Cloud Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘water’ and now look at ‘cloud’. The original word in Old English referred to a hill – a cloud was called a skie - and look at hills in the distance and you’ll see why the two were confused. Having made that point, it is obvious any ‘cloud’ references have to come after the change from ‘hill’.

Under a cloud is first seen at the end of the 15th century.

In the clouds, fanciful or unreal, is seen from the 1640s.

Cloud nine is recorded by 1950, although the term’s origin is disputed. In the 1950s we also find ‘cloud seven’ with the same inference.

Cloud bursts did not happen until 1817.

Rainclouds were unknown until around 1800 – one has to wonder what they thought came from them before this.

Oort cloud was named in 1949 after Dutch astronomer Jan Hendrick Oort, who proposed the idea that comets came from a mass of bodies orbiting outside that of Pluto. Oort was right.

Cloud cuckoo land is an imaginary city in the air first seen in 1830 after the translation of Aristophanes’ Nephelokkygia (The Birds) from 414BCE. Within a decade of the translation ther term had entered the English language for any dreamland region.

Cloudlet, predictably a small cloud, is seen since 1788 – and yet I have never heard the term used.

Cloudscape, another I have never heard of, is found from 1852.

Cloudless has been used since 1590 – this I have heard and it has always struck me as odd. It’s the same as describing the night sky as ‘sunless’.

Clouds have only had a silver lining since 1843. It comes from John Milton’s work Comus.

Becloud is seen since 1590s, but with two decades it had taken on the figurative sense of ‘to obscure’.

Similarly ‘overcloud’ had the obvious meaning before the figurative ‘to cover with gloom’ from the 1590s.

That's Not What I Meant (N)

Interesting to see naughty children were not always naughty.

Naughty is not that had to see as meaning 'having nothing', especially if we tweak the spelling to 'noughty'. The change from 'poor' to the present 'mischievous' came about when a later use was as 'bad' or 'inferior quality'.

Net, in the sense of after deductions or additions, came to English in the fourteenth century from the Old French net meaning 'neat'. This was not only the original meaning but is also a tidy way of describing the financial sense. In later years 'net' was also used in English as synonyms for 'smart, clean, bright'.

Newfangled is to be seemingly modern, but in an overly complex way. Back in the fifteenth century it was only used to describe someone fond of things new.

News, something I personally loathe as it isn't informative it's gossip, is a word which came to English in the fourteenth century and was used to mean 'novelties'. Ah, now if the BBC had a 24-hour channel devoted to novelties - I still wouldn't watch it.

Nice, that is as in the rhyme with 'rice' and not the French city, came to English from Old French in the thirteenth century and was originally used in the same sense as the French word, that is to mean 'silly, simple' and is derived from the Latin nescius 'ignorant'. Incidentally the French city was named by the Greeks after the goddess Nike, and her name is thought to come from the Proto-Indo-European neik 'to attack', which also fits nicely with Nike being the goddess of victory. And if you that is confusing, read on …….

Niece is first seen in English in the early seventeenth century, when it was used to mean 'granddaughter' or simple 'female descendant' and not the very specific 'daughter of a sibling' as it does today.

Nightmare is not considered politically correct today, the modern term seems to be night terrors, but when it first came to English it referred to the evil female spirits held responsible for the for bad dreams, which they created by pressing down on the sleeper. Note this earlier use is still the only sense until the middle of the nineteenth century, meaning 'nightmare' fell out of favour inside 150 years. Imagine if every word in the English language changed its meaning and was then kicked out of the dictionary in just 150 years? What a nightmare!

Noon is that time in the middle of the day when cuckoo clocks push their luck. Until the thirteenth century, 'noon' was a term only used in religious conversations where it was referred to as nona hora, which is Latin for 'the ninth hour'. As the day began at sunrise (for the sake of argument six o'clock on average), the ninth hour would be three o'clock in the afternoon. Interesting to note only English and Dutch use 'noon', every other European language uses a word related to 'midday'.

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. No, really it isn't for in the eighteenth century it would only be used by Englishmen abroad who were pining for the old country. Earlier nostalgia referred to 'home sickness'.

