Ice Idioms

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

Putting something ‘on ice’, as in keeping it out of the way until required, is first seen in 1890.

Thin ice, used in the figurative sense, appears in print as early as 1884.

To break the ice, as in making the first attempt (usually socially in the modern era), is used as early as 1580. Yet these early usages would invariably be speaking of breaking the ice on the water to permit boats to pass and allow trade to continue.

Ice fishing, and for those who wonder why anyone would be catching ice, it refers to fishing through a hole in the ice, is not described as such before 1869, although undoubtedly the method has been used since pre-history.

Ice-scrapers are first described in 1789, not in reference to clearing a car’s windscreen or defrosting the freezer, it was a tool used in cookery.

Icing, that dreadfully sickly sweet stuff people will insist on coating cakes with, has been seen since 1769. Earlier, and at least from 1723, it was simply described as ‘ice’. Not until 1881 did the alternative ‘frosting’ come into use – and if you think that’s purely a US term, it’s becoming increasingly common in the UK, too.

Nobody used, or at least described, ice-skates until 1690.

Ice as a slang term for diamonds first appears in print in 1906.

Ice cubes, now normally simply said to be ‘ice’, were not described prior to 1902, although there is an advertisement from 1894 which tempts us into buying ‘Artificial Ice in Cubes’ – artificial in the sense of being man-made rather than gathered from natural formations.

The last Ice Age may have ended some eight thousand years ago, but nobody referred to the great freeze as such until 1855.

Ice box was once a storage device for ice, first described in 1839, although today it would be that small freezer area in the refrigerator where trays were once kept to produce ice and which could not be named prior to the invention of the fridge for the home in 1913.

Ice picks are first described in 1858, one wonders what they were called prior to that.

Ice cream has been known as such since 1744, and since 1680 as ‘iced cream’. Note the ice cream cone was not named until 1909.

No vessel was ice bound before 1650.

Ice caps didn’t exist before 1859.

Icicles are first described in the early 14th century.

Icebergs are first known as such in 1820, prior to that the iceberg was a lumpy portion of a glacier. Before that there were other terms used for that which sank the Titanic, sea-hill (1690s), or island of ice (1610s).

Iceberg lettuce, which has never been known to sink any vessel in recorded history, is first named in 1893. (I wonder if they served iceberg lettuce aboard the Titanic?)

Greenland 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 names of Greenland's settlements. Note there are only 74 in the entire country, of which less than half can boast a population of over two hundred.

Nuuk is from the local Kalaallisut word for 'cape', so-called because of its position on the end of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord.

Sisimiut is a delicious place name with a literal translation form the Kalaallisut tongue of 'the people of the fox burrows'.

Ilulissat is another Kalaallisut word, an apt one for this means 'icebergs'.

Aasiaat in Greenlandic means 'spiders', a literal translation ofter said to be because of its abundance of arachnids. This seems highly unlikely as even the modern heated town such creatures are rare.

Paamiut is a Kalaallisut word meaning 'those who reside by the mouth', this a reference to the estuary known as Kuannersooq meaning 'inlet'.

Narsaq is another name of Kalaallisut origin, this translating as 'plain' and a reference to the Tunulliarfik Fjord where it is situated.

Nanortalik comes from Greenlandic and translates as 'place of polar bears'.

Uummannaq is town on Uumannaq Island, itself named from Uummannaq mountain, a Greenlandic name meaning 'heart-shaped'. The mountain, with a cleft between its two summits, could be seen as heart-shaped if viewed from a particular part of the island.

Upernavik is a Kalaallisut word meaning 'springtime place', clearly named for being accessible in warmer months.

Kangerlussuaq is another from the Kalaallisut language, here meaning simply 'big fjord'.

Ittoqqortoomiit, which used to be known as Scoresbysund after the Arctic explorer and whaler William Scoresby, comes from the Eastern Greenlandic dialect and describes the 'big house dwellers'.

Kullorsuaq is again from Kalaallisut and means 'big thumb', a prominent pinnacle in the centre of the island known to the English as Devil's Thumb.

Kulusk continues the list of marvellous Kalaallisut names, this translating as 'chest of a black guillemot'.

Tasiusaq is again Kalaallisut and means 'bay with a small outlet'.

Qeqertarsuatsiaat is another Kalaallisut name which, like the previous example is very simplistic in its meaning of 'rather large island'.

Sermiligaaq is also Kalaallisut and means 'beautiful glacier fjord'.

Nuussuaq is a town and the name of a peninsula and appropriately means 'large tip' in the Greenlandic language.

Saqqaq is a Kalaallisut translation of the original Danish name Solsiden meaning 'sunny side'. This is a reference to its position relative to Livets Top.

Aappilattoq is from the Greenlandic language meaning 'sea anemone'.

Kapisillit is from the Greenlandic language and means 'the salmon', traditionally the local river is the only spawning ground for the fish in Greenland.

Savissivik may well qualify as most informative place name in the world, for it offers cultural, historic, archaeological and scientific information. In the Greenlandic language the name translates as 'place of knives' which some would offer as 'place of meteoric iron'. In a land where iron ore is quite impossible to find beneath the ice, the 100-tonne Cape York meteorite proved a technological boon when it exploded over this area some 10,000 years ago. Fragments from the iron-rich meteorite were easy to find and turn into knives, indeed it is widely accepted the iron found here attracted the Inuit who migrated here from the Arctic regions of Canada. All this from defining a place name which, in 2010, had a population of just 66.

Ilimanaq is a Kalaallisut name meaning 'place of expectations'.

Naajaat is from Kalaallisut and means simply 'seagulls'.

Tasiusaq is from Greenlandic and means 'a bay with a small outlet'.

Niaqornat means 'head-shaped' and comes from the Kalaallisut tongue.

Ammassivik is the Kalaallisut word for 'plain'.

Oqaatsut also comes from the Kalaallisut language where it translates as 'cormorants'.

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