Day Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘night’ and now look at ‘day’.

Day-to-day, meaning ‘daily’, has been known since early Saxon times, although today we would use day-by-day and we have since the late 14th century.

All day meaning ‘all the time’ dates from the 14th century.

Nobody described a day from work as ‘a day off’ until 1883.

The Beatles may have released Day Tripper in 1966, but the term had been used since 1897.

Nowadays may be perceived as a fairly modern term, and yet it has been recorded for at least eight centuries.

All in a day’s work dates from around 1820.

While it may seem to be as much a list of song titles, these are idioms, and next is Those Were the Days, first seen in 1907 and a Paul McCartney song recorded by Mary Hopkin in 1969.

Buddy Holly recorded That’ll be the Day as Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes in 1956, and as Buddy Holly and the Crickets the following year. This is not long after the first record of the phrase, in 1941.

Nobody called it a day until 1919, although earlier we had been calling it a half day since 1838.

One of These Days, a 1971 track from Pink Floyd, dates from the late 15th century.

Nobody had one of those days for the first time in 1936. And in 2002 Whitney Houston recorded One of Those Days

Daydreams have been recorded since the 1680s.

Daymares, ie nightmares while awake, have been written about since 1737.

May Day has been celebrated throughout Europe to mark the opening of the season of flowers and fruit. May Day is marked on the First of May, another song, this released in 1969 by the Bee Gees.

No child was put in daycare until 1943.

Boxing Day is the first weekday after Christmas (you can’t have Boxing Day on a Sunday) is first spoken of in 1809, although the custom giving its name is certainly much older.

Quarter Days – Lady Day on March 25th; Midsummer Day on June 24th, Michaelmas Day on September 29th, and Christmas Day on December 25th – mark the four dates when contracts and leases begin or expire in England. Scotland marks the same days as the pre-Christian calendar of Candlemas, Whitsunday, Lammas, and Martinmas.

The present day has been spoken of since 18970.

Play days, now associated with children, has been said to be a day exempt from work since around 1600.

Latterday is a term dating from 1842, this taken directly from the Jesus Christ Church of Latterday Saints in 1830.

Night Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘pins’ and now look at ‘night’.

While we think of ‘night’ as the last hours at the end of the day, historically the night preceded the day. Thus Monday night began when the sun went down on Sunday – and we still use the phrase ‘at the end of the day’. This was true for all European cultures except for the Greeks, who ignore the night and started their days at sunrise.

Night soil - excrement to you and me – is first recorded around 1770.

Night train - ie a service timetabled to run only after dark – appears as early as 1838, not that long after the first train services were running.

Night school is referred to as early as 1520.

Night life, meaning ‘habitual nocturnal carousing’, is seen from 1852.

Goodnight has been wished since 1896, while what is seen today as the more childish ‘nighty-night’ is recorded earlier, in 1876.

Nightwatchmen have been described since around 1200.

Nightlights have been employed since 1851 in the modern sense, but the term has been seen since the 1640s when it referred to any faint light in the night sky.

People have worked the nightshift since 1839, but the term had been used since 1710 when it referred to a garment worn by women when in bed.

Nighthawk has been used since 1610, a reference to any bird abroad at night but especially the nightjar; not until 1818 was it used to refer to one active at night.

Night-work has been seen since the 1590s, but this represented a return for the Saxons wrote about those jobs done during the hours of darkness as nihtweorc.

Fly-by-night has been used to describe someone who leaves a job or task rather hastily; but earlier, and since 1796, it was a slang term for a woman deemed to be a witch.

Nobody stayed anywhere overnight before 1959, although the term had been used to mean simply ‘one night’ since the early 14th century.

Tonight has only been one word since the early 20th century, for two hundred years it had been hyphenated as to-night, and from the 14th century had always been two words.

Nightshade, that deadly plant, has been known as such since around 1500.

Midnight oil has been burned since the 1630s.

Nightingales have been known as such since the Saxons arrived on English shores.

Dutch nightingale is not a bird but a frog.

Nightingale floor has been used since 1796 by the Japanese to describe creaking floorboards.

Nobody had a nightcap until 1818, prior to that it had been worn on the head in bed.

Fortnight has been used for around 1,500 years.

Nightmares have been around since 1300, although originally it referred to an evil female spirit afflicting men and horses in their sleep by making them feel as if they were being suffocated. The sense of ‘bad dream’ is seen from 1829, and two years later was being used to refer to any bad experience.

