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WORLD WIDE WORDS: A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHORHAPPY AS A SANDBOYBLACK AS NEWGATE KNOCKERMICHAEL QUINION'S PERSONAL PAGECHALAZION The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: RED-HEADED STEPCHILD The Toronto Sun, 2 Mar. 2011. The meaning of red-headed stepchild is clear enough: it’s used to describe a person who is neglected, mistreated or unwanted. The evidence shows that it was originally American; it has spread not only to Canada but also to the UK, though it’s unusual here and almost always appears in writing by Americans. WORLD WIDE WORDS: PISS-POOR Ezra Pound invented piss-rotten in 1940 (distasteful or unpleasant, the first example on record) and we’ve since had piss-easy (very easy), piss-weak (cowardly or pathetic), piss-elegant (affectedly refined, pretentious), piss-awful (very unpleasant) and other forms. Piss-poor began life in a similar figurative sense for something

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the word

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the word

WORLD WIDE WORDS: SAY (OR CRY) UNCLE The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: COMPLEAT V COMPLETE Q From Dallman Ross in Germany: Are compleat and complete really two separate words, as the American Heritage Dictionary seems to say? Or is the former merely an alternate spelling of one meaning of the latter? While compleat is said to mean ‘quintessential’, one meaning of complete is closely related as ‘skilled; accomplished’.. A In Britain, compleat is archaic, used in writing

only

WORLD WIDE WORDS: SCREAMING AB-DABS Q From Rob Ewen, UK: A friend said during a recent discussion on cinema that horror films gave her the screaming ab-dabs.What are ab-dabs and where do I find them?. A To give someone the screaming abdabs (or habdabs) is a British expression for inducing an attack of extreme anxiety or irritation in someone.It’s recorded in print from

the middle 1940s.

WORLD WIDE WORDS: HIGH STREET Q From Peter Thomson: Why in the UK, is the main street called High Street?. A We have for so long in Britain called the main shopping street of a town by this name that it is now a generic term to describe shops that cater to the needs of the ordinary public: “With juice bars springing up everywhere, juicing seems to have hit the high street”; “To make a high street shop look like a WORLD WIDE WORDS: ON THE FRITZ Q From Dan Leneker: I am looking into how the expression on the fritz came about. Please help. A I’d like to, but most dictionaries just say, very cautiously and flatly, “origin unknown”, and I can’t do much to improve on that verdict.. The phrase is now a common American expression meaning that some mechanism is malfunctioning or broken: “The washing machine’s on the fritz again WORLD WIDE WORDS: NEEDS MUST WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES A The expression does exist, and as it happens is one of the older proverbs in the language, somewhat predating the USA. Shakespeare uses it in All’s Well that Ends Well: “My poor body, madam, requires it: I am driven on by the flesh; and he must needs go that the devil drives”. However, it is actually older — the earliest I can find

is

WORLD WIDE WORDS: DICK’S HATBAND A In truth, nobody has quite got to the bottom of this one. It was once commonly encountered in phrases like as tight as Dick’s hatband or as queer as Dick’s hatband. It means that something is absurd, perverse, or peculiar. Its earliest appearance in print is in the 1796

edition of

WORLD WIDE WORDS: KELSEY’S NUTS Early on, it appeared as “tighter than Kelsey’s nuts” to mean a person who was stingy or mean, and is also recorded in the form “as safe as Kelsey’s nuts”, meaning very safe. By the early 1960s, it had evolved away from these fairly obvious formations to the imaginative and metaphorical phrase still used today. WORLD WIDE WORDS: A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHORHAPPY AS A SANDBOYBLACK AS NEWGATE KNOCKERMICHAEL QUINION'S PERSONAL PAGECHALAZION The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: RED-HEADED STEPCHILD The Toronto Sun, 2 Mar. 2011. The meaning of red-headed stepchild is clear enough: it’s used to describe a person who is neglected, mistreated or unwanted. The evidence shows that it was originally American; it has spread not only to Canada but also to the UK, though it’s unusual here and almost always appears in writing by Americans. WORLD WIDE WORDS: PISS-POOR Ezra Pound invented piss-rotten in 1940 (distasteful or unpleasant, the first example on record) and we’ve since had piss-easy (very easy), piss-weak (cowardly or pathetic), piss-elegant (affectedly refined, pretentious), piss-awful (very unpleasant) and other forms. Piss-poor began life in a similar figurative sense for something

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the middle 1940s.

