Animal Myths

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Animal Myths. This examination of some of (what seem to us today) the quite ludicrous ideas our ancestors once attributed to our animals. For example the giraffe is the result of a cross between a leopard and a camel; barnacle geese are so-called because nobody had ever seen them lay an egg and they were thought to hatch from the barnacles found on rocks and the bottom of boats; and the hare, a particularly odd creature according to our ancestors, where the female carried eggs on its back (hence eggs being associated with Easter) while the genitalia of the male hare were worn on the belt to ward off infertility. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

Barnacle geese hatch from barnacles – as the geese migrate to breed, nobody have ever seen a barnacle goose hatch from an egg.

Otters are fish – spread by Carthusian monks so they could eat meat at Lent.

Butterflies are witches flying by day.

Magpies carry a drop of the Devil’s blood under its tongue.

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Snow Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘pound’ and now look at ‘snow’. The word which would have come into use in Sanskrit is snihyati which literally translates as ‘he gets wet’.

Snow as slang for cocaine is first used in 1914.

Snow-white, an adjective, not a person, is first used in Middle English. The fairytale character first appears in 1885, although is known by the German Schneewittchen.

Snowblind is first used in 1748.

Nobody described a snow-shovel until 1820.

Snow tyres have been used only since 1952 – of course this is an American concept, ever being ready for snow in the UK is something we Brits have yet to consider (and then we wonder why the country comes to a standstill after half a centimetre falls).

Snowgoose have been known as such since 1771 – you’ll probably already have guessed these birds have white feathers.

Snowshoes will have been worn for millennia but is not recorded as such until the 1670s.

Snowboot appears from 1773.

Snow ploughs have been described as such since 1792, although in America known as snow plows – clearly not a British thing, it would require being ready for snow and, as already established, Brits don’t rate snow.

Snowbirds were any of several white feathered avians from 1680, but from 1923 it was also a slang term for northern US workers who fled south for the winter to work, and from 1979 was used to describe seasonal tourists.

Snowballs were first described as such in 1400; and from 1910 we see the ‘snowball’s chance in hell’ used to refer to ‘no chance’.

Nobody was snowbound until 1814 – except the Brits, of course, who are still wondering what to do with that 1.3 centimetres.

Snowman does not appear until 1827 – but then we couldn’t afford to waste coal or carrots until then.

Snowflakes are first recorded in 1734.

Snowstorms have been known as such since 1771.

Snowdrifts became a problem from the early 14th century – and as the US hadn’t been ‘found’ then, these must have been British snowdrifts, and yet we still ignore the snow until it’s too late.

Snowmobiles have been driven since 1831.

Snowfalls have only been described as such since 1821.

Snowdrops were first recorded in the 1660s.

Snow flurries have been seen since 1883 – although ‘flurry’ had been used to me ‘confused, agitated’ since 1757.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: G

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

G is for gander, most often the male goose. It is derived from the Proto-Indo-European ghans which not only meant 'goose' but is derived from its call. There is some thought that perhaps even further back in time many waterbirds were known by this name, as others have similar names, in particular the Lithuanian word for the stork gandras.

During the 19th century, the term 'gander' was also used to refer to an all-male gathering, just as a 'stag' is used today. A third usage, still in use today, is as a verb where 'gander' means a look and particularly a good long look. The earliest record of this use comes from a record of 1886, when the idea of craning one's neck (goose-like) to get a good look. Even then, there was an earlier use, when the word meant to 'wander foolishly'. There is also a place named Gander, it's a famous place for flying enthusiasts as it is in Newfoundland and provided a last stop for trans-Atlantic flights in the early days, hence many of the streets are named after famous aviators. Such was its strategic importance Gander Airport, and thus the town, gave its name to a crater on the Moon. Gander took its name from Gander Bay, itself getting its name from the lake and river of the same name which, it will come as no surprise, got their names from the male geese which were often found there.

A Valentine's Day Afterthought

I needed to refer to to my copy of The Penguin Dictionary of Historical Slang this week. One word caught my eye as I had not realised it had ever had so many meanings, nor used in so many ways. That word was GANDER.

To me 'gander' had two meanings: officially used to describe a male goose but also used as slang term for 'look, peruse' as in "Have a gander at this!" Yet the dictionary has no less than ten other uses for the same word.

Gander - from the 17th to the 20th centuries described a married man, clearly taken from the term for the goose.

Gander-party - an alternative to a stag-party.

Gander - as in "What's good for the goose is good for the gander", earlier given as "What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander", and first seen in the 18th century as "Goose, gander and gosling are three sounds but one thing" and all asking for no preferential treatment.

Gander - used to mean to ramble or waddle like a goose, in use during the 19th century.

Gander - a fool, chiefly in use in London and thought to be derived from Gandin, the French personification of a fop or fool.

Gander-faced - an adaption of the previous use, this meaning 'silly-faced' in the 19th century.

Gander's wool - refers to feathers, itself a colloquialism for 'money'. Hence a rather long-winded reference to cash.

Gander-mooner - is a husband during the gander-month (see following) and the somewhat tenuous link to Valentine's Day.

Gander-month (also Gander-moon) - describes the month after childbirth and in use from the 17th to early 19th centuries. Yes, exactly what I wondered - why is there a male reference to childbirth, when this is something no male (human nor goose) has thus far managed to deliver? Somewhat inconsiderately this described the period when, with the wife 'indisposed', it was perfectly acceptable for the husband to sleep around.