And finally, why do we say….. ?

Curiosity killed the cat – a warning not to be nosey – appears in an Irish newspaper in 1868, although some sources cite 16th works by William Shakespeare and Ben Johnson.

One bad apple – doesn’t take many to ruin something – is certainly in use in the 18th century, but is also found as ‘a rotten apple quickly infects its neighbour’ as early as 1340.

Come rain or shine – to succeed no matter what - is certainly in use in 1905, but there are variations on the theme dating back to the 17th century.

A penny for your thoughts – what are you thinking – is from the 16th century, popularized by John Heywood in 1547 in The Proverbs and Epigrams of John Heywood, but first appearing in 1522 and Sir Thomas More’s Four Last Things.

Add insult to injury – something adding to the punishment, an unnecessarily – derives from the fables of Phaerus in the first century.

Don’t give up your day job – you’re not very good at this – originated in the theatre, where would-be actors tried their hand during evening performances.

Birds of a feather flock together – those with similar likes tend to gather – comes from William Turner’s 1545 satire The Rescuing of Romish Fox.

Comparing apples to oranges – making unfair comparisons – began in 1670 with John Ray’s proverb collection, although the term then was ‘apples and oysters’.

Cold feet – exhibiting a significant change of opinion – appears in English for the first time in 1878 with the translation of the German novel Seedtime and Harvest when a character’s luck at the poker table takes a significant downturn and he leaves the game.

Kill two birds with one stone – get two jobs done with one action – does appear in 1656 in the works of Thomas Hobbes, but almost certainly came from the Greek tale of Daedalus and Icarus.

Boat Idioms

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

We were ‘all in the same boat’ for the first time in the 1580s.

Although nobody ‘rocked the boat’ until 1914.

A jolly-boat is a small boat hoisted at the stern of a vessel, first recorded in 1727.

Boats may have been around since prehistory, but nobody mentioned a boathouse until 1722.

Norsemen may have been associated with longboats, but the term was also used for the longest and strongest boat carried on a sailing ship from 1510.

Lifeboats are first mentioned in 1785, although there is no clear connection with savings lives at sea until 1801.

Motorboats have been recorded since 1875.

U-boats are first seen in 1914, this the abbreviation of the German Unterseeboot or ‘undersea boat’.

Dreamboat is first used to describe one who someone saw as desirable in 1947, but the term is used in the title When My Dream Boat Comes Home a song from 1936, and is also seen in 1929 as the title of a book in Dream Boat.

Boatswain, a minor officer on board a vessel, is seen from the middle of the 15th century.

Houseboats are first mentioned in 1790.

Rowboats are seen from the 1530s.

The term ‘sailboat’ is seen from 1769.

Tugboats are recorded from 1830.

Gunboats are recorded from 1793.

Showboat, as in a river steamer on which theatrical performances are held, is seen from 1838 – the modern use is more likely to refer to someone showing off and has been so since 1951.

Words we use to speak to animals (an etymology)

Much as I dislike Westerns, when I heard one cowboy tell his horse to 'Whoa', the etymologist wondered where on earth this word came from. It also saw me searching for other commands used by humans to non-humans.

Whoa is first recorded in 1843, seen as a variant on the earlier 'ho', itself merely reinforcing the physical pull back on the reins and calling the horse's attention to the rider. (Apparently just saying 'whoa' is highly unlikely to stop the horse - or so a horsey friend told me.) Note 'whoa' is also listed as a variant of 'who', and also a word recently replacing 'wow'.

Giddy-up is used to get the horse moving or go faster, itself from giddap, gee-up and, predictably, from 'get up'. Amazing to find it in Western films, for 'giddy-up' is unrecorded until 1909, long after the Wild West went..... well, west. Note, the word won't work alone, there is the physical command, too.

Mush is that word used to make sled dogs get going. First recorded as late as 1897 and recorded as mouche in 1862, it is thought to come from the French marchons 'advance'. Clearly related to the French marcher 'to march'.