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WORLD WIDE WORDS: KELSEY’S NUTS Early on, it appeared as “tighter than Kelsey’s nuts” to mean a person who was stingy or mean, and is also recorded in the form “as safe as Kelsey’s nuts”, meaning very safe. By the early 1960s, it had evolved away from these fairly obvious formations to the imaginative and metaphorical phrase still used today. WORLD WIDE WORDS: A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHORHAPPY AS A SANDBOYBLACK AS NEWGATE KNOCKERMICHAEL QUINION'S PERSONAL PAGECHALAZION The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: PISS-POOR Ezra Pound invented piss-rotten in 1940 (distasteful or unpleasant, the first example on record) and we’ve since had piss-easy (very easy), piss-weak (cowardly or pathetic), piss-elegant (affectedly refined, pretentious), piss-awful (very unpleasant) and other forms. Piss-poor began life in a similar figurative sense for something

that's

WORLD WIDE WORDS: BUT AND BEN But is a special instance of our everyday conjunction, which stems from the Old English be-utan and which variously meant without, except or outside. So the but was the “outside” room and the ben the room “within”. This led to various phrases. Both words were used in the extended phrases but the hoose and ben the hoose for the two rooms. WORLD WIDE WORDS: MONKEY’S WEDDING A It’s certainly a well-known South African expression. A related Afrikaans word, jakkalstrou, jackals wedding, also exists. The South African English version is the direct equivalent (what linguists call a loan translation) of the Zulu umshado wezinkawu, a wedding for monkeys. Back in 1998, Bert Vaux, Assistant Professor of Linguistics

at

WORLD WIDE WORDS: FREQUENCY OF INITIAL LETTERS The answer was indeed S, which was followed at some distance in decreasing order by P, C, D, M, and A. It’s notable that the frequency of initial letters bears no relation to how often letters occur in English in general, in which E is most common, followed by T

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WORLD WIDE WORDS: PLUCK THE GOWANS FINE A reader is confused by Wodehouse's 'pluck the gowans fine'. Q From Barton Brown: I have searched the Web to the best of my ability to find an explanation of the derivation of the phrase plucking the gowans fine, which P G Wodehouse employed many times in his writings.It seems to express the nostalgic recollection of “a good time being had by all”, and the possibility of renewing those WORLD WIDE WORDS: RED-HEADED STEPCHILD The Toronto Sun, 2 Mar. 2011. The meaning of red-headed stepchild is clear enough: it’s used to describe a person who is neglected, mistreated or unwanted. The evidence shows that it was originally American; it has spread not only to Canada but also to the UK, though it’s unusual here and almost always appears in writing by Americans. WORLD WIDE WORDS: SICK ABED ON TWO CHAIRS An image that sometimes comes to mind when the expression is used is this famous painting by Sir Luke Fildes, The Doctor, showing a sick small child sleeping across two chairs in a cottage. It was painted in 1891 and is in the Tate Gallery in London. It represents a WORLD WIDE WORDS: MICHAEL QUINION’S PERSONAL PAGE Michael Quinion’s personal page. After Cambridge University, where he studied physical sciences, he joined BBC radio as a studio manager. “The job was a fascinating blend of techie and creative artist,” he says. “Though at times you were dogsbody, equipment operator and referee rolled into one”. WORLD WIDE WORDS: RED-HEADED STEPCHILD The Toronto Sun, 2 Mar. 2011. The meaning of red-headed stepchild is clear enough: it’s used to describe a person who is neglected, mistreated or unwanted. The evidence shows that it was originally American; it has spread not only to Canada but also to the UK, though it’s unusual here and almost always appears in writing by Americans. WORLD WIDE WORDS: TWO AUSTRALIAN EXPRESSIONS The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: HIDE ONE’S LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL Q From David Siddons: Where did the phrase hide one’s light under a bushel come from — especially the bushel bit?. A For once I can give you chapter and verse for the origin, literal chapter and verse as it happens, since it’s from the Bible, at one time most often from this famous version:. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth WORLD WIDE WORDS: KELSEY’S NUTS Early on, it appeared as “tighter than Kelsey’s nuts” to mean a person who was stingy or mean, and is also recorded in the form “as safe as Kelsey’s nuts”, meaning very safe. By the early 1960s, it had evolved away from these fairly obvious formations to the imaginative and metaphorical phrase still used today. WORLD WIDE WORDS: BOOT AND TRUNK Q From Brock Lupton: Why is the rear storage compartment of a car (trunk in North American parlance) in British usage called a boot?. A Boot is an excellent example of linguistic conservatism.. I’ve mentioned this before with dashboard and with carriage, the usual British term for one car of a railway train.The latter word is a relic of stagecoaches, since early passenger accommodation for WORLD WIDE WORDS: PLURALS IN ‘-EN’ Q From Charles Coon in Canada: I have long been puzzled by the plural of ox.Someone new to the language might conclude that foxen is the plural of fox, or that chicken means more than one chick. According to my Concise OED, the suffix -en, among other things, forms the plural of ‘a few nouns such as children, oxen’.However, I cannot find the noun childr in any dictionary. WORLD WIDE WORDS: GOD WILLING AND THE CREEK DON’T RISE Q From Bob Scala: An item that has been floating around the internet claims that the expression God willing and the creek don’t rise referred to the Creek Indians, not a body of water. It mentions Benjamin Hawkins of the late 18th century, who was asked by the US president to go back to Washington. In his reply, he was said to have written, “God willing and the Creek don’t rise”. WORLD WIDE WORDS: NEEDS MUST WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES A The expression does exist, and as it happens is one of the older proverbs in the language, somewhat predating the USA. Shakespeare uses it in All’s Well that Ends Well: “My poor body, madam, requires it: I am driven on by the flesh; and he must needs go that the devil drives”. However, it is actually older — the earliest I can find

