Bomb Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'dog' last time and this time it's 'bomb'.

Bomb has had, at least for most of its existence, the one use as referring to an explosive – all related to Greek bombos and Latin bombus meaning ‘a deep, hollow, or booming sound’ and thus named from the sound the explosive made. But since the middle of the 20th century, ‘bomb’ suddenly took on other uses: from 1953 it referred to an old car; from the following year it meant entirely the opposite of ‘success’; then in 1961 we find it swinging back to its earlier usage with ‘a failure’.

Bomb is also used from 1966 to mean ‘travel quickly’.

Bombed is used as a slang term for ‘drunk by 1956.

The atomic bomb is first recorded in 1945.

Bomb-proof is seen for the first time in writing in 1702, that source being the Century Disctionary and so it must already have been in use. We also find ‘bomb-proof’ used as contemptuous slang for those who were never exposed to the dangers of war (for whatever reason) in 1755, that war being the US Civil War.

Bombshell, referring to the casing of the explosive, is first seen in 1708; the term is first used to express shattering or shocking news in 1859; and as a reference to a very attractive (particularly blonde) female by 1942. This latter reference is almost certainly a result of the film released in 1937. Originally entitled Bombshell, it was renamed The Blond Bombshell before release. Starring Jean Harlow, it is said to have been based on screen star Clara Bow.

Nobody carpet-bombed anywhere until 1945.

The firebomb, referring to an explosive designed to create a conflagration, is first referred to in 1895 although the term had earlier been used to describe a firework and also a cannonball. It is seen as verb from 1941 to describe a military aviation manoeuvre, and from 1945 to describe acts of vandalism or terrorism.

That's Not What I Meant (B)

Having started looking at words which have changed meaning - younger generations use 'wicked' to mean 'good' and must be really confused by the Wicked Witch of the West being the baddie in that appalling or classic film, depending on your point of view - we shall continue with the next letter:

Baffle today has two meanings, most often used to mean 'bewilder' or 'perplex', but also used to describe the process of dampening down a noise. Yet in the sixteen century there are records of this being used as a synonym for 'disgrace'. Just how we get from that to the modern form is a mystery.

Balderdash may describe the use of nonsense speech or writing, but six centuries ago it was used instead of 'froth' or 'suds'.

Bane, the cause of great stress or annoyance today, but read Shakespeare and note the earlier meaning was 'murderer'. This can still be seen when '-bane' is used in the suffix of plants such as fleabane, henbane, ratsbane, and wolfsbane - all of which are poisonous.

Barbecue, now a meal cooked over a grill out of doors and which, when poorly controlled, mean all the smoke and charred fumes enter through the neighbours' windows, once had a different meaning. It comes from Haiti, where the local word referred to a lattice of sticks which gave the chance to sleep a metre above the ground and the insects. The same frame was later used to roast animals .......

Buccaneer, as we all know is a pirate or adventurer. Yet as in the previous word 'barbecue' this can be traced back to that same raised platform for sleeping and later grilling, those grilling their meat this way known as Buccaneers.

Bask, as in the sun, is something many enjoy in the summer months. Perhaps it is a good job the original basking sense has been forgotten, for in the fourteenth century it described a person bathing in blood.

Batch is a group of things, perhaps a set. Although not heard as often as it once was, a 'batch' is also a small loaf. That latter definition is of interest because originally the word 'batch' meant 'baking'. It is easy to see how 'an amount being baked' became simply 'an amount'.

Beach today is invariably a sandy strip along the shore. Earlier it meant 'shingle' or 'pebbles' - not the shoreline of such but the small stones themselves.

Bead needs no explanation, these are the small decorative items strung on a thread and associated with terms such as rosaries or prayer beads. Those prayer beads are relevant as 'bead' originally meant 'prayer' and shares an origin with 'bid'.

Beam as in a long piece of wood, such as a plank, is a modern idea. But in the early days of the English language, more than a thousand years ago, the word was a synonym for 'tree', as can still be seen in names such as 'hornbeam' and 'whitebeam'.

Blunt, as in 'not sharp', is the only use today, but earlier it was used to mean 'dull' but not as in 'blunt' but as in 'stupid'.

Boast was used to mean 'loud voice' for most of the time and only got its modern meaning of 'brag' in the eighteenth century.

