In a message dated 11/24/99 9:26:32 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< The expression in question [THE LONG OR THE SHORT VERSION?] dates back to
the 1920s and always was used to mean that the person referred to was very
ignorant [THAT MUCH WE COULD FIGURE OUT]. The other 'meanings' [WHAT OTHER
MEANINGS?] are later derivations used by people ignorant of the original
meaning or the phrase's origins [WHICH ORIGINS? SHOE POLISH OR HAIR GUNK?].
  >>
RALPH [RECEIVED VALENTINES IN GRADE SCHOOL ADDRESSED TO RALPF]