Snow Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘pound’ and now look at ‘snow’. The word which would have come into use in Sanskrit is snihyati which literally translates as ‘he gets wet’.

Snow as slang for cocaine is first used in 1914.

Snow-white, an adjective, not a person, is first used in Middle English. The fairytale character first appears in 1885, although is known by the German Schneewittchen.

Snowblind is first used in 1748.

Nobody described a snow-shovel until 1820.

Snow tyres have been used only since 1952 – of course this is an American concept, ever being ready for snow in the UK is something we Brits have yet to consider (and then we wonder why the country comes to a standstill after half a centimetre falls).

Snowgoose have been known as such since 1771 – you’ll probably already have guessed these birds have white feathers.

Snowshoes will have been worn for millennia but is not recorded as such until the 1670s.

Snowboot appears from 1773.

Snow ploughs have been described as such since 1792, although in America known as snow plows – clearly not a British thing, it would require being ready for snow and, as already established, Brits don’t rate snow.

Snowbirds were any of several white feathered avians from 1680, but from 1923 it was also a slang term for northern US workers who fled south for the winter to work, and from 1979 was used to describe seasonal tourists.

Snowballs were first described as such in 1400; and from 1910 we see the ‘snowball’s chance in hell’ used to refer to ‘no chance’.

Nobody was snowbound until 1814 – except the Brits, of course, who are still wondering what to do with that 1.3 centimetres.

Snowman does not appear until 1827 – but then we couldn’t afford to waste coal or carrots until then.

Snowflakes are first recorded in 1734.

Snowstorms have been known as such since 1771.

Snowdrifts became a problem from the early 14th century – and as the US hadn’t been ‘found’ then, these must have been British snowdrifts, and yet we still ignore the snow until it’s too late.

Snowmobiles have been driven since 1831.

Snowfalls have only been described as such since 1821.

Snowdrops were first recorded in the 1660s.

Snow flurries have been seen since 1883 – although ‘flurry’ had been used to me ‘confused, agitated’ since 1757.

Pound Idioms

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

Pound cake is first recorded in 1747 and is said to have a pound of each of the ingredients.

Pound of flesh is first seen in The Merchant of Venice, which Shakespeare is thought to have written between 1596 and 1598.

Poundage is a tax, or a subsidy, based on weight and first seen in 1903.

Impound is not seen until the early 15th century.

Tower pound was a weight in the Middle Ages equal to 12 ounces.

Merchant’s pound was the equivalent to 15 ounces.

Avoirdupois pound equal to 16 ounces.

Troy pound equal to 12 ounces.

Pounding the pavements is a 19th century expression used primarily when speaking of prostitutes – shortly after used to refer to anyone looking for work.

Pounding the beat, used for policemen, appears around 1900.

Pound yarn is first described in 1749.

Pounded rice is a culinary term first seen in 1943.

Pounded as in ‘beaten’ or ‘assaulted’, is first seen in the early 12th century.

Line Idioms

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

Line has been used to mean the same as ‘plumb line’ used in building since the 12th century.

Line in the sense of ‘boundary’ is first found in writing in 1590.

Line has been used instead of ‘crease’ (in the palm or on the face) since 1530.

Line, a reference to anything one-dimensional, has been seen since the 1550s.

Line as in ‘queue’ is first recorded in the same decade, the 1550s.

Line, as in ‘occupation’ appears from the 1630s.

Line in the business sense of ‘goods sold’ appears as recently as 1930.

Line in referring to insurance underwriting is seen from 1899.

Line of credit is first seen in 1958 – not suggesting nobody had credit prior to then, of course.

Line referring to public transport, ‘ships of the line’ for example, is seen from 1786.

Line as in ‘railway’ appears for the first time in 1825.

Line used to refer to a telegraph wire appears in 1847.

Line, as used by fishermen, is only described as such from the early 14th century.

Line as in ‘set of policies’ appears in 1892.

Nobody spoke of the political party line before the 1890s.

The line in the British Army, sometimes as ‘battle line’. Is seen from 1802.

To get a line on, ie to acquire information, appears in 1903.

Nobody was told to lay it on the line (in a monetary sense) until 1929.

Line of work first appears in 1957.

End of the line is not seen until 1948.

Line drawings are not described as such until 1891.

Line-ups are not seen until 1902.

Bee lines appear in 1830.

Lines, as in writing a letter, appears in the 1640s.

Lines as in dialogue for an actor appears from 1882.

Lines of communication is established from 1690, but then lost until re-emerging during the First World War.

No train ran on the main line until 1841.

A-line, describing the flared shape of a dress or skirt, is first seen in 1955.

Maginot Line, a defensive fortification appearing in 1936.

Off line, as in not connected to a computer, appears as early as 1950.

Clothes lines have been used since 1830 – and used to refer to a high tackle in rugby and American football since 1970.

Life lines have been cast to those needing rescuing since the early 18th century, and used to describe the line on ones palm since 1890.

Timelines have been described since 1876.

Nobody look the hardline until 1958.

Frontlines were used in the military sense from 1842.

Plumblines have been used since the middle of the 15th century.

The Mason-Dixon Line (if you don’t know, look it up) is coined in 1834.

And the bottom line, which can only come last, crops up from 1832.

Fish Idioms

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

Fish out of water is first seen around 1750.

Nobody was said to drink like a fish until 1744.

We have had other fish to fry since the 1650s.

Fish-eye, a type of lens, is first recorded in 1961.

Fish and chips made its debut in 1876.

Fish-fingers first appeared in 1962.

Fishing boats are seen for the first time in 1732, although they had obviously existed for millennia.

Fishing rods are recorded from the 1550s.

Fishing poles are seen from 1791.

Fish stories have been told since 1819, these being highly exaggerated.

Fish hooks must have used for a long time, although not described as such until the late 14th century.

Fish food is first mentioned in 1860 when it referred to fish eaten by humans as food. Three years later and we find the first reference to food fed to fish.

Nobody described their aquarium as a fish tank until 1921.m

Goldfish have been known as such since the 1690s.

Fishnet has been, from prehistory, something used to catch fish. Since 1881 used to refer to a stitch resembling that seen in a net, and since 1912 a reference to women’s attire.

Fishmongers are first referred to as such in the middle of the 15th century.

Fishbowls make their debut in 1850.

Fishwife, used in an unkind sense to mean simply ‘woman’, is seen from the 1520s – an alternative, which fell out of favour rather soon after, was fish-fag.

Fishponds have been around since the middle of the 15th century, although these will have been for food fish rather than ornamental.

We have been overfishing since 1813.

Panfish, that is a fish of grew the right size to fit in a pan for cooking, is first described in 1814.

Flatfish, not a species but those which appear flat, are first described in 1710.

Jellyfish may be among the oldest lifeforms on the planet, but nobody called them that until 1796. By 1883 the term described someone of weak character.

Fishy, as in ‘questionable’, is an adverb first seen in the late 15th century.