is

WORLD WIDE WORDS: ALUMINIUM VERSUS ALUMINUM Aluminium versus aluminum. Following up a Topical Words piece on the international spelling of what British English writes as sulphur, many American subscribers wrote in to ask about another element with two spellings: aluminium. The metal was named by the English chemist Sir Humphry Davy (who, you may recall, “abominated gravy, and lived in WORLD WIDE WORDS: A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHORHAPPY AS A SANDBOYBLACK AS NEWGATE KNOCKERMICHAEL QUINION'S PERSONAL PAGECHALAZION The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: PISS-POOR Ezra Pound invented piss-rotten in 1940 (distasteful or unpleasant, the first example on record) and we’ve since had piss-easy (very easy), piss-weak (cowardly or pathetic), piss-elegant (affectedly refined, pretentious), piss-awful (very unpleasant) and other forms. Piss-poor began life in a similar figurative sense for something

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WORLD WIDE WORDS: BOOT AND TRUNK Q From Brock Lupton: Why is the rear storage compartment of a car (trunk in North American parlance) in British usage called a boot?. A Boot is an excellent example of linguistic conservatism.. I’ve mentioned this before with dashboard and with carriage, the usual British term for one car of a railway train.The latter word is a relic of stagecoaches, since early passenger accommodation for WORLD WIDE WORDS: NAMBY-PAMBY In 1725, a friend of Pope’s named Henry Carey wrote a scabrous lampoon about these poems in which he invented a mocking nickname, Namby-Pamby, based on Philips’s given name, and used it in the title, Namby-Pamby: Or, A Panegyric on the New Versification. An extract will give you the tone: “Namby-Pamby, pilly-piss, / Rhimy-pim’d on Missy WORLD WIDE WORDS: SICK ABED ON TWO CHAIRS An image that sometimes comes to mind when the expression is used is this famous painting by Sir Luke Fildes, The Doctor, showing a sick small child sleeping across two chairs in a cottage. It was painted in 1891 and is in the Tate Gallery in London. It represents a WORLD WIDE WORDS: MICHAEL QUINION’S PERSONAL PAGE Michael Quinion’s personal page. After Cambridge University, where he studied physical sciences, he joined BBC radio as a studio manager. “The job was a fascinating blend of techie and creative artist,” he says. “Though at times you were dogsbody, equipment operator and referee rolled into one”. WORLD WIDE WORDS: PLUCK THE GOWANS FINE A reader is confused by Wodehouse's 'pluck the gowans fine'. Q From Barton Brown: I have searched the Web to the best of my ability to find an explanation of the derivation of the phrase plucking the gowans fine, which P G Wodehouse employed many times in his writings.It seems to express the nostalgic recollection of “a good time being had by all”, and the possibility of renewing those WORLD WIDE WORDS: RED-HEADED STEPCHILD The Toronto Sun, 2 Mar. 2011. The meaning of red-headed stepchild is clear enough: it’s used to describe a person who is neglected, mistreated or unwanted. The evidence shows that it was originally American; it has spread not only to Canada but also to the UK, though it’s unusual here and almost always appears in writing by Americans. WORLD WIDE WORDS: TWO AUSTRALIAN EXPRESSIONS The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: COMPLEAT V COMPLETE Q From Dallman Ross in Germany: Are compleat and complete really two separate words, as the American Heritage Dictionary seems to say? Or is the former merely an alternate spelling of one meaning of the latter? While compleat is said to mean ‘quintessential’, one meaning of complete is closely related as ‘skilled; accomplished’.. A In Britain, compleat is archaic, used in writing

