Pins Idioms

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

Pin is used as slang for ‘leg’ as early as 1520.

Pins is used to describe the target to be knocked down by the 1570s.

Pin money originally referred to the annual sum allocated for a woman to spend on her attire, and seen as such since the 1620s.

Pins and needles describes a tingling sensation from 1810.

The sound of pin dropping to refer to near silence is seen from 1775.

Pin down meaning ‘define’ dates from 1951.

PIN as in Personal Identification Number has been seen since 1981.

Pinwheel is seen from 1690, when it referred to a part of the clock. In reference to a firework, it is found from 1869.

Ninepins is a game seen since 1570 – the game also recorded as ninepegs and nineholes.

Tenpins is recorded from 1600.

Pinball is a game played and known as such since 1907, although it took another thirty years before the pinball machine made its debut.

Pinstripe cloth has been recorded since 1882.

Leg Idioms

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

Leg in a cricketing sense probably began in the earliest days when cricket was played, thought to be in the 16th century. Although there is also the phrase ‘to take leg bail’ found in 1774, which had no connection with cricket but slang for running away.

Leg referring to furniture is not used before 1670s.

Legs in clothes are not recorded as such before the 1570s.

Nobody had a leg up until 1837.

Last leg, first leg, referred to parts of a journey, became popular during the 1920s. Prior to that it referred to a a run made on a single tack when sailing into the wind and more often said to be a long leg or a short leg.

Shake a leg may mean to rise from one’s bed today, but in 1869 you would be expected to dance.

On one’s last legs is a phrase first seen in the 1590s.

Leg work is first recorded in 1891, and originally applied exclusively to news reporters.

Leg room only came into use in 1846.

Leg warmers are not seen before 1974.

Leg man has one meaning today, but when first recorded in 1923 it described an assistant who was the more mobile of the two.

Bootleg is used to refer to unauthorized recordings in the modern era, but when was first used in the 1630s it referred to the upper part of the boot, and as a reference to illegal alcohol in 1889.

Blacklegs were originally swindlers in the 1770s, and not until 1865 was it used to refer to strike breakers.

Dogleg was chosen to describe the bent shape from 1843, but earlier the term dog legged described a staircase without a well hole and consists of two flights with or without winders.

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.

Etymology of Body Parts

I recently heard from a young lady from New Jersey, a regular reader who asks if I would look at the etymology of the parts of the body. Thank you for your suggestion, Claire – hope you find the following list interesting!

At first I thought it made sense to work from head to toe (or even toe to head) but then remembered everyone is ostensibly a 12-year-old schoolboy and would instantly scroll down to the bits below the waist (or above it had I started with the toes). Hence so as not to reveal my ignorance as to where these bits should appear in such a list, I opted for alphabetical order.

Ankle – a word which came to English either through Old English or Old Scandinavian, both used this which suggests there is an unknown root common to both languages. Indeed that root is likely shared by Old French and Latin, for the term for that joint between the leg and the foot has the same source as ‘angle’ and that is exactly what it means.

Arm – much as the previous word here we can trace this back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning ‘fit, join’. From this we can trace lines to German, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, the Scandinavian tongues, and others all meaning ‘arm’. Note the original reference appears to be to the arm joint, also seen in the Greek derivative arthron ‘a joint’, Armenian armukn ‘elbow’, and Latin armus ‘shoulder’.

Brain – a Germanic word which seems only ever to have been used to mean ‘brain’ or perhaps ‘skull’. In his book of 2005 Anatoly Liberman suggests it is from the Proto-Indo-European root bhragno meaning ‘something broken’. (Any follow-up comments here are utterly pointless as I’ve already written them!)

Chest – was never used for the thorax until the sixteenth century, prior to that both males and females had a breast. The term chest came from Old English cest meaning ‘box, casket’, a suggestion the rib cage was a box containing a number of vital organs.

Chin – generally a Germanic word referring to the front of the jawbone, however earlier usage would be to the whole of the jawbone in many languages - one exception being Old Irish, where gin referred to the ‘mouth’.

Ear – the English version is somewhat different from those in other languages of the Germanic group which seem to prefer ore and ora and similar. All are derived from Proto-Indo-European ous seen as ‘perception’ in general rather than just hearing. It may also be of interest to learn nobody was ‘wet behind the ears’ before 1914 (the earliest known usage); however ‘the walls had ears’ by 1610; and as recently as the 1880s some medical practitioners believed piercing the ear lobes improved one’s sight.

Elbow – derived from two words, the first ell being ‘the length of the forearm’ with the addition of boga ‘bow, arch’ and related to bugan ‘bend’.

Foot – in the Indo-European group of languages, those of the Germanic arm prefer ‘foot’ whilst the Latin group opted for forms closer to the modern French pied – somewhere between these two is the original Proto-Indo-European ped all of which refer to the foot.

Finger – a Germanic word which can be traced to Proto-Indo-European penkwe meaning ‘five’ and for obvious reasons as there are five digits (the thumb was considered a finger until later)

Hand – the origin of this word is very uncertain, although we do know the Old English hond, from which it has come into Modern English, was also used to mean ‘power, control, possession’.

Head – this from Old English heafod also seen in a topographical sense to mean ‘the top of a slope’ which may well have been the original sense.

Knee – can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European where the root geneu also gave Greek gonia or ‘corner, angle’ and sharing an origin with the ankle.

Leg – a word which came to English quite late and first seen in the 13th century. Thought to have originated from a Scandinavian leggr it probably came from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning ‘to bend’.

Nail – first used in English solely for the fingernail, Old English naegl is related to terms in other languages of the Indo-European group where usage can refer to fingernails, toenails, claws, and even hooves.

Nose – can be traced to Proto-Indo-European nas which has given a name to this part of the face in all the Germanic languages, Sanskrit, Old Persian, Lithuanian, Latin, and many others. It’s original meaning is so ancient as to be unknown.

Neck – the origin depends upon whether we accept this as a purely Germanic term or not. This does not seem likely as hnecca is rarely used. It is possibly from a Proto-Indo-European knok meaning ‘ridge’ ad seen topographically in Old Irish cnocc Old Welsh cnwch and Old Breton cnoch, all three used to mean ‘hill’.

Shoulder – the origin of this Germanic term is uncertain, although it may possibly be related to the origin of ‘shield’ for obvious reasons.

Stomach – the bit at the lower end of the gullet began as stoma which, meaning ‘mouth’, referred to the other end.

Thigh – began as Proto-Indo-European root teuk or ‘to swell’, and probably came into usage in referring to the thickest part of the leg.

Thumb – as we have already seen ‘finger’ was applied to all five digits on the hand, this the case until around the 5th century. Again the term ‘thumb’ is Germanic and best seen in the Scandinavian reference meaning literally ‘the stout or thick (finger)’.

Toe – the Proto-Indo-European root here is deik which means ‘show’. This makes more sense when we understand many Indo-European languages used the same word for both toes and fingers.

Waist – this can be traced to a Proto-Indo-European root of wegs meaning ‘to increase’ (the first syllable of ‘augment’ has the same origin) and shows the figure would only get bigger from this the narrowest part of the body.

Wrist – a Germanic word which is traceable to a root of wreik meaning ‘turn’. Interestingly Old Norse rist was used to mean ‘instep’, as indeed it was in German where it also had the alternative meaning of ‘back of the hand’.