Spring Idioms

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

Spring has more than one use, the word referring to the metal coil which proves so useful in keeping us comfortable and also in a clockwork mechanism. Both these can be traced back to Germanic words meaning ‘burst, jump, etc’. Yet we also use ‘spring’ to refer to a water source, this can also be traced back to the same origins, and the season we now find ourselves in – at least in the northern hemisphere. This last usage is rather different as it comes from Proto-Indo-European sper meaning ‘to spread, sow’ and therefore taken from the action of sowing before those seeds burst forth into plants; later giving a name to the season when such planting happens. Note the action of spreading or sowing sees the seeds spread more sparsely – and ‘sparse’ also has its origins in the Proto-Indo-European sper.

Spring fever is seen from 1843, a reference to romantic feelings. Prior to that it was used to refer to a head cold, or to any minor ailment.

Spring roll, as in the cuisine, is first seen in 1943.

Spring chicken may be used to mean ‘young person’ today – although usually used in the negative as in ‘no spring chicken’ – but that has only been true since 1906. Before the 20th century, specifically since 1780, it referred to the bird aged 11 to 14 weeks.

Spring training today is used almost exclusively in referring to baseball; but before 1889 the same phrase spoke of the gathering together of military forces after a winter of little action.

Spring tides rise at or shortly after the full moon and are higher than the norm and is seen since 1520. The reference to the season is simply an erroneous ‘springtime’. Prior to 1520 these high tides (not confined to the season) had been known as a ‘spring flood’.

Springtime itself had been used for the season since at least the late 14th century.

Offspring were unknown before 1600. Prior to that we find ‘ofspring’, ‘ospring’, and ‘oxspring’.

Springboard, and this is in the sense of the board used for vaulting, surprisingly comes from as early as 1774. Clearly the metaphorical sense came later.

Springtails are insects using bristles at their rear end to aid in leaping. Known as such since 1797, the species has been around for millions of years and thus not known as such for most of their existence.

Mainspring, as in the primary spring in a mechanism, is first seen in 1590 – although it is not clear whether the clock or the gun was first to use the term.

Springbok, the gazelle synonymous with South Africa, is named from the Afrikaans meaning ‘to leap’ and has been known as such since 1775. Prior to that they were known to the locals as ‘trekbokke’ – amongst others.

Hand Idioms

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

Hand to mouth is first used as early as 1600

First hand (and also second hand) both seen in writing for the first time in the middle of the 15th century.

At hand, used in the sense of 'nearby' is first seen around 1300, but had been used for a century to mean 'soon'.

In hand, as in 'undercontrol', is first found around 1200.

On the other hand (and on the one hand, of course) is first recorded in 1630

Hands up first appears in print in 1863, meaning it is highly unlikely this phrase was ever used by highwaymen as they had had their day decades earlier.

Hand-to-hand fighting was not heard of until 1400.

Hand in hand was seen in 1500, but only in the literal sense of having hands clasped together, not until 1570 was it used to mean 'concurrently'.

Handrails may have been used before 1793, but it did not appear in writing until that year.

Hand jive, that seated dance which is far too energetic for the likes of me, debuted in 1958.

Freehand drawing must have been used since man first drew on cave walls, but nobody said so until 1848.

Hand grenade may seem like a modern-ish weapon, but any bomb thrown by hand was referred as such from as early as 1630.

Stagehands have only been employed since 1865.

Farmhands, remarkably, have only been known as such since 1835.

Handmade has been seen since 1610.

Handout, as in alms to the poor, first came into use in 1882.

Deckhands have been employed since 1839.

Hand me downs have been worn only since 1826.

Off hand, as in off the cuff, has been used since 1690.

Hell in a handbasket is, as we know, coming to us from across the Atlantic. is seen since 1867. Interestingly, the idea of going to heaven in a handbasket (ie easy passage) is first seen in 1853.

Handholds were not used before the 1640s.

Handstands were not performed before 1897.

Handbags were not sold until 1854.

Handguns have been known as such since the middle of the 14th century.

Handshakes have been known since 1801.

Note, as ever, the dates given are the first surviving written record. Even if that is the first written usage, the term would certainly have been in use prior to that in order to appear in print.

