Brown Idioms

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

Brown sugar, not the Rolling Stones masterpiece, is first seen in 1704. Want a joke? Tough, you’re getting this (which is likely as old as the Stones track): White sugar cubes are rare, brown sugar cubes – Demerara. It is also a slang term for heroin.

Brown Bess, seen since 1785, is the slang name given to the flintlock musket used by the British Army.

Brown study, seen since 1530s, refers to mental abstraction or meditation – fundamentally saying you’re thinking about it but with no proof whatsoever.

Brown paper, the wrapping material, is first recorded as same in 1650.

Brown-nose is first seen in 1939, a reference to one trying to make an impression on one perceived as superior or in authority. Want to know why ‘brown’? Write and ask – but not me, think of someone who does such and ask them.

Brown Shirt, a reference to the Nazi Party militia as they wore same when founded in 1921, later a generic term for a fascist.

Brown out is the same as a black out (or power outage, if you prefer), but leaving a few lights on.

Brownie can be one of three things: a square of rich chocolate cake since 1897; a younger member of the guiding movement since 1916; a type of camera from 1900; or originally a benevolent goblin haunting houses in Scotland, and had been since 1510.

Brown bag, and I don’t just mean a brown bag, but a brown bag containing a lunch or hidden alcohol.

Brownfield, since 1992 has referred to abandoned or disused former industrial land.

Brownstone, a building material made from a darker form of sandstone which is first named as such in 1849.

As brown as a berry is seen since 1400, when it was used in one of the most famous publications in medieval history – Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. However unlike today, when it is used to describe someone with a good sun tan, Chaucer used it to refer to a horse “His palfrey was as broune as is a bery” (sic).

Browned off is first seen in 1948, and is widely associated with the British military and particularly the RAF. Origins of the term? Nobody has the foggiest idea. Incidentally, the similar phrases ‘brassed off’ and ‘cheesed off’ have equally unknown beginnings.