only

WORLD WIDE WORDS: HIDE ONE’S LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL Q From David Siddons: Where did the phrase hide one’s light under a bushel come from — especially the bushel bit?. A For once I can give you chapter and verse for the origin, literal chapter and verse as it happens, since it’s from the Bible, at one time most often from this famous version:. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth WORLD WIDE WORDS: GOD WILLING AND THE CREEK DON’T RISE Q From Bob Scala: An item that has been floating around the internet claims that the expression God willing and the creek don’t rise referred to the Creek Indians, not a body of water. It mentions Benjamin Hawkins of the late 18th century, who was asked by the US president to go back to Washington. In his reply, he was said to have written, “God willing and the Creek don’t rise”. WORLD WIDE WORDS: ON THE FRITZ Q From Dan Leneker: I am looking into how the expression on the fritz came about. Please help. A I’d like to, but most dictionaries just say, very cautiously and flatly, “origin unknown”, and I can’t do much to improve on that verdict.. The phrase is now a common American expression meaning that some mechanism is malfunctioning or broken: “The washing machine’s on the fritz again WORLD WIDE WORDS: NEEDS MUST WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES A The expression does exist, and as it happens is one of the older proverbs in the language, somewhat predating the USA. Shakespeare uses it in All’s Well that Ends Well: “My poor body, madam, requires it: I am driven on by the flesh; and he must needs go that the devil drives”. However, it is actually older — the earliest I can find

is

WORLD WIDE WORDS: ALUMINIUM VERSUS ALUMINUM Aluminium versus aluminum. Following up a Topical Words piece on the international spelling of what British English writes as sulphur, many American subscribers wrote in to ask about another element with two spellings: aluminium. The metal was named by the English chemist Sir Humphry Davy (who, you may recall, “abominated gravy, and lived in WORLD WIDE WORDS: PISS-POOR The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: NOT MY PIGEON The Times, 8 Oct. 2016. It also turns up in the negative in phrases such as “that’s not my pigeon”, denying involvement or responsibility in some matter. Despite your analogy with the Polish expression, the pigeon here isn’t the animal. It’s a variant form of pidgin. The name is said to derive from a Chinese attempt to say