Most commands to animals are those used to keep the pet pooch in order. However, the dog doesn't understand a word - as evidenced when the little mutt belonging to the old dear decided to shed half its body weight directly in front of me while I was reading on a park bench. She apologised and, after clearing up, made a fuss of it and told me the dog understood every word she said. When I suggested telling it to shit in the bag next time, she responded with "He's only a dog!"

For a laugh try issuing commands to your dog in German: platz 'down'; bleib 'stay'; fuss 'heel'; and, my personal favourite, brummen 'growl' will eventually be just as understood as the English versions, but only by you and the dog, of course. Does this suggest dogs only sprechen ze Deutsch?

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: Z

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

Z is for ..... well it isn't for anything as there isn't a single homonym beginning with that letter. So let's have some fun with etymologies of words beginning with Z and we will begin with....

Zero came into use from Arabic notation, for the earlier Roman numerals had no symbol representing zero. It comes from the Arabic sifr 'cipher' and is related to Sanskrit sunya-m 'empty place, desert, naught'.

Zeal is from the Latin zelus 'emulation'. They got it from the Greek zelos, a word used mainly in church to mean 'ardour, rivalry'; and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ya 'seek, request, desire'.

Zigzag is a fairly recent addition to all languages, coming to English from the French around 1670, and thought to have originated in Germany as ZickZack, used there to refer to German military siege approaches. When it first came to England it was applied solely to types of garden path. Incidentally there is a ZigZag Road in Tadworth, Surrey which is almost perfectly straight.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: Y

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

Y is for y ..... well, once again it isn't for anything as there isn't a single homonym beginning with that letter. But I won’t let that stop me getting to the end of the alphabet and we’ll have some fun with etymologies of words beginning with Y and we will begin with....

Yellow is first seen in Old English geolu from Proto-Germanic gelwaz, both meaning 'yellow' and from Proto-Indo-European ghel 'to shine'. And I have it on good authority that all those squares above contain yellow in one of its many shades.

Yacht came to English from Dutch, where jacht meant 'fast pirate ship'. All these come from Proto-Germanic yago and Proto-Indo-European yek 'to chase, hunt'.

Yes comes from Old English gese 'so be it'; itself from Proto-Germanic sijai and Proto-Indo-European es 'to be'.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: M

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

M is for match, the comparison or the little stick for producing fire, came to English from each of the two main Western European language groups - Germanic and Latin respectively. Taking the Germanic first, we find Old English maecca 'companion, mate, wife, husband'; Proto-Germanic gamakon 'fitting well'; and Proto-Indo-European mag 'to knead, fashion'.

The fire lighter came to English from Old French meiche 'wick of a candle'; Latin myxa and Greek myxa both meaning 'lamp wick', but the latter also used to refer to 'mucus' (yes, as in snot); and all based on the Proto-Indo-European meug 'slimy, slippery'.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: L

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

L is for left, which could be the past tense of 'leave' or the opposite of 'right'. In order, the verb 'to leave' has a clear etymology traceable through Old English laefan, Proto-Germanic laibjanan, and Proto-Indo-European leip, all having the general meaning of 'allow to remain as it is'.

When it comes to the opposite of 'right', many parents will have taught their children (as the majority were right-handed) the way to remember which was which was to think the hand you write with as your right and the one which is left is your left. Assuming the child was not left-handed (or did not have three hands) this would work. This idea of the right hand being the correct hand is also known (and famously so) in the term 'sinister' which was also once used for left-handedness, itself seen as unlucky or suspicious for much of history. This must be a very old idea as so many languages see 'left' as bad, including the root of all those in European and to the east, where Proto-Indo-European laiwo meant 'considered suspicious'.

