Black Idioms

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

Black coffee is first described as such in 1796.

Black, when referring to something terrible or wicked has been known since the late 14th century.

Black has been the colour of sin since the early 14th century.

Black arts and black magic emerged in the 1580s.

Black drop is a liquid preparation of opium, first seen in 1823.

Black flies have been around since the early 17th century.

Blackbirds have been recorded as such since the 16th century, although it had been a surname for around 150 years. Note the blackbirds in America are not the same as the European variety – the latter misnamed as only the males are black, the females are a drab brown (and slightly more numerous).

Black Prince was the name of Edward III’s eldest son, first named such in 1560.

Black flag, a sign that no mercy will be shown by pirates, has been known since 1590.

Black dog, a phrase meaning ‘melancholy’, is seen since 1826. Joke? Sorry, you’re getting it: a man crossed a watery fruit with a sheepdog, he didn’t know what it was but it looked melon-collie.

Black belt in the judo sense is first recorded in 1913.

Black Friday began in the USA as the day after Thanksgiving (always on a Thursday) when the Christmas shopping season traditionally opens and the best bargains are to be had. In the gold UK, we Brits have also adopted Black Friday and make it last ten days – must be decimalization.

Black eyes are first seen (pun intended) in the early 17th century.

Black-eyed Susan, a generic name for a number of ornamental species, is first recorded in 1881.

Black letter is an early description of heavy Gothic-style typeface.

Black swan – is undoubtedly my favourite here (and not just because it’s a pub name). Until Captain James Cook discovered black swans in Australia around 1770, the very definition of a swan was to be white. But the pub name and the image of the Black Swan had existed well before the black swan was discovered. Indeed, the Roman poet Virgil wrote about the black swan 2,000 years ago – describing it as a rara avis or ‘rare bird’. And that was exactly what was being said when using the black swan in heraldry (or as a pub name), the message is that this is unique.

Black Idioms

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

Black market, the retailer who ignores official procedure, is not seen until 1935 when it was a noun. The adjective followed in 1935, but not until rationing during the Second World War did it achieve any kind of popularity.

Black leg when referring to strike breakers is not seen until 1865, but had been used since at least 1771 to refer to a ‘swindler’, particularly those involved in equestrian events.

Black drop, first seen in 1823, was a liquid preparation of opium used for medicinal purposes.

Black magic is first seen around 1300, this a natural progression as the colour was associated with anything considered sinful or sorrowful.

Black flag is first seen in 1590, a reference to a flag flown by those (such as pirates) who would show no mercy. So nice of them to tell us, don’t you think?

Black dog, first seen in 1826, is used as an adjective to mean ‘melancholy’.

Black belt, in the judo sense, is not seen until 1913. It is also used in the USA to describe the fertility of the soil.

Black and white, not the colours but a reference to something in print, is first seen in the 1650s. Now a printing reference came about before this and, from 1590, the phrase was reversed in ‘white and black’.

In the black, ie not in debt, is not found until 1922. The idea being any positive figure would appear in black and negative values (debt) in red.

Black eye has had three uses over the years, these uses having overlapped. The discolouration of the eye following injury dates from around 1600; a reference to an injury to one’s pride from 1744; and to refer to one with a bad reputation from 1880s.

Black-eyed Susan, any of several species of flower, first recorded in 1881. Note it was also the title of a poem by the early 18th century poet John Gay; and a popular 19th century British stage play.

Black swan is a fairly popular pub name and often depicts the bird native to Australia and New Zealand. Yet despite James Cook not landing in Australia until 1770, prior to which one of the requirements of being classified a swan was to be white, the phrase (and pub names) had existed since at least the early 14th century, more than four centuries before Cook was even born. This is because it had been used as a description of anything extremely rare or non-existent – in Latin rara avis, and is why the image appears on heraldic symbols. Note, ‘white crow’ and ‘blue dahlia’ were also used in the same context and for the same reason – I look forward to a pint in the White Crow.

Lamp black is a pigment (or ink) named as it was original gathered from the soot produced in oil lamps.

Black light is light beyond the visible spectrum, and first coined in 1927.

Black tie may have been worn before its first record of 1848, but is not used as a description for dress code until 1933.

Black hearted, describing one who is inherently cruel or malicious, first appears in 1792.

Black Hills in South Dakota – Doris Day once sang about wanting to be taken back to them – is a place name coming from Lakhota paha –sapa as the heavily forested sides of the hills appear dark from a distance.

Black Shirts is first adopted as the name of the Italian paramilitary unit founded by Mussolini in 1922, albeit this three years after their founding. It is simply a reference to the colour of their uniform.

Blackball is to exclude (usually by voting). First seen in 1770, it refers to exclusion by a secret ballot.

Blacklist, names of those excluded or banned from something, appears as early as 1610, and had been inferred to more than twenty years earlier still in someone being ‘black booked’.

Blackout was first used in 1908 in referring to a darkened stage. The sense ‘loss of memory’ dates from 1934; ‘extinguishing lights in an air raid’ in 1935; and as early as 1888 to refer to blacked out information in a written document because deemed objectionable, sensitive, or secret.