the word

WORLD WIDE WORDS: THERE’S THE RUB A The phrase is Shakespeare’s. It comes from Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy: To die — to sleep. To sleep — perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub! Must give us pause. By rub, Hamlet means a difficulty, obstacle or objection — in this case to his committing suicide. The origin is WORLD WIDE WORDS: BUT AND BEN But is a special instance of our everyday conjunction, which stems from the Old English be-utan and which variously meant without, except or outside. So the but was the “outside” room and the ben the room “within”. This led to various phrases. Both words were used in the extended phrases but the hoose and ben the hoose for the two rooms. WORLD WIDE WORDS: PLUCK THE GOWANS FINE A reader is confused by Wodehouse's 'pluck the gowans fine'. Q From Barton Brown: I have searched the Web to the best of my ability to find an explanation of the derivation of the phrase plucking the gowans fine, which P G Wodehouse employed many times in his writings.It seems to express the nostalgic recollection of “a good time being had by all”, and the possibility of renewing those WORLD WIDE WORDS: RED-HEADED STEPCHILD The Toronto Sun, 2 Mar. 2011. The meaning of red-headed stepchild is clear enough: it’s used to describe a person who is neglected, mistreated or unwanted. The evidence shows that it was originally American; it has spread not only to Canada but also to the UK, though it’s unusual here and almost always appears in writing by Americans. WORLD WIDE WORDS: BUMBERSHOOT The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: SOFTLY, SOFTLY, CATCHEE MONKEY If it were not for the depressing heat and the urgency of the work, one could sit down and laugh to tears at the absurdity of the thing, but under the circumstances it is a little “wearing.”. But our motto is the old West Coast proverb, “Softly, softly, catchee

monkey”; in

WORLD WIDE WORDS: SHIRTTAIL RELATIVE Q From Charles F Weishar: I attempted to find the source of shirttail relative and similar expressions in Hendrickson’s encyclopedia and your site but have found nothing. I hear the phrase used to describe a person who is close but not actually related by blood. A That’s roughly the meaning given in the dictionaries. It’s usually said to refer to somebody who is a relative by marriage or WORLD WIDE WORDS: SICK ABED ON TWO CHAIRS An image that sometimes comes to mind when the expression is used is this famous painting by Sir Luke Fildes, The Doctor, showing a sick small child sleeping across two chairs in a cottage. It was painted in 1891 and is in the Tate Gallery in London. It represents a WORLD WIDE WORDS: PISS-POOR The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: NOT MY PIGEON The Times, 8 Oct. 2016. It also turns up in the negative in phrases such as “that’s not my pigeon”, denying involvement or responsibility in some matter. Despite your analogy with the Polish expression, the pigeon here isn’t the animal. It’s a variant form of pidgin. The name is said to derive from a Chinese attempt to say

the word

monkey”; in

WORLD WIDE WORDS: SHIRTTAIL RELATIVE Q From Charles F Weishar: I attempted to find the source of shirttail relative and similar expressions in Hendrickson’s encyclopedia and your site but have found nothing. I hear the phrase used to describe a person who is close but not actually related by blood. A That’s roughly the meaning given in the dictionaries. It’s usually said to refer to somebody who is a relative by marriage or WORLD WIDE WORDS: SICK ABED ON TWO CHAIRS An image that sometimes comes to mind when the expression is used is this famous painting by Sir Luke Fildes, The Doctor, showing a sick small child sleeping across two chairs in a cottage. It was painted in 1891 and is in the Tate Gallery in London. It represents a WORLD WIDE WORDS: INDEX The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: THE ABBREVIATION ‘PP’ This is a more important difference than one might think. Per procurationem means “through the agency of” or “by proxy”, while per pro means “for and on behalf of”. Which meaning you take changes where you put the abbreviation. If the former, it should be alongside the name of the person who actually signs the letter; if the

latter

WORLD WIDE WORDS: NEEDS MUST WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES A The expression does exist, and as it happens is one of the older proverbs in the language, somewhat predating the USA. Shakespeare uses it in All’s Well that Ends Well: “My poor body, madam, requires it: I am driven on by the flesh; and he must needs go that the devil drives”. However, it is actually older — the earliest I can find

is

the word

SC

If it were not for the depressing heat and the urgency of the work, one could sit down and laugh to tears at the absurdity of the thing, but under the circumstances it is a little “wearing.”. But our motto is the old West Coast proverb, “Softly, softly, catchee

