Pete, Jack, Minnie, et al.

Last time I looked at the origins of 'even-steven' and I started thinking of other phrases with names. Here's the result of my searches, starting with ....

For Pete’s sake - which is simply an alternative to 'For Christ's sake', which could be seen as blasphemy. It is not overly clear when Pete, a reference to St Peter, began to replace the Lord.

Jack of all trades is seen from the 17th century. Almost two hundred years earlier, Jack was a term used to describe the lower classes. Perhaps this came from the French, where Jacque was used to refer to peasants - and their very basic short coat was called a "jacket". As the phrase ends "and master of none" the original inference described one with no specific skill.

Moaning Minnie is one with a rather more interesting story. Indeed, we can even date it to a specific year and a known individual. The year is 1846 and the man is Captain Claude Etienne Minie, and he introduces a soft lead bullet for use in his army's rifles. On firing, the bullet would distort and the bullet made a distinct sound as it flew through the air toward its target. Hence the moaning Minne was originally a bullet - or so one story would have us. There is also the thought of a German mortar, but there is no record of the phrase Moaning Minnie being used during World War I, the phrase only becoming popular during WWII.

Plain Jane first appears in print in the play Doing for the Best by M. Rophino Lacy in 1861. It was once thought to be a reference to Jane Eyre but, while there are some plot similarities, it has latterly been dismissed as coincidental. As a stand-alone phrase it first appears in 1912, which appears to have been coined simply because of its rhyme.

Contrary Mary is another rhyme, but this undoubtedly originated in the nursery rhyme Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary. The oldest known version dates from 1744 in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, which tends to refute suggestions this is a reference to Queen Mary or Mary, Queen of Scots who were both alive in the 16th century and no known written versions of the rhyme date from anywhere near the Tudor period.

Jack the lad is likely dateable back to the early 18th century and Jack Sheppard, a notorious thief who managed to escape from gaol no less than four times. Eventually, when imprisoned for the fifth time, he was hanged at Tyburn. This hardened criminal, he was just 22 years old at the time, had a career in crime lasting just two years.

Johnny on the spot is first recorded in the April 1896 issue of the New York Sun. In that piece, the writer speaks of how the phrase had suddenly become very popular in the New York area, but had no idea where it originated.

Jack Robinson, a figure who appears and disappears very quickly, is first referred to as such around 1700 and even has an entry in a dictionary in 1785.

Lithuania 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 Lithuanian cities.

Vilnius derives its name from the Vilnia River, itself from Lithuanian vilnis or vilnyti meaning 'a surge' and 'to surge' respectively. Clearly this is a warning the river can rise quickly and without warning.

Kaunas is probably from a personal name, other forms in Polish, Russian and Yiddish very much support this, but what that name was and what it represents are unknown.

Klaipeda has only been the official name since 1945, it is from Lithuanian klaidyti 'obstruct' and peda 'foot' and understood as a reference to the boggy ground here.

Panevezys is first recorded in 1503, its name meaning 'alongside the Nevezis River'. While it is often said to mean 'a river without crayfishes', the river does boast a sustainable population of crayfish. The confusion is down to this not being from the Lithuanian vezys 'crayfish', but from the Finnic nevo 'swamp'.

Maryampol is named after the Virgin Mary Marya with the addition of the Greek suffix pol 'town'.

Mazeikiai is undoubtedly named after a person known as Mazeika.

Taurage is comprised of two words, tauras 'aurochs' and ragas 'horn', both are found on the town's coat of arms.

Ukmerge was originally known as Vilkmerge from the river of the same name. According to tradition the name means 'she wolf', this based on the idea that Vilkmerge was raised by wolves. While vilkas 'wolf' and merga 'maiden' are possible, the real suffix is likely to be merg 'to dip'.

Silute gets its name from an inn, one offering hospitality to travellers as this place is halfway between Memel and Tilsit.

Radviliskis took its name from the family of nobles, the Radziwill, who ruled here for more than two centuries from the middle of the 16th century.

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

Gambia 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 Gambia cities.

Banjul is a mispronunciation of bang julo meaning 'rope fibre'. Here the name describes how the inhabitants, the Mandinka, collected fibres from the local plant life to produce rope.

Basse Santu Su also has a district known as Basse Duma Su, the suffixes meaning 'lower home' and 'higher home' respectively. These show how, during the rainy season, the lower area had been subject to flooding - it is but four metres above sea level. Both share the common element basse meaning 'mat', traditionally held to be where the founder, one General Tiramakan Traore, laid a mat to show where he intended to put down roots. An unlikely explanation may, taking into consideration the previous definition, be where locals had earlier gathered leaves or plant material to weave into mats.

Brikama had been settled by the Kontes and the Bojangs, but was largely destroyed during the decades-long Soninke-Marabout wars in the latter half of the 19th century. The name comes from the Bainunka and means 'women's town.

Janjanbureh has never been understood, other than the town and the island on which it stands share this name. Earlier the town, when a British colony, had ben named Georgetown from 1832, to honour the regining king, and prior to this, in 1822, the island had been known as MacCarthy Island after Sir Charles MacCarthy, former Governor General of the British West African Territories.

Mansa Konko is Mandinka for 'hill of the kings', this once being home to an important chief.

Serekunda is derived from 'home of the Sayer family' and named after its founder, Sayerr Jobe.

Cape Point gains its English name, and obvious meaning, from British colonial days. Earlier it had been named by Portuguese explorers Cabo de Santa Maria or 'Cape of Saint Mary'.

Makasutu is from the Mandinka language where Maka refers to Islam's holy city of Mecca and sutu means 'forest' and thus understood as 'holy forest'. The name is first known in the 12th century when Islamic followers swept through this region.

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