North Idioms

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

North Pole can refer either to the geographical north pole, this the normal idea of the region and the northernmost point around which the planet turns on its axis – it’s the only point on the planet where you can only travel south, north, east, and west are not available – or there is the magnetic north pole, which is where the compass always points and moves all the time, not in any regularity or overly predictable way.

Not until 1766 was anyone referred to as a North American.

North Sea has been known as either the German Sea or German Ocean for most of British recorded history, and only disappeared for good in 1830. Earlier the North Sea was what we would know as the Bristol Channel (ie it north of the Celtic Sea or English Channel). It was the Dutch who first referred to the body of water as the North Sea, from around the 13th century and to distinguish from the South Sea or Zuider Zee. Note the Danes referred to the North Sea as the West Sea, while in the late 14th century the North Sea was the northernmost portion of the ocean which surrounded the entire globe.

Nothing was described as northbound until 1870.

The North Star, also known as Polaris or Pole Star, has been known as such since the late 14th century. Note the Pole Star, the one point of light around which the heavens appear to rotate in the northern hemisphere, has only been seen as such for about 1500 years, around 5,000 years ago it was Thuban in the constellation of Draco, 13,000 years ago it was Vega, 10,000 years ago it was Iota Herculis, and in 5,000 years it will be Alderamin in Cepheus.

Northeasters, or nor’easter at times, is a strong wind coming from that point of the compass and first recorded in 1794.

The Northwest Passage, that hypothetical sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific around the north of the continent of North America, is first described around 1600.

Northumbria, named because it was north of the Humber, is one of the kingdoms which once comprised England and is first mentioned around 720.

Several place names have been named as being ‘north’, these include Norway, Norfolk, Pohjoinen (is in Finland), Beijing,

South Idioms

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

South Sea has had several meanings over the years and obviously so as some parts of the world hadn’t been discovered. From the late 14th century the South Sea was the Mediterranean, and in the early 15th century used for what is now known as the English Channel. Today it is normally used to refer to the Pacific Ocean in the southern hemisphere, as it has since the 1520s.

Go south, as in ‘vanish’ or ‘abscond’, has been in use since the 1920s.

South Africa has been used generally for the southern part of the continent since 1815, and for the nation since 1910.

Southern Cross is a constellation not visible in much of the northern hemisphere. It was named such by the English in 1756.

Nothing was described as Southern Fried, as a cooking style, until 1972.

Southwester when referring to a wind, gale, or storm is seen from 1833, and three years later pronounced as sou’wester to refer to the nautical coat protecting the wearer from any inclement weather.

Southeaster is first found rather earlier, first seen from 1797. This is not to say one was in use for more than three decades before the other, likely they were used concurrently and only seen as being from slightly different ages as there are no surviving records from earlier.

Southbound originally referred solely to the railways, although not seen until 1872.

Several familiar place names from around the globe have origins speaking of them as being seen as in the south. Australia, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Hunan (a province of China), Soweto (a community outside Johannesburg), Suffolk, Nanking (city in China),

Ship Idioms

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

Ships that pass in the night is first seen in Longfellow’s poem Tales of a Wayside Inn published in 1863.

Running a tight ship is not seen in anything but a nautical sense until as recently as 1965.

Hoping for a change of fortunes when one’s ship comes in is first seen in print in 1851.

Shipshape is first seen in 1762, earlier the phrase appeared as shipshapen and is seen since 1640.

Ship of fools, a reference to a less than perfect governing body, originates in the title of a 1509 translation of Brant’s Narrenschiff of 1494.

Ship-building is first seen from 1717, ship-builder from 1700, ship-craft from the late 14th century. Of course ship-building began thousands of years ago, but the earliest English reference to such comes from the Old English shipwright, and from at least the 6th century.

Ship-load is first mentioned in 1630.

The first reference to the mothership is from 1890.

Shipwreck in the modern sense is seen from the middle of the 15th century, but earlier, and from the end of the 12th century, it referred to that cast up from a shipwreck – ie the contents and not the vessel itself.

Battle-ship is first described in 1794, while the colour battleship-grey is first described in 1916.

Flagship, that the vessel bearing the flag of the admiral or vice-admiral, is first seen in 1670.

‘Ship’ as used in ‘apprenticeship’ is first seen in 1590 – prior to that the term used was ‘apprenticehood’.

Ownership is first used in 1580. Ownership society – a reference to the concept of combining the values of personal responsibility and economic freedom – was coined under the presidency of George W Bush in 2013.

Trusteeship is first recorded in 1730.

Nobody was involved in a courtship before 1570.

The side of the ship was first described as shipboard in the late 13th century.

Scholarship is first seen in 1580.

Steamship is first seen in 1819.

Airship is first recorded in 1819.

Fellowship in its modern sense is first seen in the late 13th century, prior to that the term was used to mean ‘companionship’.

Township dates from the middle of the 12th century.

Salesmanship dates from 1853.

Editorship comes from 1769.

Guardianship is seen from the middle of the 16th century.

Judgeship dates from the 1670s.

Worship is an Old English word which began as ‘worthy-ship’.

Internship dates from 1899.

Warship is first seen in 1530.

Starship is first recorded in 1934.

And despite the length of time horses have been the sole method of transport, horsemanship is unrecorded before the 1560s.

Car Idioms

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

Streetcar is seen from 1862 in the US, the same year as tramcar in the UK.

Car bomb is seen from 1972.

Car parks were unheard of before 1926.

Nobody used a car wash until 1924.

Carpool is seen from 1942, but only used as a verb from 1962.

Car sickness is first recorded in 1908.

Stock-car racing is first noted in 1914 as a race, prior to that it was a rail vehicle used to transport livestock.

Autocar, as opposed to automobile, first appears in 1895.

The first carports are recorded as early as 1939.

Motorcar appears, as above, in 1895.

Bag Idioms

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

In the bag has been seen since 1922, it is used to describe something assured.

Left holding the bag, meaning ‘cheated, swindled’, is seen as early as 1793.

Let the cat out of the bag is seen from 1760, and likely comes from the French Acheter chat en poche or ‘buy a cat in a bag’.

Moneybags, to describe a rich person, is seen from 1818.

Grab-bag, used to describe a miscellaneous mixture, is first recorded in 1854.

Beanbag is first seen in 1871, but this was something used in children’s games and nobody had the larger version to sit on until 1969.

Airbags, the vehicle safety feature, is seen from 1970 and as a device for raising sunken vessels from 1836.

Bodybags have been around for the deceased since 1967, prior to that the same term described a kind of sleeping bag.

Mailbags have only ever been used to carry the mail, first described as such in 1794.

Bagpipes have been known as such since the 14th century, although a better description came in 1912 when a English Army officers referred to them as ‘agony bags’.

Nosebag, the way to feed a horse, is seen from 1796.

Nobody carried a handbag before 1854.