monkey”; in

WORLD WIDE WORDS: SHIRTTAIL RELATIVE Q From Charles F Weishar: I attempted to find the source of shirttail relative and similar expressions in Hendrickson’s encyclopedia and your site but have found nothing. I hear the phrase used to describe a person who is close but not actually related by blood. A That’s roughly the meaning given in the dictionaries. It’s usually said to refer to somebody who is a relative by marriage or WORLD WIDE WORDS: SICK ABED ON TWO CHAIRSBISTRO TABLE WITH TWO CHAIRSKITCHEN TABLE WITH TWO CHAIRSCHAIR FOR TWO PEOPLETWO CHAIRS GLASSDOORTWO CHAIRS SF An image that sometimes comes to mind when the expression is used is this famous painting by Sir Luke Fildes, The Doctor, showing a sick small child sleeping across two chairs in a cottage. It was painted in 1891 and is in the Tate Gallery in London. It represents a WORLD WIDE WORDS: PISS-POOR The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: NOT MY PIGEON The Times, 8 Oct. 2016. It also turns up in the negative in phrases such as “that’s not my pigeon”, denying involvement or responsibility in some matter. Despite your analogy with the Polish expression, the pigeon here isn’t the animal. It’s a variant form of pidgin. The name is said to derive from a Chinese attempt to say

the word

SC

monkey”; in

WORLD WIDE WORDS: SHIRTTAIL RELATIVE Q From Charles F Weishar: I attempted to find the source of shirttail relative and similar expressions in Hendrickson’s encyclopedia and your site but have found nothing. I hear the phrase used to describe a person who is close but not actually related by blood. A That’s roughly the meaning given in the dictionaries. It’s usually said to refer to somebody who is a relative by marriage or WORLD WIDE WORDS: SICK ABED ON TWO CHAIRSBISTRO TABLE WITH TWO CHAIRSKITCHEN TABLE WITH TWO CHAIRSCHAIR FOR TWO PEOPLETWO CHAIRS GLASSDOORTWO CHAIRS SF An image that sometimes comes to mind when the expression is used is this famous painting by Sir Luke Fildes, The Doctor, showing a sick small child sleeping across two chairs in a cottage. It was painted in 1891 and is in the Tate Gallery in London. It represents a WORLD WIDE WORDS: INDEX The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: THE ABBREVIATION ‘PP’ This is a more important difference than one might think. Per procurationem means “through the agency of” or “by proxy”, while per pro means “for and on behalf of”. Which meaning you take changes where you put the abbreviation. If the former, it should be alongside the name of the person who actually signs the letter; if the

latter

is

WORLD WIDE WORDS: PUTTING THE KIBOSH ON IT Many words in English have obscure origins, particularly those that first appeared in argot, cant or slang. None is more mysterious than kibosh, which is most commonly encountered in the phrase to put the kibosh on something, to finish something off, put an end to it, decisively dispose of it, or reject it.This is perhaps less common than it once was, though examples are easy enough to find: WORLD WIDE WORDS: MARMALADE The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: SAY (OR CRY) UNCLE The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: ON THE FRITZ Q From Dan Leneker: I am looking into how the expression on the fritz came about. Please help. A I’d like to, but most dictionaries just say, very cautiously and flatly, “origin unknown”, and I can’t do much to improve on that verdict.. The phrase is now a common American expression meaning that some mechanism is malfunctioning or broken: “The washing machine’s on the fritz again WORLD WIDE WORDS: DIGS A In British usage, to be in digs is to live in a room in a house with shared facilities, frequently with meals supplied by the landlady. It’s typically a lodging for students or young unmarried men and women. It’s short for diggings, which is the older word for the same idea. That derives — as you might guess — from a place where one WORLD WIDE WORDS: HIGH STREET Q From Peter Thomson: Why in the UK, is the main street called High Street?. A We have for so long in Britain called the main shopping street of a town by this name that it is now a generic term to describe shops that cater to the needs of the ordinary public: “With juice bars springing up everywhere, juicing seems to have hit the high street”; “To make a high street shop look like a WORLD WIDE WORDS: BOOT AND TRUNK Q From Brock Lupton: Why is the rear storage compartment of a car (trunk in North American parlance) in British usage called a boot?. A Boot is an excellent example of linguistic conservatism.. I’ve mentioned this before with dashboard and with carriage, the usual British term for one car of a railway train.The latter word is a relic of stagecoaches, since early passenger accommodation for WORLD WIDE WORDS: PISS-POOR The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: PLUCK THE GOWANS FINE A reader is confused by Wodehouse's 'pluck the gowans fine'. Q From Barton Brown: I have searched the Web to the best of my ability to find an explanation of the derivation of the phrase plucking the gowans fine, which P G Wodehouse employed many times in his writings.It seems to express the nostalgic recollection of “a good time being had by all”, and the possibility of renewing those WORLD WIDE WORDS: BUT AND BEN The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: THERE’S THE RUB Q From Paula Conneran-Weig: What does the saying There's the rub mean and what is the origin of the phrase?. A The phrase is Shakespeare’s. It comes from Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy: To die — to sleep. To sleep — perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub! WORLD WIDE WORDS: RED-HEADED STEPCHILD Q From George Gorski, USA: What is the origin of the phrase beat you like a red-headed stepchild?I hear it often these days, and most explanations seem contrived when I look it up. It seems to me that stepchild is a euphemism for bastard, but that is only a guess.Can you satisfy my curiosity? A I’d never heard it before, at least not to remember it, but a look at various online sources WORLD WIDE WORDS: NOT MY PIGEON The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: SHIRTTAIL RELATIVE Q From Charles F Weishar: I attempted to find the source of shirttail relative and similar expressions in Hendrickson’s encyclopedia and your site but have found nothing. I hear the phrase used to describe a person who is close but not actually related by blood. A That’s roughly the meaning given in the dictionaries. It’s usually said to refer to somebody who is a relative by marriage or WORLD WIDE WORDS: BUMBERSHOOT The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: SICK ABED ON TWO CHAIRSBISTRO TABLE WITH TWO CHAIRSKITCHEN TABLE WITH TWO CHAIRSCHAIR FOR TWO PEOPLETWO CHAIRS GLASSDOORTWO CHAIRS SF Q From Natalie Teichman: I caught your interview with Bob Edwards on XM Satellite Radio.I wonder if you could tell me about an expression that my great-grandfather used to say: Sick abed on two chairs.My mother often repeated this as a favorite phrase of his, but none of us really knew what it meant. WORLD WIDE WORDS: SOFTLY, SOFTLY, CATCHEE MONKEYCATCHEE MONKEYCATCHEE

