Chinese Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘spring’ and now look at ‘Chinese’ – albeit many of these will have little association with the Orient.

Chinese lantern is first seen in 1825.

Chinese chequers is not recorded before 1938.

Chinese homer – also known as a Harlem home run, Polo home run, or a Pekinese poke – is a derogatory term used in baseball to describe a ball clearing the nearest point to the base for a home run, first seen in the Los Angeles Times when reporting on a minor league game in August 1919.

Chinese whispers is first found in 1939 when appearing in the Derbyshire Times.

Chinese fire-drill is US military slang first heard in 1962, and describes people running about in a disorderly or chaotic fashion and achieving nothing.

Chinese burn first appears in print in 1936 in the Thames Star, a New Zealand newspaper.

China, as in the porcelain, is first seen in 1650, although this is a shortened form of the earlier China-ware (1630) and China-dishes (1570), and none of these were sold in a China-shop before 1750.

China doll – ie a doll made from china – is first seen in 1756, although it did not become common until the middle of the 19th century.

China plate is unrecorded before 1880.

China syndrome is first recorded in 1970, it refers to the theoretical idea that a nuclear disaster or meltdown would result in it sinking through the Earth and create a hole leading to China and has since been used as a synonym for ‘meltdown’.

China white, a euphemism for very pure form of heroin, is first seen in 1791.

Chinaman’s chance, now considered offensive, first came to prominence in the early 19th century; today we are more likely to say ‘ghost of a chance’.

Chinaman is a cricketing term referring to a ball delivered by a left-arm bowler which spins the wrong way from the natural delivery, ie in to the right-handed batsman. The term comes from what would today be regarded as a highly offensive comment made during a match in 1933 between England and the West Indies. England’s Walter Robins was stumped by the wicketkeeper having been beaten by the ball delivered by Ellis ‘Puss’ Achong who had Chinese ancestry. As he passed the umpire on his way to the dressing room, he said to the umpire “Fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman.” On reflection it is probably a good job Robins didn’t refer to the bowler by his nickname, it may have led to all manner of complaints when naming the delivery.

Guyana Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest of Guyana's settlements.

Georgetown was named such on April 29th 1812, in honour of King George III of Great Britain. It had previously been known as Longchamps by its French founders, later as Stabroek after the Dutchman Nicolaas Geelvinck, Lord of Stabroek.

Mainstay Lake is clearly a modern name, indeed it had previously been known as Quacabuka, an Arawak name meaning 'in between'.

Bartica is a town on the left bank of the Essequibo River, its name comes from an Amerindian word meaning 'red earth'.

Essequibo River is named for its European discoverer, Juan de Eaquivel. He was the deputy of Don Diego Columbus, son of Christopher Columbus.

New Amsterdam named by the Dutch after their most famous city, itself named for the dam on the River Amstel and originating from aeme-stelle 'water-area'.

Hyde Park is named after the famous London location, itself coming from the former manor of Hyde and a name referring to a hide of land, defined as the amount of land required to support one family for one year.

Lochaber is named after the place in Scotland, itself from the confluence of the rivers.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Idiotic Idioms

By now most of us will have suffered the misfortune of having encountered at least of few minutes of Jeremy Kyle and heard him use a seemingly infinite string of dumb and gross cliches - full house; early doors; grow a pair, etc. As these phrases seem to be catching, I wondered just when these were first coined and whether there is any explanation as to the origins of this drivel?

EARLY DOORS - one I find particularly annoying as it is in almost constant use by football commentators and pundits. It is most often attributed to Ron Atkinson, better known as a manager than a player (and for very good reason), who may well have made it popular with others in the media but certainly did not invent the phrase. The earliest references come from the days of music hall, when the cheap seats were available on a first-come first-serve basis, unlike the better seats which would have seen less demand and possibly pre-booked. Hence the doors to the ticket office were effectively opened twice, firstly for the cheaper and unreserved seats and thus referring to something obtained or achieved 'early doors'.

GROW A PAIR - is something many find offensive for its obvious sexual overtones. However think about what the user is saying and how it is used. Invariably it is intended to end a debate or discussion, therefore should be seen as three words replacing "I most certainly do not agree with your statement but have neither the word power nor debating skills to put together a contradictory argument". Origins are hotly disputed but seems to be fairly recent and thus probably came from American English and, along with the similar phrase 'man up', could well have military origins.

FULL HOUSE - clearly comes from the term used in poker - for those unaware (like me) it refers to a hand with three of a kind and a pair - which apparently beats a flush but not four of a kind. In general parlance the phrase means 'everything, without exception' but this is hardly true of the poker hand or one would have thought four of a kind would be more of a 'full house'. Some think this began as 'full hand', while others suggest the pair represent the parents and the three of a kind the kids in a 'full house'.

NO-BRAINER - suggests this requires little mental agility to be understood. It comes from American English and is first seen in print in December 1959 in the strip cartoon The Berrys.