The political left-wing is not used in 1871, but it had been used in a military sense since 1530. Having two left feet is first recorded in 1902, while the left bank of a river, first recorded in the 13th century, is that side which is on the observer's left when facing downstream.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: K

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

K is for kind, as in 'sort, variety' and also in 'friendly'. Taking these in order, the noun can be traced to Old English gecynd, not only 'kind' but importantly 'race, nature' and thus related to 'kin'. This is from Proto-Germanic kundjaz 'family, race' and derived from Proto-Indo-European gene 'give birth, beget'.

The adjective 'kind' has exactly the same origins as the noun, but Middle English also gave us the alternative kinde with this usage.

Nobody used womankind until the late 14th century; no one was described as kind-hearted until 1530; and one-of-a-kind was not used until 1961. Lastly the slang 'kinda', clearly a form of 'kind of', but a word which was once given as 'kinder', and even Charles Dickens used it, albeit he gave it as kiender.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: H

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

H is for heel, obviously the part of the foot is by far the most common use. It comes from Old English hela, Proto-Germanic hanhilon, and Proto-Indo-European kenk which not only referred to the bend of the heel but also the bend at the knee.

Heel is also used to refer to a contemptible individual. It is first seen in US underworld slang in 1914, probably because it referred to one of the lowest standing. Similarly, the phrase 'down at heel' refers to well-worn footwear. Also, there is the now lost term of fighten with heles literally to 'fight with heels' and referring to fleeing the confrontation.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: F

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

F is for file, and one my favourite words when it comes to its usage over the years. Likely our first thought turns to the tool used to smooth or abrade, this comes from the Proto-Germanic fihalo 'a cutting tool', and traceable to Proto-Indo-European peig 'to cut, mark by incision'. The second use, that heard so often in offices, refers to a place where documents are stored - even in the digital age the terminology has not changed - and has been derived from the first sense. How? Because the original filing systems were not drawers, but a length of wire produced by a cutting-like process. The papers would be suspended from the wire or file until required. We still remember those days because we never spoke of the document being in the drawer as being 'in file' but always 'on file'. This is why etymology and the development of language is fascinating.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: E

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

E is for even, used to mean 'equal' and also as a comparison such as in the phrase 'even when'. The etymological trail for the former begins with Old English efen, similar forms seen across the range of Germanic languages suggest earlier forms will have seen little change but unfortunately no trace of such has ever been found. The second sense, to liken, compare, is unrecorded before the 13th century and thus will have come from the adjective.

There was once a third use, from Old English aefen 'at the end of the day'. This is not related to the other words but is akin to 'eve' and 'evening'. It also reminds us that while today the day ends at midnight, once the day ended when the sun went down - which makes far more sense. Expressions featuring 'even' include: even break first appears in print in 1907; even-steven, first seen in 1866; to get even with is from 1833; and even-tempered from 1712. There are also a couple of expressions which have fallen out of use: even-old 'of the same age'; and even-sucker meaning 'foster-brother'.

Synonym Etymologies S

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter S and stop. All versions suggest a Germanic origin, but with nothing earlier than Vulgar Latin stuppare it seems this is probably an example of a Germanic load word from Latin. The Latin stuppare is used in the sense 'to plug, to stop up', which explains why the modern sense of 'halt' is not seen until the middle of the 15th century, and even then it referred to a bung in a hole.

Cease comes from the Old French cesser and Latin cessare>, each with the same meaning. These can be traced to the Proto-Indo-European root ked 'to go, yield'.

End, here as a verb, comes from the noun and itself from Proto-Germanic andiaz 'the opposite side'. It comes from Proto-Indo-European antjo 'end, boundary' and its root ant 'front, forehead'.

Done is the past participle of 'do', itself traceable through the Germanic line to Proto-Indo-European dhe 'to set, put, place'.

Over is from the Old English uffera, with the same meaning. It is derived ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root uper 'over' in the sense of 'above'.

Conclude can be traced back to the Latin claudere 'to shut'.

Terminate is another or Latin derivation, here terminare describes 'the end of the boundary'.

Pause is easy to trace through Old French pausee, Latin pausa, and Greek pausis, all with the same meaning.