SC

Q From John Lewis: According to an online search, Lord Baden-Powell imported the saying softly, softly, catchee monkey from the Ashanti in Ghana. The saying has a Kiplingesque ring. Can you shed any further light? A Quite a bit, as it happens. The expression is indeed frequently attributed to Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts, largely because he uses it three times in his diary about WORLD WIDE WORDS: PISS-POOR The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: PLUCK THE GOWANS FINE A reader is confused by Wodehouse's 'pluck the gowans fine'. Q From Barton Brown: I have searched the Web to the best of my ability to find an explanation of the derivation of the phrase plucking the gowans fine, which P G Wodehouse employed many times in his writings.It seems to express the nostalgic recollection of “a good time being had by all”, and the possibility of renewing those WORLD WIDE WORDS: BUT AND BEN The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: THERE’S THE RUB Q From Paula Conneran-Weig: What does the saying There's the rub mean and what is the origin of the phrase?. A The phrase is Shakespeare’s. It comes from Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy: To die — to sleep. To sleep — perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub! WORLD WIDE WORDS: RED-HEADED STEPCHILD Q From George Gorski, USA: What is the origin of the phrase beat you like a red-headed stepchild?I hear it often these days, and most explanations seem contrived when I look it up. It seems to me that stepchild is a euphemism for bastard, but that is only a guess.Can you satisfy my curiosity? A I’d never heard it before, at least not to remember it, but a look at various online sources WORLD WIDE WORDS: NOT MY PIGEON The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: SHIRTTAIL RELATIVE Q From Charles F Weishar: I attempted to find the source of shirttail relative and similar expressions in Hendrickson’s encyclopedia and your site but have found nothing. I hear the phrase used to describe a person who is close but not actually related by blood. A That’s roughly the meaning given in the dictionaries. It’s usually said to refer to somebody who is a relative by marriage or WORLD WIDE WORDS: BUMBERSHOOT The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: SICK ABED ON TWO CHAIRSBISTRO TABLE WITH TWO CHAIRSKITCHEN TABLE WITH TWO CHAIRSCHAIR FOR TWO PEOPLETWO CHAIRS GLASSDOORTWO CHAIRS SF Q From Natalie Teichman: I caught your interview with Bob Edwards on XM Satellite Radio.I wonder if you could tell me about an expression that my great-grandfather used to say: Sick abed on two chairs.My mother often repeated this as a favorite phrase of his, but none of us really knew what it meant. WORLD WIDE WORDS: SOFTLY, SOFTLY, CATCHEE MONKEYCATCHEE MONKEYCATCHEE