24-7 - another of my personal dislikes, so much so I multiplied the two numbers and always use '168 hours a week' - once did so to a barrister and he, baffled by the phrase, learned it was something I use to get ahead in any discussion even though it certainly has nothing whatsoever to do with the subject. Said barrister was so delighted by me throwing him he asked if he could use it in the courtroom whenever he could. The phrase 24-7 is said to have been coined by the US magazine Sports Illustrated when, in 1983, spoke of Jerry Reynolds describing his jump shot as a useful weapon at any time.

BAD HAIR DAY - although this first appeared in print in 1988, the phrase remained virtually unknown until four years later when heard in the film Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

BANG ON ABOUT - using 'bang' instead of 'exactly' originates around 1940 in America, although why and by whom is a puzzle.

BILLY NO MATES - not seen in print before 1996 when the Daily Mirror newspaper printed a report on the University Boat Race under the headline NICE LADS, SHAME ABOUT THE BOAT RACE included a biography on each rower, including the 21-year-old student of theology, standing 6ft 3ins and weighing in at 12st 11lbs, who's nickname is given as Billy No-Mates.

CHICK FLICK - a phrase not seen until the 1990s and probably first applied to the 1991 movie Thelma and Louise, itself promoted with the line "Someone said get a life .... they got a life".

GRASS UP - not used outside of the criminal fraternity until the 1990s, although first appearing in print in the 1930s. The term likely originates from 'snake in the grass', snakes seen as evil figures at least since the book of Genesis was first penned.

HAPPY AS LARRY - has been used to describe someone overjoyed since at least 1875. Its original use almost certainly came from Australia or New Zealand although just who Larry was remains uncertain. Either this refers to Australian boxer Larry Foley (1847-1917) who retired undefeated, at the age of 32, with his final purse amounting to a staggering £1,000. Hence he would have been smiling rather a lot. It is also suggested this came from an antipodean slang term larrikin speaking a 'a ruffian, hooligan' and enjoys a good lark.

HAVE NO TRUCK WITH - meaning 'to have nothing to do with' but originally used to mean the complete opposite, 'to do business with' in the 17th century. It comes from French troque meaning 'an exchange, a barter'.

OFF HIS OWN BAT - and never 'off his own back' which is simply a misheard version, this meaning 'on his own'. The first mention in print dates from 1742, when Thomas Waghorn wrote about cricketer Richard Newland the world's first truly great all-rounder known as 'the Slendon Man'. All the original comments regarding 'off his own bat' referred to a score of 40 runs or more.

SQUEAKY BUM TIME - this dumb phrase speaks of 'the tense final moments of a competition' and is first found in print on March 18th 2003 in the Daily Express Newspaper and a quote from Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson when attempting to play mind games with rivals Arsenal.

I looked up the origins of the name 'Kyle' and find this is a noun in Scotland defined as 'a narrow channel of water between two islands or between an island the mainland, a strait or sound'. Perhaps this last meaning of 'sound' could lead to the use of 'kyle' as a euphemism and defined as 'a sound, particularly one considered most irritating'.

Sporting Etymologies (Part 2)

Following on from last week's look at the etymology of sporting names, here is the second and final part:

pelota - a game of Spanish origins, it is played by hitting a ball against the walls of three-sided court. The name is from the Spanish pella, itself from latin pila, 'ball'.

polo - with its origins in the east it is not surprising to find the word in Tibetan pu lu 'ball', although there is a Tibetan dialect called Balti which has polo as a word for 'ball'.

pool - was an early term used for billiards where these cue sports were played in a room where gamblers 'pooled' their money to bet on horseracing off-track.

racing - as so many sports involve racing it would be wrong to omit a word which came to English from Old Norse ras where 'running' was used in the sense of 'running water' and derived from the Proto-Germanic raes 'to rage'. It is not used as a noun in English before 1510 and for the first time as a verb around 1670.

rounders - the forerunner of baseball which originated in Ireland around the middle of the eighteenth century, the name self-explanatory.

rowing - as with 'racing' the origin of the name is obvious. The word can be traced back through almost every language to the Proto-Indo-European verb ere 'to row', predictably one of the earliest words.

rugby - almost everyone will know the story of the origins of rugby football, where one Matthew Webb Ellis was playing association football on the playing fields of Rugby school when he picked up the ball and ran with it. The sport took the name of the school (not the town) and later the World Cup of Rugby Union was named the Webb Ellis Trophy.

shooting - as with rowing this features a verb which can be traced back through many languages to the Proto-Indo-European skeud 'to chase, to throw, to project'.

skating - the skate was brought to England by the followers of Charles II at the Restoration in the seventeenth century. Hence the term comes from Middle Dutch schaetse, itself from Norman French esache 'stilt, trestle' and first seen as a verb by the end of the seventeenth century.

ski-ing - another winter sport which, as with skate, in English began as a noun. It is derived from Old Norse skith, also the origin of 'skid', and originally referred to 'a snowshoe'.

snooker - was a variation on billiards invented by British officers serving in India towards the end of the nineteenth century. The term is slang, not the modern 'snooker' meaning 'to put in a difficult position' but Victorian slang for 'newly joined cadet'. It is said to have been used for the game for it was so easy to fool the new cadets when teaching them the rules. It is claimed the man who first used the term was a certain Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain (not the man who later served as prime minister), who was serving in Jubbulpore with the Devonshire Regiment.