Nuzzle is one of those modern words used to refer to close contact with another's face. It's also used to describe the actions of a pet rubbing its muzzle against its human/owner/keeper (never will understand that). Originally it was used to mean 'grovel' (that I understand), where the idea is to see someone with their nose to the ground.

Bones

Never one to simply learn names, I have to know the origin, and having someone in the family who finds the skeleton the most fascinating part of everyone, I thought it might be interesting to see where the correct names originate. Whilst most of us would refer to it as the collarbone, I begin with the clavicle which not only comes first alphabetically but also happens to be the only bone I've broken to date which isn't in my hands or feet.

Clavicle - came to English from the French clavicule which not only meant 'collarbone' but also 'small key'. Tracing this back to the Latin clavicula, where the meaning was 'small key, bolt', it is from clavis or 'key' and shows this bone was seen as being that which fastened the shoulder together.

Coccyx - directly from the Greek kokkyx or 'cuckoo' as the Greek physician Galen believed this bone resembled the beak of a cuckoo.

Femur - a word derived from Latin, the etymology of which is completely unknown. Clearly this is an ancient term for the longest and strongest bone in the human body, for it is known as the femur in English, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Fibula - another taken directly from Latin, where fibula meant 'clasp, brooch, bolt, peg, pin' and taken from the root figere 'to drive in, insert, fasten' which is itself related to the modern 'fix'. The bone is seen as such because it resembles what we would today call a safety pin.

Humerus - this bone of the upper arm is again taken directly from the Latin, itself derived from umerus 'shoulder' and from the Proto-Indo-European root omeso which also meant 'shoulder'.

Mandible - again from Latin where mandibula meant 'jaw' and related to mandere 'chew' and derived from the Proto-Indo-European root mendh 'chew'.

Maxilla - another directly from the Latin where maxilla also meant 'upper jaw'. It is derived from mala meaning 'jaw, cheekbone'.

Metacarpus - is also Latin but here Modern Latin derived from the Greek metakarpion. Here meta 'between' or 'next after' and derived from Proto-Indo-European me 'in the middle', together with Greek karpos 'wrist'.

Metatarsus - as above the meta element can be traced to Proto-Indo-European me 'in the middle'. Here with Greek tarsos 'ankle, sole of the foot, rim of the eyelid' and originally used to refer to 'a flat surface for drying'. Ultimately this is from Proto-Indo-European ters 'to dry'.

Patella - another Latin word with the same meaning of 'kneecap' but was also used to mean 'pan' as was the root patina. Ultimately both come from Proto-Indo-European pet-ano 'to spread', itself referring to the flattened or dished shape of the pan or kneecap.

Pelvis - easy to see by looking at the bones of the pelvic girdle as to why it comes from the Latin pelvis 'basin'. Ultimately this is from Proto-Indo-European pel 'container', which has also given us Greek pelex 'helmet', Sanskrit palavi 'vessel', Greek pelike 'goblet, bowl', and the word full common to both Old Scandinavian and Old English and meaning 'cup'.

Radius - has the same origin as the spoke of a wheel or that part of a circle, however just what that origin may be is unknown.

Rib - a Germanic word which can be traced to Proto-Indo-European rebh meaning 'to roof, cover'. Hence if the curved bone is seen as a rafter supporting a roof, clearly the bone's shape has been likened to that and not vice versa as a certain book may suggest.

Scapula - the Latin scapula means 'shoulder'. It was also used to mean 'spades, shovels' and this suggests the bone being used as such, albeit these of animals. Such a scraping motion when using these tools can be seen in the Proto-Indo-European root skep 'to scrape'.

Sternum - comes from the Greek sternon 'chest, breast' as well as 'breastbone'. It is related to the Greek stornyai 'to spread out' which is also seen in the original Proto-Indo-European stere 'to spread'.

Tibia - the Latin tibia means not only the 'shinbone' but also used to mean 'pipe, flute'. The instrument would have been made from said bone, and the etymological trail stops here.

Ulna - Latin again where ulna meant 'elbow' and was also a measure of lenth. This cominge from Proto-Indo-European el-ina which also meant 'elbow, forearm'.

Vertebra - in Latin meant 'joint or articulation of the body' as much as it did 'backbone'. This comes from the Latin vertere 'to turn' and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wer also 'to turn' and thus seeing the backbone as a virtual hinge for the body.