SC

Q From John Lewis: According to an online search, Lord Baden-Powell imported the saying softly, softly, catchee monkey from the Ashanti in Ghana. The saying has a Kiplingesque ring. Can you shed any further light? A Quite a bit, as it happens. The expression is indeed frequently attributed to Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts, largely because he uses it three times in his diary about WORLD WIDE WORDS: INDEX The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: THE ABBREVIATION ‘PP’ The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: VELLICHOR The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: ON THE FRITZ Q From Dan Leneker: I am looking into how the expression on the fritz came about. Please help. A I’d like to, but most dictionaries just say, very cautiously and flatly, “origin unknown”, and I can’t do much to improve on that verdict.. The phrase is now a common American expression meaning that some mechanism is malfunctioning or broken: “The washing machine’s on the fritz again WORLD WIDE WORDS: DIGS Q From David Seaton, UK: Any ideas of the origin of digs as in accommodation, rooms etc?. A In British usage, to be in digs is to live in a room in a house with shared facilities, frequently with meals supplied by the landlady. It’s typically a lodging for students or young unmarried men and women. It’s short for diggings, which is the older word for the same idea. WORLD WIDE WORDS: NEEDS MUST WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES Q From Jonathan Harpaz, Israel: Does the following expression/idiom exist: needs must when the devil drives?If so, is it British or American and when did it originate? A The expression does exist, and as it happens is one of the older proverbs in the language, somewhat predating the USA. Shakespeare uses it in All’s Well that Ends Well: “My poor body, madam, requires it: I am driven on by WORLD WIDE WORDS: SAY (OR CRY) UNCLE The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. World Wide Words tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. WORLD WIDE WORDS: MARMALADE Q From Joan Leary, Alabama; a related question came from Dick Stacy: I was reading an old cookery book the other day and learned that the origin of the word marmalade had some connection with Mary, the Queen of Scotland. This is fascinating! Do tell me more! A It is fascinating but unfortunately for the wrong reasons. Most writers on food and cookery would probably be very willing to admit WORLD WIDE WORDS: HIGH STREET Q From Peter Thomson: Why in the UK, is the main street called High Street?. A We have for so long in Britain called the main shopping street of a town by this name that it is now a generic term to describe shops that cater to the needs of the ordinary public: “With juice bars springing up everywhere, juicing seems to have hit the high street”; “To make a high street shop look like a WORLD WIDE WORDS: BOOT AND TRUNK Q From Brock Lupton: Why is the rear storage compartment of a car (trunk in North American parlance) in British usage called a boot?. A Boot is an excellent example of linguistic conservatism.. I’ve mentioned this before with dashboard and with carriage, the usual British term for one car of a railway train.The latter word is a relic of stagecoaches, since early passenger accommodation for

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A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR After 20 years writing about the peculiarities and evolution of the English language, I stopped suddenly and finally early in 2017. Truth be told, after 930 issues of my weekly newsletter I was becoming written out. Every week that passed made writing more of a chore and less of a pleasure. So I shall no longer be sending out newsletters nor adding or updating pages on the site. However, all is not lost. There are nearly 3,000 articles here on aspects of the growth and change of the English language, which will remain online for as long as possible. They should give you as many hours of browsing as you wish. Consult the index or search using the box in the right-hand column on every page. There are many more articles on another site , my dictionary of affixes, in which I define and describe the many prefixes and suffixes in English. It has been a pleasure to research and write on language and an honour through that writing to be able to inform and entertain many thousands of people. This site remains a reminder of my years of intense and intrigued interest in English. Thank you for visiting.

_Michael Quinion_

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The English language is forever changing. New words appear; old ones fall out of use or alter their meanings. _World Wide Words_ tries to record at least a part of this shifting wordscape by featuring new words, word histories, words in the news, and the curiosities of native English speech. World Wide Words is copyright © Michael Quinion, 1996– All rights

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