a friend of this column to a Methodist bishop in Minnesota, who is quoted as saying, “Folks who think by the inch and talk by the yard—should be kicked by the foot.”

11 May 1948, Brandon (Manitoba) Daily Sun, “Sun Gleams,” pg. 4, col. 2:
Those speakers who think by the inch and talk by the yard should be moved by the foot.

7 May 1953, Brandon (Manitoba) Daily Sun, “Sun Gleams,” pg. 4, col. 3:
People who think by the inch talk by the yard should be moved by the foot.

Google Books
The Mammoth Book of Great British Humor
Edited by Michael Powell
Philadelphia, PA: Running Press
2010
Pg. 59:
Most architects think by the inch, talk by the yard and should be kicked by the foot.
Prince Charles

Google Books
Seeds of Revolution:
A Collection of Axioms, Passages and Proverbs, Volume 1
By Iam A. Freeman
Bloomington, IN: iUniverse LLC
2014
Pg. 135:
People who think by the inch and talk by the yard deserve to be kicked by the foot. ~Anonymous

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People who think by the inch and talk by the yard deserve to be kicked by the foot.
11:02 AM - 29 Sep 2014