Rain Idioms

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

Rain dance is seen from 1867, although surely such rituals were performed for centuries or even millennia.

Rain date is first found in 1948, probably more commonly used in the USA, it refers to an alternative date for outdoor events interrupted by rain.

Amazingly the quite complex phrase, always used as an insult, “doesn’t know enough to come in out of the rain’ is recorded as early as 1590.

Rain gauge, that instrument which measures rainfall at a specific point and which you probably haven’t heard of since your school days, is found from 1769.

Nobody ‘rained on another’s parade’ until 1941.

It has been raining cats and dogs since 1738 – and earlier still, from around 1650, it rained dogs and polecats. (Well it would, of course!)

Nobody spoke of a rain cloud until around the end of the 18th century – which begs the question as to where they thought the rain came from?

Nothing was described as rainproof until 1788.

The rain forest is unrecorded before 1899, when it is deemed to have been a translation from the German Regenwald mentioned in A.F.Schimper’s work Pflanzengeographic.

Rainbows have been known since before the beginning of Old English, hence at least two millennia. The Saxons, who spoke Old English, also had the term scurboga or ‘showerbow’.

Rainbow trout are first recorded as such in 1876.

Raincoats are first seen in 1821…..

…. which is 37 years before anyone wrote down ‘rainfall’….

…. and 17 years after ‘rainstorm’ is first recorded.

Rain check was first seen in 1884 and described a ticket given to a spectator who could claim a refund or admission to a replayed game postponed through rain.

Taiwan 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 Taiwan's cities.

Taipei City and New Taipei City is a form of the original T'ai-pei or 'north of Taiwan'.

Kaohsiung is thought to come from the early Siraya language and means 'bamboo forest'.

Miaoli takes two Hakka Chinese words meu 'cat' and li 'raccoon dog'.

Taitung simply tells us it can be found in 'eastern Taiwan'.

Penghu used to be called Ilhas dos Pescadores or 'fishermen islands'.

Kinmen comes from the Chines for 'golden gate'.

Keelung is from the Chinese from 'rooster cage'.

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

Poland 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 Polish cities.

Warsaw is thought to mean 'belonging to Warsz', this the pet form of the Slavic name Warcislaw, although there is no record of this individual.

Krakow is a reminder this is Krak's town. The legendary founder of the city, Krakus, is thought to derive his name from krakula a Slavic word meaning 'staff of the judge' or krak meaning 'oak'.

Lodz is simply the Polish word for 'boat'. During the German occupation of the Second World War, it was renamed Litzmannstadt after the German general Karl Litzmann who was victorious near here during World War I.

Wroclaw is said to be named after Wrocislaw or Vratislav, depending upon which tradition you read, the first Duke of Bohemia of that name. A member of the Premyslid Dynasty, he held office from 915 until his death in 919 or 921 in a battle against the Hungarians.

Poznan is almost certainly a personal name, possibly derived from the Polish for 'one who is known or recognised'. Knowing how stories of how place names came about, I predict the future will speak of the name being derived from some unknown ritual where attendees turn their backs on the action, wrap arms around neighbours shoulders in a long line, and jump up and down in unison. Just what explanations would be given for the origins of Doing the Poznan will doubtless beggar belief but, as many will be aware, was a celebration of football fans from the city first witnessed in the UK during a European competition when Lech Poznan played Manchester City and quickly 'pinched' by other British teams. It originated in Poland in 1961 where it has always been known as the Grecque.

Gdansk, famously where the Solidarity movement first came to the attention of the world, probably takes its name from the Gdania River. You will not find the river on maps for it is an old name for the Motlawa River.

Szczecin, also given as Stettin in German, are both of Slavic origin but speculation as to the true origin continues, with currently no less than eleven suggested explanations including 'hill', the personal name Szczota or szczyt which refers to the delightfully named plant fuller's teasel, cultivated and used (as the name suggests) for combing, cleaning and raising the nap on fabrics, particularly wool.

Bydgoszcz contains two elements which, when combined, probably refer to a specially constructed settlement. Unfortunately this does not explain the purpose for which it was constructed.

Bialystok translates as 'white slope' and has had several variations on the current name from different languages, a consequence of repeated border changes.

Czestochowa is simply 'Czestoch's place'.

Radom is from a personal name, Radomir, itself referring to a Slavic fortified wooden settlement.

Sosnowiec is thought to come from the Polish sosna, a reference to the pine forests once found here.

Kielce is derived directly from the tribe of Celts who stopped here on their migration across Europe.

Gliwice is thought to share the root in Slavic glive meaning 'mushrooms' and probably indictating wetlands.

Bielsko-Biala is a city created by the merging of two former settlements. Both names share an origin, for both are derived from the name of the Biala River, itself from biel or biala, both of which mean 'white' and, as explained in my English River Names, shows it was originally named where the river was young and vibrant and seen as 'white water'.