Dogs

As last time, when researching I do sometimes come across a piece which is possibly not intended to be amusing, but I found it so and for that reason I shall share it. This comes from the Birmingham Daily Post dated 7th November 1894.

The Essex coroner held an inquest on Monday night on the body of Mr James Cornwell, of Castle Hedingham, who was found with a gunshot wound in his head, lying in a ditch in the neighbourhood, on Saturday. Mr Cornwell left his home on Friday night to go to a neighbouring village. He had with him his gun, and was accompanied by a collie dog. As he did not return in the evening a search was made for him, and on the following day his lifeless body was found in a ditch near Long Crofts. The left barrel of the gun had been discharged, and there was a bramble between the triggers. The face was shattered by a gunshot. The collie was found watching by the side of its master, and refused to allow the body to be touched until Mrs Cornwell arrived. The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death",

I have to say the actions of the dog after the body was found did make me wonder whether it had planted the evidence of the bramble, and refused to let anyone approach until it was sure the man was dead. But then if dogs were really that smart, owners would simply tell them to 'shit in this bag'.

Some may realise this is the same date as that of the killer cat story last time. It did make me wonder of if the editor of the Birmingham Daily Post had collected such tales (not tails) for a slow news week.

Bonfire Night 1878

November 5th 1878 and a fatal shooting is reported at the Gresley Arms Inn, the account appearing in the Lichfield Mercury on November 8th. William George Green, landlord of the Gresley Arms Inn, is playing host to a number of individuals while in the background a host of bangs are going off as the traditional fireworks are let off to remember the uncovering of the Gunpowder Plot.

During the evening Green slipped away to borrow a pistol from neighbour Henry Joseph Stych. Green informs Stych he is going to fire the pistol in the kitchen where his friends have gathered, thinking this would be thoroughly amusing jape. Green asks Stych to load the pistol as his knowledge of firearms is minimal. As he returned with the loaded pistol, Green stumbled and the gun went off, whereupon one Samuel Bates collapsed. Green later maintained the pistol contained nought but gunpowder, no shot had been loaded. This seemed unlikely as Bates, now lying on the floor, had blood coming from his head. Green sent Stych to find a doctor and the police superintendent, although their arrival was simply to pronounce the man dead and to summon a surgeon to carry out the postmortem. The inquest, arranged for the following day, was presumed to be a mere formality. Yet the surgeon discovered a glass marble embedded in the skull during the postmortem which was brought as evidence the following day at the Gresley Arms Inn before the coroner Mr Simpson.

Stych was the first to give evidence, telling how Green came to him at 8pm the previous day and explained how he saw the prank working. Together both men observed the gun being loaded with nothing but paper and powder and by 8:20pm Green and the loaded gun returned to the Gresley Arms with Stych coming along to enjoy the fun. However Stych entered first and, with his back to the events, did not see what happened. Contemporary reports stated how very nervous Stych was and the coroner had to ask him to speak up repeatedly. The jurors were allowed to ask questions of Stych in order to ascertain just how the marble had been loaded in the gun. George Cotton, who had been working with Bates and was lodging at the inn, said he heard the explosion and saw the blood but never noticed a gun – Cotton also added that Green had been very friendly and he could not see how he would have had a motive. Then fellow workmates Edward Plummer and James Ellson took to the witness stand and gave the same stories as Cotton. Mrs Stych also spoke, she Henry’s mother, also said she saw Green enter the inn and it seemed to her the gun had caught on an iron bar as he passed and thus the gun went off accidentally. She refused to confirm that marbles could be found around her home, this the coroner declared ‘not at all credible’. Green maintained he had brought the gun into the inn most carefully and as safely as could ever be expected. At no time did the gun leave his sight, nor did he load a marble or ever see any marble.

George William Homan, the surgeon performing the postmortem, reported how he found Bates lying on the kitchen floor, propped by pillows. He was found to be dead, and he observed a wound at his left temple just above the eyebrow, this large enough to insert a finger into the brain, he then showed the marble he extracted to the court and the cries of horror were testament to the unexpectedly large size of this marble. Witnesses said that Bates had been bending forward when the shot rang out. The witnesses acted out their roles and places for the coroner, to show how they observed Green returning to the kitchen preceded by Stych. Then someone pointed out the marble in question could not have been fired from the pistol as it was too large to fit into the powder chamber. Stych did admit he was using the gun earlier that day for target practice, but no marbles were involved. He was given ample opportunity to state he had unknowingly placed the marble in the gun but, with evidence pointing to the contrary, he never admitted doing such. Green apparently fired the gun accidentally, he admitting it went off while he was carrying it but denied he had pulled the trigger. The coroner was unsure how the marble had entered the skull but certainly nobody present could have targeted Bates and a verdict of accidental death was recorded.