Blackguard’s origins are unclear, but we do know it appears in writing in the 1530s when it was used to mean ‘scoundrel’. Not until 1736 did it have the modern sense of ‘criminal, coarse person’.

Black comedy has certainly been around for centuries, but was not described as such before 1961. Prior to that the term used would be gallows humour, seen since the 19th century, and the change may have been inspired by the French expression comedie noire, first recorded in 1958, although the French ‘black comedy’ referred to a ‘macabre or farcical rendering of a violent or tragic theme’.

Blackmail is first recorded around 1550 – the term from Old English mal and Middle English male meaning ‘lawsuit’ – and originally referred to money (or goods) paid in what would today be seen as a protection racket. The modern sense of ‘blackmail’ is not seen until 1826. It is also worthwhile mentioning the sixteenth century terms ‘silver mail’, rent paid in money rather than in goods, and the indiscretion resulting in a fine for fornication known as ‘buttock mail’.

Black hole first appears in 1968 in a paper on astrophysics. It is often said the original series of Star Trek is the first use of the term ‘black hole’, but this is not the case – in the episode entitled The Arena, first broadcast in January 1967, the term used in ‘black planet’, which is clear, in the context of the story, not the same thing. The term may have been inspired by the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta of 19 June 1756, when the Newab of Bengal retaliated against the British capturing Fort William by imprisoning 146 British Prisoners of War in a punishment cell overnight. That cell was designed to hold just four individuals and only 23 were alive when released.

Black coffee was certainly drunk before 1796, but is not referred to as such before then. Note, the sense of ‘black’ coffee is not thought to have referred to coffee without milk (or cream) but with nothing added at all.

Dominican Republic 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 to cast my net a little wider. This time Dominican Republic and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

Santo Domingo is quite simply the Spanish for 'Saint Dominic'. Founded by Bartholomew Columbus in 1496, the younger brother of Christopher, it was originally on the east bank of the river but moved to the west bank six years later. Santo Domingo de Guzman, to give its official name, is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in all the Americas. When first discovered the place was known by the native Taino people by two names, either Quisqueya 'mother of all lands' or Ayiti 'land of the high mountains'.

Santiago should be known by its official name of Santiago de los Caballeros, the name being Spanish for 'Saint James of the thirty Knights'.

La Vega is another Spanish name, this meaning 'the meadow' and shares its name with the district.

San Cristobal is another from the Spanish, this referring to 'Saint Christopher'.

San Pedro is certainly referring to 'Saint Peter' but it is unclear whether this was inspired by the name of San Pedro Beach, former president General Pedro Santana, or simply to distinguish it from San Francisco (a reference to Sanit Francis of Assisi) to the north which shares the addition de Macoris, this a reference to the Macorix tribe inhabiting the region prior to the arrival of the Europeans. The Macorix were thought a neo-Taino people, however their languages were not mutually intelligible suggesting the split had happened a very long time ago indeed or, more likely, the two groups are unrelated.

La Romana certainly has the best origin in the Dominican Republic, and must rank among the best in the entire Americas. The word romana simply means 'balance' and is a reminder of this being used to weigh all merchandise for export. That the name ever came into use shows how unusual something we would simply expect as the norm must have been.

Higuey is certainly a name given by the indigenous people, however the similarities between the dialects and tongues of the region's Taino peoples make translation uncertain. Among many indigenous people the term guey or huiou - the difference in spelling simply reflecting pronunciation - can be seen to mean 'sun, light, day' and thus, being at the eastern shore, this may be interpreted as 'land where the sun is born'.

Puerto Plata was named by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage, albeit indirectly. When he first saw this land he saw the nearby mountain shrouded in fog giving it a silver appearance in the sunlight and thus called Monte de Plata. This name was transferred to Puerto Plata or 'the silver port'.

Moca is named after a tree found overlooking the nearby river banks, or perhaps derived from Mocan region, or even based on the coffee crops grown here known as Mocca - thus in truth nobody really knows.

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

Costa Rica 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 continue an alphabetical search of the countries and their significant settlements. This time Costa Rica and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

San Jose, as with so many settlements named by the Spanish, is simply the name of the saint associated with area, and here that is St Joseph.

Heredia gets its name from a corrupted version of the name of the local tribe inhabiting this region when they arrived, the Huetares.

Nicoya is often held to come from Cacique Nicoa (or Nicoya), this the title and name of the supposed leader of the indigenous people who welcomed the Spanish to this arwa. However the real origin is from the native Nahuati tongue where Necoc iauh describes its position between two significant rivers perfectly as 'on both sides its waters'.

Tirrases takes its name from the local Tirra tree, ulmus mexicana, thought to be the tallest of all elms when reaching a height of 273 feet. It is easily identified by its deeply fluted grey trunk, this also making it disliked by those in the timber trade and, while areas have been felled, the species is not considered under threat.

Puerto Limon, most often known simply as Limon, gets its name from the important port and the Spanish for 'lemon', although it was founded to allow the export of coffee, not lemons.

Siquirres is from a native word, one describing the soil as 'reddish coloured'.

Puntarenas is from the Spanish for 'sand point'.

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