Nightgowns have been around since the early 15th century.

The first nightclubs opened in 1894.

Allnighters were known from 1870, but referred to anything taking up the whole night, while from 1930 it had the modern sense of referring specifically to a person staying up all night.

And my personal favourite, which should certainly be making a comeback, for while we all refer to yesterday in the modern era, a thousand years ago we also referred to yesternight.

Pins Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘head’ and now look at ‘pins’.

Pin is used as slang for ‘leg’ as early as 1520.

Pins is used to describe the target to be knocked down by the 1570s.

Pin money originally referred to the annual sum allocated for a woman to spend on her attire, and seen as such since the 1620s.

Pins and needles describes a tingling sensation from 1810.

The sound of pin dropping to refer to near silence is seen from 1775.

Pin down meaning ‘define’ dates from 1951.

PIN as in Personal Identification Number has been seen since 1981.

Pinwheel is seen from 1690, when it referred to a part of the clock. In reference to a firework, it is found from 1869.

Ninepins is a game seen since 1570 – the game also recorded as ninepegs and nineholes.

Tenpins is recorded from 1600.

Pinball is a game played and known as such since 1907, although it took another thirty years before the pinball machine made its debut.

Pinstripe cloth has been recorded since 1882.

Head Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘boat’ and now look at ‘head’.

Head count has been used since the late 13th century, albeit for most of that time used when counting animals, particularly livestock.

Over one’s head is first seen in the 1620s.

Heads never rolled until 1930, when it was a direct translation of a comment from none other than Adolf Hitler.

Head case is first used in 1966.

Head game, as in playing with someone’s mind, is first recorded in 1972.

People have been putting their heads together since the late 14th century.

To head up, as in to lead or supervise, comes from 1930.

Heading, as in the title of some printed text, dates from 1849.

Head hunters were first mentioned in 1800, but these were actually gathering heads as trophies or religious rites, but not until 1918 was it a reference to looking for potential employees, and even then it was rare until 1961.

Head on, as in ‘facing’, is seen from 1840.

Arrowheads date from the late 15th century, although the weapon will have been used for millennia before that.

Head pieces have been worn since the 1530s.

Headrests have been described since 1833.

Head over heels has been used since 1726, but known as heels over head (which makes more sense) since the late 14th century.

Headgear has been worn since the 1530s.

The head-dress has been known since 1703.

Matchheads, the bit on the match which is struck to create a flame, is known from 1860.

Letterheads have been described as such since 1868.

Head shrinkers have been spoken of since 1926, that in the literal sense, with the slang for psychologist first seen in 1950.

Headlong has been known since the late 14th century, when it meant specifically falling forward, while headfirst was used for falling downward. Note other similar expressions have largely become obsolete: darling, backling, flatling, while sidelong is rapidly falling out of use.

Headbutts are first described in 1935.

Spearheads are first described around 1400, but the figurative sense had to wait until 1938.

Beachhead is not seen before 1940.

Double-header was used in the USA to refer to a train pulled by two locomotives from 1869, and from 1890 is used to speak of two games in a sport played at the same venue on the same day.

Nobody had a headstone until 1400, and then it was only used as an alternative to cornerstone. Not until 1775 did it come to be used instead of gravestone.

Headbands have been worn since the 1530s.

Headroom, ie the space available above one’s head, is first seen in 1851.

Headstrong first appears in print in the late 14th century, earlier the term had been head-bold.

And finally, to give head first appears in print in 1950.

Boat Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘top’ and now look at ‘boat’.

We were ‘all in the same boat’ for the first time in the 1580s.

Although nobody ‘rocked the boat’ until 1914.

A jolly-boat is a small boat hoisted at the stern of a vessel, first recorded in 1727.

Boats may have been around since prehistory, but nobody mentioned a boathouse until 1722.

Norsemen may have been associated with longboats, but the term was also used for the longest and strongest boat carried on a sailing ship from 1510.

Lifeboats are first mentioned in 1785, although there is no clear connection with savings lives at sea until 1801.

Motorboats have been recorded since 1875.

U-boats are first seen in 1914, this the abbreviation of the German Unterseeboot or ‘undersea boat’.

Dreamboat is first used to describe one who someone saw as desirable in 1947, but the term is used in the title When My Dream Boat Comes Home a song from 1936, and is also seen in 1929 as the title of a book in Dream Boat.