The Family Business

I'm often asked why I took to writing, to which I answer 'the words'. Not really as flippant as it sounds, for it was my interest in etymology which brought me to writing, as anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time will clearly see. Invariably the next question will be if any other member of the family were writers, was I inspired by a great-uncle or maiden aunt - no, as far as I'm aware I am the only member of my family to have had a book published.

But the question did get me thinking as to what could be thought of as the family business - or rather two families, maternal and paternal lines. A few years ago I did do extensive research on my family and collected quite a bit of information. Hence, I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the jobs my ancestors performed.

I found: two accountants, four labourers, a bricklayer, a carpenter, four who worked at a colliery including an engine worker and a sinker, three coopers, three engineers, four farmers and an agricultural labourer, a gardener, a jeweller, a joiner, a metal worker, two railway workers of which one was a guard, a chauffeur, a lorry driver, a nailer, a tube maker and a mineral agent.

Of more interest were the soldier based in Hampshire with the 47th regiment. a sergeant, who managed to marry the daughter of a Sergeant Major. One day I'll find out a little more about their military career.

I also found a gun action filer, one of the many cottage industries contributing to the production of firearms in Birmingham's Gun Quarter. His job will have been one of many tasks which helped contribute to Birmingham's claim of 1,001 trades.

A pearl button maker, one of many who earned their living in the button trade of the Second City.

Of particular interest were five individuals who earned their living from the coaching routes. Three of my ancestors were coach builders and two others wheelwrights, my interest is because I recently published a book looking at coaching routes in Staffordshire and at least two of these five worked in the county atsome point.

But despite the link with the coaching routes I found my great-grandfather's job the most intriguing. Some will remember the annual furore as hunters took seal pups for their fur. Some 150 years ago my great-grandfather earned a living as a seal plush finisher, in its time a skill and a talent which apparently enabled him to earn a good living.

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'.

Hardware

I did not have a job when I left school - it was the early seventies and the last days of Edward Heath's government and unemployment was the height of fashion. What I did have was a Saturday job in a hardware shop which, for a couple of months full time, gave me a meagre income and very tired feet.

At the time I had no idea ‘hardware’ was also used as a slang term for ammunition during the days when Birmingham’s Gun Quarter and munitions factories were employed as many in cottage industries as the city’s more famous Jewellery Quarter did at its height. The most famous of the ‘hardware’ manufacturers was BSA, a name now synonymous with motorcycles but one which began as Birmingham Small Arms and abbreviated to BSA. The military relied so heavily on supplies from Birmingham that those from the Second City became known as Hardware-Blokes. This was then transferred to those who sold metal items door-to-door, with their wares known as Hardware-Swag.

The ‘hardware’ term was only in use for about 50 years from 1870. Before, during and afterwards the residents of Birmingham were more commonly known as Brummies. This came from Brummagen, a local name which developed from the idea of the city’s name being ‘Bromwich-ham’ and influenced by neighbouring settlements such as Castle Bromwich and West Bromwich and the development of the terms Brummie and Brum are obvious.

Around the same time the term Brummagem came into use with a very different meaning. Look in the Oxford English Dictionary under ‘Brummagem’ and see the definition ‘counterfeit, cheap and showy’. This comes from a time when the Jewellery Quarter was found to have a number of unscrupulous characters who were watering down the gold with cheaper metals. The reason gold is so valuable is threefold: it is comparatively rare, does not tarnish, and is extremely malleable making it easy to make into the intricate jewellery designs. As the percentage of gold in the product drops so the finished product increases in size and gaudiness.

While neither slang term is in use for metal-working, I know of no other example where a slang place name has entered the dictionary with a completely different meaning at the same time as a word in the dictionary has come to be a slang term for a person from the same place.

I would welcome any suggestions for themes or subjects, or even specific words to examine the origins, meanings and etymologies. I’d be delighted to hear from you.