Bombs today are generally used to refer to explosive devices dropped from the air or planted in a chosen location and detonated remotely (or by using a timer). Historically, it was an explosive device fired from a mortar. When first used in the seventeenth it was pronounced 'bum' and today there is an increasing tendency to pronounce the final 'b', something which will likely become the norm - but this is simply the evolution of the English language, however annoying it may seem to some (including me).

Bonkers is a surpringly modern word, unrecorded before the twentieth century. Today it is used to me 'crazy, mad, batty', but when first used it described someone who was 'slightly tipsy'.

Breath, correctly that which is expelled from the lungs when exhaled - which is why you can only see your breath on cold mornings after breathing out - and the reason why it did have the alternative use of meaning 'vapour', has for most of the life of English (ie fifteen centuries) has been used to mean 'odour, smell'.

Brook is mostly used to refer to smaller water courses, but also has the sense of 'pit up with, tolerate', and that latter sense is where the change has occurred. Yet until five hundred years ago, the word was used to mean both 'use' and 'enjoy' - compare the modern German brauchen.

Brothel is only ever used to mean one thing today - I'm assuming that meaning requires no explanation - but that meaning has only been in use since the seventeenth century. For the century previous it had been used as a synonym for 'prostitute', but for the majority of the timehas referred simply to a 'worthless person'.

Bulb, that from which plants such as daffodils and tulips grow, has only been in use since the late seventeenth century. Prior to that, a bulb was only used to describe the 'onion'.

Bully, a person who is cruel to another, dominance usually based on size alone, has only been used in this sense for three centuries. Prior to that the meaning was very different and seen in such as Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream "What sayst thou. nully Bottom?" Now any devotee of the Bard will know Bottom is never a bully in the modern sense, but would certainly be considered a bully in the historic sense, for it has gone from one extreme to the other and originally meant 'fine fellow' with regard to men and 'sweetheart' in regard to the ladies.

Bunny, now a child's name for a rabbit, is first recorded as 'bunny rabbit' in 1690. Here the original sense is used to describe the rabbit, for it was a term of endearment, especially for a woman or child. Incidentally, the word 'rabbit' was once only used for the young of those lagomorphs, the adult being known as a 'coney', itself pronounced to rhyme with 'money' and undoubtedly the reason it fell out of use in Victorian times.

Buxom today means ..... well, buxom. Until the twelfth century it was used to mean 'obedient, compliant', until the sixteenth century 'flexible, blithe', and only comparatively recently as 'well-rounded, attractive'.

Weaponry Etymologies

A break from the tour of the place names of the world. This time the post is a result of an overheard conversation - although my interest was a little different and not really related to their conversation save for a couple of the words.

They spoke of a friend or acquaintance in hospital, apparently they were considering paying the patient a visit. It seems he (I say 'he' even though gender was never specified) had been in an altercation (hence my assumption of 'he') and managed to get himself stabbed. It didn't seem as if it was a particularly serious injury - and his acquaintances seemed quite convinced he had always had it coming to him - and asked the question "Why knife, though?" I assume they meant "Why a knife?" and were not questioning why the assaillant had not been armed with a gun, bow, grenade, or rolling pin. Yet I found my etymological mind thinking of the answer to the question they had actually asked. Thus this time I have produced a list of weapons and examined the origins of the words.

Knife seems the sensible place to start, although it did prove to be something of a disappointment for me as the origins were uncertain. The only early forms known were from the Germanic language group: Old English cnif, Middle Low German knif, Middle Dutch cniif, German kneif, Norse knifr, and all from the Proto-Germanic knibaz. None of these mean anything other than 'knife' used solely as a noun - the earliest written use of 'knife' as a verb is found as recently as 1865. Whislt this may be disappointing in one sense, it is quite the reverse in reality for it shows the age of the word referring to what must have been one of the first words ever coined for a tool. Thus it is simply because it is so old that the earliest sense is unknown.

Blade is used as a slang term for a knife, as well as describing something with a sharp edge, and also used to refer to a leaf as in 'a blade of grass'. Amazingingly the third usage is by far the earliest. Seen in many Germanic tongues, these all come from the Proto-Germanic bladaz meaning 'leaf' and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European bhle and bhel with the meaning 'to thrive, bloom' - ironic considering it is now used to describe a weapon.

