Arm Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'mouth' last time and this time it's 'arm'.

Arm wrestling is first described in writing in 1899.

Coat of arms is a phrase first seen in the early 14th century.

To bear arms, in the sense of military service’ first appears in the 1640s.

Armband today conjures up the inflatable swimming aid, but when it first appeared in 1782 it more often referred to a bracelet, one worn on the upper arm.

Armchair is first recorded around 1630, this shortly before the alternative name of elbowchair is seen.

Armpit is first recorded in the middle of the 14th century, when armhole was equally popular, although the latter died out by the 18th century (at least in the armpit sense).

Arms race is not seen until the 1930s, first used in British English and referring specifically to naval build-ups.

Arms length is first seen in documents dated around the 1650s, although there are records of arms end from about 1570.

Armful is first seen in the 1570s.

Mouth Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'hand' last time and this time it's 'mouth'.

Mouthorgan is not seen until the 1660s.

Mouth-breather is a description first recorded in 1883 (although I have no idea what it was describing).

Mouth-to-mouth was not performed until 1909, or at least not recorded as such. Interesting to note it is by no means certain this referred to artificial respiration.

Word of mouth is a phrase first recorded in the 1550s.

To put words into someone’s mouth is first recorded at the end of the 14th century.

But to take words out of someone’s mouth had to wait another 40/50 years until around the 1520s.

Nobody was down in the mouth before the 1640s, or at least it was not descibed as such – incidentally, it is a reference to the mouth being turned down at the corners.

Blabbermouth is not seen until 1931.

Cottonmouth is a venomous snake of the southern US states, named for the white line along its mouth, is first described as such in 1851.

While nothing was mouth-watering before 1822….

…. surprisingly a mouthwash is recorded in 1801.

Mouthpieces are seen as part of musical instruments as early as 1776, this later used to refer to one who speaks for another in 1805, and in a legal sense from 1857.

Hand Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'touch' last time and this time it's 'hand'.

Hand to mouth is first used as early as 1600

First hand (and also second hand) both seen in writing for the first time in the middle of the 15th century.

At hand, used in the sense of 'nearby' is first seen around 1300, but had been used for a century to mean 'soon'.

In hand, as in 'undercontrol', is first found around 1200.

On the other hand (and on the one hand, of course) is first recorded in 1630

Hands up first appears in print in 1863, meaning it is highly unlikely this phrase was ever used by highwaymen as they had had their day decades earlier.

Hand-to-hand fighting was not heard of until 1400.

Hand in hand was seen in 1500, but only in the literal sense of having hands clasped together, not until 1570 was it used to mean 'concurrently'.

Handrails may have been used before 1793, but it did not appear in writing until that year.

Hand jive, that seated dance which is far too energetic for the likes of me, debuted in 1958.

Freehand drawing must have been used since man first drew on cave walls, but nobody said so until 1848.

Hand grenade may seem like a modern-ish weapon, but any bomb thrown by hand was referred as such from as early as 1630.

Stagehands have only been employed since 1865.

Farmhands, remarkably, have only been known as such since 1835.

Handmade has been seen since 1610.

Handout, as in alms to the poor, first came into use in 1882.

Deckhands have been employed since 1839.

Hand me downs have been worn only since 1826.

Off hand, as in off the cuff, has been used since 1690.

Hell in a handbasket is, as we know, coming to us from across the Atlantic. is seen since 1867. Interestingly, the idea of going to heaven in a handbasket (ie easy passage) is first seen in 1853.

Handholds were not used before the 1640s.

Handstands were not performed before 1897.

Handbags were not sold until 1854.

Handguns have been known as such since the middle of the 14th century.

Handshakes have been known since 1801.

Note, as ever, the dates given are the first surviving written record. Even if that is the first written usage, the term would certainly have been in use prior to that in order to appear in print.

Touch Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'Dutch' last time and this time it's 'touch'.

Touch and go is a game similar to tag, first seen in 1812.

Touch football, a 'safe' form of American Football (to the British) where tackling is replaced by a mere touch and is first recorded in 1933.

Touch me not is an expression first recorded in 1590, it's a put down used to deter would be suitors.

Touch screen is first seen as early as 1974.

Touch up, and I'm using this in its earliest sense of 'improvement requiring little effort' is first seen in 1872; and if used in a painting sense, dates from 1715.

Touch wood (or knock on wood) dates from at least Celtic times 2,500 years ago.

Touchdown, the main scoring method in American Football, comes from 1864 and was borrowed from rugby where it is recorded five years earlier.

Touchstone, a fine-grained black quartz used for testing gold and silver alloys, is first seen in the late 15th century.

Touched, a term meaning 'stirred emotionally', is first seen in the middle of the 14th century.