Zielona Gora translates as 'green mountain', an accurate description of the landscape around here.

Rybnik comes from its early beginnings as a fishery, for Proto-Slavic ryba meaning 'fish' is the root of a place name meaning 'fishponds'.

Tychy comes from the Polish cichy meaning 'quiet, still'.

Dabrowa Gornicza comes from the Polish root dab and refers to 'oak trees' and adds the adjective Gornicza to refer to mining.

Elblag comes from the city and the local river, known as such by Teutonic Knights who settled here but the etymology from here is uncertain.

Opole is a Slavic term referring to a group of settlements.

Walbrzych is from a German variation of the Polish for 'forest castle'.

Wloclawek is probably from an early ruler, Wladyslaw II the Exile, who reigned from 1105 to 1139.

Tarnow is ultimately from an early Slavic word meaning 'thorns', another reference to the local flora.

Chorzow is probably from the personal name Charz, short for Zachary and thus 'Zachary's place'.

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

Moldova 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 Moldovan cities.

Chisinau, also known as Kishinev, is of uncertain origin but most often said to be from an early Romanian chisla 'spring, water source' and noua 'new'. This suggests a settlement built around a water source, a comon enough beginning. Another source suggests the name came from the west and has some Hungarian influence, for in Hungarian the name is Kisjeno or 'small Jeno', this the name of one of the seven tribes who migrated east into Romania. The main support for this second theory is down to the sheer number of places named aftyer this tribe.

Balti is the plural of the Romanian balta meaning 'puddle'. This is understood as a reference to the city's location on a hill overlooking the wetlands.

Tiraspol is from two ancient Greek words: Tyras is the anient name for the Dneister River, and polis 'a city state'. The river names Tyras and Dneister mean 'rapid' and 'the close river' respectively.

Ribnita was founded in 1628 as Rybnytsia, a name describing its earliest purpose as a 'fishery'.

Cahul was renamed after the Battle of Kagul fought nearby in August 1770 and named after the Kagul River. Earlier names for the city include Frumoasa and Scheia, both of Romanian origin and meaning 'beautiful' and 'Bulgarian', respectively.

Orhei takes its name from the medieval city of Old Orhei some ten miles downriver. It is thought the name comes from the Hungarian orhely 'lookout post', a reminder of the 13th century Hungarian defences erected here.

Dubasari is a plural form of the archaic Romanian dubasar 'boatman'.

Straseni is from the Romanian strasnic, this meaning either 'scary' or 'terrible' and thought to refer to the fearsome forest which once covered this region.

Drochia takes its name from a bird known locally as the dropie and in English as the great bustard.

Calarasi translates as 'horsemen' and recalls a legend telling of how Stephen III of Moldavia fought the Ottomans and ordered his horsemen to line up and defend the city. They did so and, although every single one died in the process, gave the advantage enabling them to be victorious.

Floresti is derived from the Romanian word floare or 'flower'.

Cimislia has no known origins although the first written account comes from 1620 when Vladimir Nico explained this as meaning 'wealth'. There is no known word meaning 'wealth' but this may come from cimis, a name given to workers and bricklayers and used by Romanians and Tatar.

Slobozia comes from the Romanian slobozie meaning 'tax free place'.

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

Latvia 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 Latvian cities.

Daugavpils is the pils or 'castle' on the river Daugava. Also known as the Western Dvina, it is from an early Indo-European word meaning simply 'river'.

Jekabpils also features the suffix pils 'castle', here following the name of Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland.

Jelgava, known as Mitau until 1917, a name either meaning 'the middleof the Aa' (a river name), or 'the place of trade', gets its current name from the Livonian jalgab 'town on the river'.

Jurmala is from two Latvian words jura mala or 'edge of the sea'. Although we would normally say 'seaside'.

Liepaja takes its name from the river Liva on which it stands, this from the Livonian word liiv meaning 'sand'.

Riga is the capital and largest city with a population of more than 630,000. Its name comes from the Livonian ringa meaning 'loop', this a reference to the natural harbour, a feature of a tributary of the Daugava river.

Valmeira comes from the Old German name Waldermar and its Slavic version of Vladimir. It is not clear just which person this common name refers to, but seems most likely to be a reference to the noble of the Principality of Pskov Valdimir Mstislavich, a vassal of Albert of Riga from 1212.

Ogre is possibly from a Russian source, an early name for the river on which it stands and meaning 'eels' from ugri. However an earlier name for the place was Wogene, Woga and is possibly from the Estonian voog 'stream, flow, waves'.

Talsi comes from the Livonian word talusse telling this was once a 'secluded place'.

Aluksne comes from the Latgalian word oluksna meaning 'spring in the forest'.

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