Boatswain, a minor officer on board a vessel, is seen from the middle of the 15th century.

Houseboats are first mentioned in 1790.

Rowboats are seen from the 1530s.

The term ‘sailboat’ is seen from 1769.

Tugboats are recorded from 1830.

Gunboats are recorded from 1793.

Showboat, as in a river steamer on which theatrical performances are held, is seen from 1838 – the modern use is more likely to refer to someone showing off and has been so since 1951.

Top Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘bottom’ and now, of course, look at ‘top’.

From the top, as in from the beginning, is seen as early as the late 14th century. Whilst it may be seen as an Americanism, it can’t be because the earliest forms are before they used English and before the Europeans really knew it existed.

Top of the morning, as a greeting, is first recorded in 1843.

Top of the world has been seen since the 1670s.

Top of the line has only been used since 1950.

Off the top of one’s head is first recorded in 1939.

Top off, as in to finish, is used first in 1836; while the sense of ‘to fill up’ dates from 1917.

Nobody paid top dollar until 1942.

Top drawer, in the sense of ‘the best’, is not used before 1920.

No recording made the top ten until 1942.

Top notch has been seen since 1841, and was once used for a part in umbrella manufacture.

Nothing was top heavy before 1530; although the same phrase was used to mean ‘drunk’ around 1680.

Box tops has been used since 1937 – if you’re too young to remember, people once collected box tops (as proof of purchase) and sent them off to claim a free gift or coupon.

Nobody was described as top dog before 1868.

Top coat was the outer garment from 1804, but not used in decorating until 1959.

Top sail, a nautical term, has been known since 1400.

Roll top, a type of lid used on desks, has been seen since 1884.

Table top has only been seen since 1914.

Over the top is a World War One reference to the onset of an attack.

Treetops are unknown before the late 15th century – of course trees had them, they just weren’t described as such.

Nobody wore a top hat until 1875.

Tip top, as in excellent, is first seen in 1702.

Tank tops were not worn until 1968, but did exist earlier when they comprised the upper part of a swimsuit.

Rooftops first appeared in 1610.

Topsoil suddenly appeared in 1789.

Topknots have been described as such since 1680.

Countertops have been used since 1878.

Bottom Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘north’ and now look at ‘bottom’.

Bottom has a couple of meanings in English today, but historically different languages have given very different meanings. For example Old English referred to botm as ‘soil, deepest part’; Old Frisian ‘soil’, Old Norse ‘ground’, Old German ‘earth’, have similar meanings. Old Irish bondreferred to ‘the sole of the shoe’; but ‘bottom’ is the meaning for Sanskrit budhanah, Avestan buna, Greek pythmen, and Latin fundus all mean ‘bottom’.

Nobody got to the bottom of the matter until 1570.

Bottom as in ‘a person’s posterior’ is not seen in English until 1794.

Bottoms up began in 1875.

Bottom dollar dates from 1857, and seen in the UK just after the First World War.

It was felt from the bottom of the heart for the first time in 1540.

Fish were described as bottom-feeders, where applicable, from 1866.

To reach the bottom of (as in to fathom, which was the earlier expression) dates from 1808.

River bottoms were unrecorded until 1752.

Rock bottom dates from 1884.

Nobody referred to this being ‘the bottom line’ until 1832.

Nothing was bottomless (such as a pit) until the early 14th century. By design nothing can actually be bottomless, but ‘very deep’ doesn’t quite cut it.

Bell-bottom trousers were first described in 1882, and enjoyed a resurgence in the 1960s thanks to the fashion choices of the era.

Black bottom was a jazz dance seen at least by 1907, and became a national craze in the USA when it appeared in a Broadway musical.

Scraping the bottom of the barrel is difficult to date as the origin really did mean getting right to the bottom as barrels were used for storing many foodstuffs. However, we do know the metaphorical use dates from the 1930s.

In baseball the phrase ‘bottom of the inning’ refers to the latter stages of the inning, and the earliest known record of that is as early as August 1730.

Smooth (or soft) as a baby’s bottom appears in the middle of the 20th century.

Bottom drawer, in use by 1866, was where young ladies would gather household items for future use as a married woman.

Bottom the house, ie to give it a thorough clean, is first seen in the early 19th century.

Trackie bottoms is a phrase which has become a part of the English language in recent years, but is unknown before about 1999.