Finish has only been used in the sense of 'the end' since 1790, the earlier meaning of 'that which gives completion' (as in paint or polish) is still in use. Coming to English from Old French finiss and Latin finire are as far as this can be traced, although it may have a link to the word 'fix'.

Halt is related to 'hold' and traceable to the Proto-Indo-European root keld 'to strike, cut'.

Synonym Etymologies M

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter M and mad. There are three usages for 'mad': as an adjective, as in 'insane'; as an adverb, as in 'oddly'; and as a verb, as in 'anger'. In all three cases the original sense seems to have been the adjective, this coming to English through the Germanic route and while the Old Saxon word gimed meant 'foolish', the Gothic version of gamaiths was used to mean 'wounded, crippled', and the Old Norse meitha 'to hurt, maim'. All these are derived from the Proto-Indo-European mei 'to change, move', a root which has also given us the word 'migrate'.

Insane is clearly derived from 'sane', itself from the Latin sanus 'sound, healthy', and from Proto-Indo-European seh 'to tie' and later used to mean 'to put in place or order'.

Derange is from the French desrengier 'throw into disorder' and thus the opposite of the reng 'line, row', related to Proto-Germanic hringaz 'circle, ring, curved', and back to Proto-Indo-European sker 'to turn, bend'.

Demented is from an obsolete verb dement 'to drive mad'. Here the first element is the negative 'de-', with the Proto-Indo-European men 'to think'.

Crazy is from the original 'craze', itself a Germanic word meaning 'to shatter, crush, break in pieces'. It seems likely to have come to English from Old Norse kraza 'shatter'.

Ardent is from the Old French ardant 'burning, hot, zealous'. Here the word came from Latin ardere 'to burn' and Proto-Indo-European as 'to burn' or 'glow'.

Zealous comes from 'zeal', itself from Old French zel and Latin zelus and Greek zelos all meaning 'ardour, rivalry, emulation'. All these can be traced to Proto-Indo-European ya 'to seek, request, desire'.

Fervent is another coming to English from Old French, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bhreu 'to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn'.

Eager, also from Old French where aigre 'sour, acid, harsh, bitter, lively, eager, active, forceful', came from Latin acrus and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ak 'be sharp, rise to a point, pierce'.

Angry is from 'anger' and came to English from Old Norse angra 'hostile, distress, suffering, agony'. It can be traced back further to Proto-Germanic angaz and to Proto-Indo-European angh 'tight, painfully constricted, painful'.

Irate, or 'ire', comes from Old French ire and Latin ira 'anger, wrath, passion'. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European eis, this word has produced innumerable words indicating passion, such as the Greek hieros 'filled with the divine' and oistros 'causing madness'; Sanskrit esati 'drives on' and yasati 'boils'; Avestan aesma 'anger'; and Lithuanian aistra 'violent passion'.

'Mad' appears in several phrases, including 'like mad', which was first recorded in 1650; 'mad as a March hare' from the 1520s; 'mad as a hatter' from 1829; one could not be a 'mad scientist' before 1891; and as 'mad as a wet hen' since `1823'.

Synonym Etymologies K

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter K and kid. Hardly any surprise to find this began as the young of the goat, its etymology is uncertain, and later applied to children, first recorded in 1590.

Child is first seen in Old English cild where it referred to the unborn infant or foetus. It came from Proto-Germanic kiltham, a word which also gave Gothic kilpei 'womb' and inkilpo 'pregnant'. Note the Old Swedish kulder was used to mean 'litter', while Old English cildhama may have been defined as 'womb' but actually was literally 'child home', and in the 15th and 17th centuries 'child' was nearly always referring to a girl.

Baby is a diminutive of 'babe', itself short for the 13th century word baban and likely imitative of baby talk (as is 'babble').

Toddler is derived from 'toddle', a word first seen in Scotland and northern England and of unknown origin.