soccer - is derived from association football and, contrary to popular belief, was used in Britain many years before a competitive soccer ball had been kicked in the USA.

softball - a variation of baseball played, as the name suggests, with a larger, softer ball to prevent injury. The ball is also pitched using an underarm action and is played on a smaller diamond.

squash - is named from the ball, which does squash more than other balls.

swimming - the verb can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European swem meaning 'to be in motion'. Over the centuries it passed from one language to another where to was used in the sense 'hunt', 'motion', and 'chase' well before it applied solely to movement in water.

tennis - was originally called sphairistike, Greek meaning 'in playing the ball', named by its apparent inventor, Major Walter C. Wingfield and first played in Wales. The original game was played without a racket, tennis probably comes from tenez Old French for 'to receive, to take', which was once called out by the server as a warning to his opponent he was about to serve.

volleyball - clearly named from a volley being used in sporting terms where the ball is played before it hits the ground. The word volley comes from Middle French volee or 'flight'.

wrestling - an ancient sport with a name from the word wrest, itself from Proto-Germanic wraistijanan 'to bend, twist'.

yachting - features a comparatively recent word derived from Dutch jaght schip literally 'chasing ship'.

Sporting etymologies (Part 1)

During England's resounding success in the Ashes I heard 'cricket' pronounced at least three different ways. The English 'cricket' and Geoff Boycott's 'creekitt', while the Australian 'cruckit' sounds more like the sound of the insect of that name.
I had been wondering about the etymology of the word and before long had unearthed the notes for another piece written from some years ago. This not only looked at the etymology of cricket but many other sports and games, reproduced here in alphabetical order.

archery - surely one of the oldest surviving trials of skill, it comes to English from the Latin arcuarius meaning 'of a bow'.

badminton - possibly the name with the best-known etymology, it comes from the Gloucestershire place name of Badminton, ironically more closely associated with equestrian events today. The game itself is held to have originated in ancient Greece, thereafter moving east across China and south to India, where it was known as Battledore and Shuttlecock (the bat and the shuttlecock).

baseball - the name explains the basic premise of the game, hitting a ball and then running around the bases. Considered the 'national sport' in the USA by 1856, its simplicity as a bat and ball game make it difficult to trace. However it does not seem to have been played in the Americas until the arrival of those of European descent, thus the game is a derivative of rounders.

billiards - is ultimately from Old French billard 'bent stick'. This is a clue to its origins for, as with all games played with a cue, it originated as an outdoor lawn game. A reference from 1340 shows a game played outdoors which appears to be reminiscent of both billiards and croquet, while the first indoor billiards table can be traced to the regin of Louis XI of France (1461-83). An engraving from a book published in 1710 shows two men playing billiards, however the 'sticks' depicted are bent and more reminiscent of miniature hockey sticks.

bowling and bowls - two similar sports (indoors and out) clearly associated with 'bowl', the verb describing the action when delivering the ball. Of course this raises the question as to which came first, the answer being uncertain, although we do know these ultimately come from 'ball', itself of Germanic descent from 'sphere, round'.

boxing - another ancient pastime, possibly the original 'sport' for it requires no equipment! The modern name is a Middle English word box, although the origins of this word are unknown.

chess - is derived from the Old French esches which means simply 'checks'.

cricket - and the subject which started the thought processes. Sadly the etymology of the word is completely unknown. Indeed even the earliest written reference, which mentions Prince Edward, son of Edward I, at Newenden in Kent in the year of 1301 playing a game known as creag. Clearly this could be the first syllable of 'cricket' but as we have no notion of what form this game took or what creag is telling us, we are none the wiser.

croquet - is thought to be a dialect form of the French crochet 'a little hook'.

curling - is first mentioned in print in 1620 in Perth, Scotland in the works of Henry Adamson. The noun comes from curl, describing the motion of the stone.

dominoes - the earliest dominoes were carved from ivory with inserts of ebony and clearly not only extremely valuable but also white with black spots, rather than the reverse colouring today. It's name is derived from the similarity to Venetian Carnival masks, these domini being white with black spots. In turn these were named after the French priests whose winter hoods were black on the outside and white inside. The word can be traced back to the Latin dominus 'lord, master'.

fencing - is one of the easiest to understand. It comes from the Old French defens 'defence' and was absorbed into Middle English as fens.

golf - few can not have heard that golf is an acronym standing for "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden", it will come as not surprise to find there is not an element of truth in this suggestion. The origin of the term is uncertain, although there is a reference to a game kolf involving a small ball and a curved bat being played in the Netherlands in 1297.

gymnastics - is ultimately from the Greek gumno 'naked', for ancient Greek competitors were completely naked.

hockey - and the similar hurling are played with a curved stick and a ball. Despite the very different rules the object of both games is ostenibly the same as many other games which date back at least five thousand years - stone tablets depicting very obvious hockey-like games have been unearthed in the ancient city of Ur.

judo - is from the Japanese ju do 'soft way'.

lacrosse - a game originating with the native people of modern Canada, the name was coined by French settlers who called it (le jeu de) la cross '(the game of) the hooked stick'.