Hilt is another part, not of a knife but of a sword or dagger. It would have followed these in the list were it not for the origins. This comes to us from Proto-Germanic helt and is ultimately from the Proto-Indo-Germanickel which oddly meant 'strike' - although this is the part which does not strike the opponent.

Sword has its origins in words which we would consider far more appropriate than that of 'blade'. Here Old English sweord, Old Frisian swerd, Old Swedish svard, Middle Dutch swaert, Dutch zwaard, Old High German swert, and German Schwert all come from Proto-Germanic swerdam which mean exactly what it does today. All these come from Proto-Indo-European swer meaning 'cut, pierce'. Just to confuse matters there is also an Old Saxon word heoru, also seen in the related Gothic hairus, both meaning 'sword' but neither etymology is understood.

Dagger came to English from Old French dague. Also seen in Old Provencal dague and Italian daga, these may have come from an early Latin daca and describe 'a Dacian knife' - Dacia being a region of Europe roughly centred on modern Romania and Moldova, with parts of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Ukraine.

Gun is first defined as 'an engine of war that throws rocks, arrows or other missiles from a tube by the force of explosive powder or other substance', this from the 14th century and also seen in gonnilde in an inventory from Windsor Castle when referring to a cannon. Both have the same origin as the woman's name Gunilda, itself from Old Norse where gunnr and hildr both meant 'war, battle' - the first from Proto-Indo-European gwhen meaning 'strike, hit' and the latter sharing an origin with the female name 'Hilda' in Proto-Indo-European kel 'to strike, cut'. Throughout history it has been normal for large weapons of war to be given female names.

Rifle, in terms of weaponry, is a fairly recent development, getting its name from the rifling of the barrel. This cutting of a spiral groove in the barrel improved accuracy by spinning the projectile in flight. The word is seen referring to this cutting much earlier than the 17th century and weaponry. By the early 14th century it was used in the sense 'to plunder', while the original Old French rifler 'strip, filch, peel off, fleece' has been adapted to describe the cutting technique. Hence we find the alternative use of rifle in English as a synonym for 'pilfer' is older than the normal sense.

Cannon is of comparatively recent origin considering the length of time the weapon has been employed in war. It comes from the Italian cannone meaning 'large tube, barrel' and ultimately from the Latin canna and suggesting this represented something similar to 'a reed' or 'tube'.

Bullet is, as we would expect, another recent development. It comes from the Middle French boulette meaning 'small ball' and is a diminutive of boule, also seen in the game, and from the Latin bulla which could be used to mean 'round thing' or 'knob'.

Arrow may be from the Old English arwan, but this was not the normal term used by the Saxons who most often described it as strael and seen in Slavic and Germanic tongues where it meant 'flash, streak'. Ultimately the 'arrow' comes from Proto-Indo-European arku where it described 'the thing belonging to the bow'.

Bow refers to its shape, coming from Old English boga, a word also used to mean 'arch' and 'rainbow'. Ultimately these can be traced to Proto-Germanic bugon 'to bend', Proto-Indo-European bheug also 'to bend', and Sanskrit bhujati 'bends, thrusts aside'.

Bazooka has only been used to refer to the weapon since 1942. This was the name of a junkyard musical instrument used by comedian Bob Burns, and is thought to have suggested itself from the American slang 'bazoo' meaning 'mouth' or 'boastful' and in turn probably from the Dutch bauzin 'trumpet'

Bayonet is first seen in the early 17th century, said to be from the city of Bayonne in Gascony where they were first made.

Cutlass came to English from Middle French, itself from the Latin cultellus 'small knife' and ultimately from the Prroto-Indo-European kel 'to cut'.

Machete is quite badly named as it is derived from the Spanish machete, itself from macho or 'sledge hammer', and that from mazo or 'club'.

Spear has changed little through the many centuries since Proto-Indo-European sper meant 'spear' and also 'pole'. The latter meaning has come to modern English as 'spar'.

Bomb is first used in its modern sense in the late 16th century. This word originated in the Latin bombus or Greek bombos both describing 'a deep hollow sound'.

Dynamite was named by its inventor, Alfred Nobel, who took the name from the Greek dynamis meaning 'power'.

Grenade was once called a 'pomegranate', likening the fragmenting bomb to the seeds of the fruit - the fruit gets its name from pomum granatum or 'apple with many seeds'.