Infant is an interesting word which is a combination of 'in' and 'fari'. Here 'in' is used as a prefix meaning 'not', while 'fari' is the verb 'to speak'. A pretty good description of a young infant.

Minor began as a Latin word meaning 'small', and is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root mei also meaning 'small'.

Juvenile is from the Latin iuvenilis meaning 'youthful'. It came from iuvensis 'young man, one in the flower of his age'. Note this did not refer to one who was just maturing, or approaching maturity, for the Romans this was a man aged between 21 and 40 - there's hope for us yet.

Youth is, unsurprisingly, from the same source as 'young' and yet 'youth was the earlier word. Another of Germanic origins, it was more often used to refer to young warriors and even the young of cattle in its earliest times.

Teenager is named from those in their teens (thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, etc.). Teenager has only ben used since 1922, prior to that it was 'teener', and earlier still simply 'teen'.Note the element 'teen' is from 'ten' - this fourteen is four-ten, sixteen is six-ten, and so on.

Synonym Etymologies D

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter D and dull, as in 'dreary'.

Dull, as used in reference to colour or brightness, is unknown prior to the end of the 14th century. This comes from its use in referring to a tool or weapon being blunt - and that also the reason 'dull' has been used to mean 'slow in understanding' - and can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European dhul from the root dheu 'dust, vapour, smoke'.

Dreary is first used in Old English dreorig and meaning 'cruel, bloody, blood-stained', and came to English through the Germanic line with similar meanings. Ultimately this can be traced to Proto-Indo-European dhreu meaning, depending on the context. 'to fall, flow, drip, droop'. Hence the original 'dripping with blood' has changed to become 'dismal, gloomy' - and one would think blood loss to that extent would hardly make anyone pleased.

Dismal also began with a rather different meaning, for in the early 15th century the sense was 'unlucky, inauspicious'. This came to English from Old French and Medieval Latin, the latter dies mali 'evil or unlucky days', and tracing back further from Proto-Indo-European dyeu 'to shine' and mel 'bad, wrong'.

Drab had been used in the 16th century as a term for a 'dirty or untidy woman' (and worse), but this is connected to an Old French word drap. Here the meaning is 'yellowish-grey' or other similarly lifeless colour by the 18th century and earlier still simply described the thick woollen cloth of unremarkable colour.

Banal, as in 'hackneyed' or 'lacking distinction', has the same origin as 'ban' and is not difficult to see. The Germanic root of both words saw Old Norse banna 'to curse, prohibit', German bannen 'expel, banish', and back to Proto-Indo-European bha 'to speak'. The same cluster of words has also given us 'bandit' and 'contraband'.

Tedious came to English from Old French tedieus and Late Latin taediosus with the same meaning. While of uncertain etymology, it seems likely to be related to words such as Old Church Slavonic tezo and Lithuanian tingiu which both mean 'dull'.

Boring is another where the etymology is uncertain, but probably came to English from French and likely used in the sense of 'boring a hole' where progress might be made but a very slow and laborious pace.

Lifeless is the opposite of life, and the only word we need to examine. All Germanic roots refer to 'body, person' and the like, which earlier forms use as 'continuance, perseverance', this showing the links to earlier still Proto-Indo-European leip 'to stick, adhere'. Hence the longtime sense of 'life' is actually 'not to die'.

Insipid came to English from the French around the early 17th century, and is derived from Latin sapere to 'have a taste' and used more to refer to flavours as it is related to sapidus 'tasty' and also to the modern word 'sapient'.

Wearisome is clearly from 'weary' and both words from the Germanic group which have never had any other meaning than 'to exhaust, make tired'.

Bland is from the Latin blandus 'smooth-talking, flattering, alluring', and thus has virtually changed to the opposite meaning. Tracing this back further takes us to Proto-Indo-European mel 'soft' which, it could be argued, could be lead to the word in both the positive and negative sense of 'bland'.

Flat is not used in the 'dull, tedious, boring' sense until around 1870, when it went even further to mean 'total failure'.