And why do we say ……?

Bite the bullet is used to speak of how it is better to accept the painful or stressful situation rather than complaining or crying out. It is a modern version of the original ‘bite the cartridge’ dating from the Indian Rebellion of 1857 when British soldiers were subjected to medical procedures without anesthetic.

Cry over spilled milk – a warning not to linger over something which can’t be changed – possibly dates from 1659 and James Howell’s Paramoigraphy, where he speaks of ‘No weeping for the shed milk’.

Break the ice – to begin a conversation in an otherwise difficult situation – undoubtedly comes from the ship ploughing through ice fields. The first record of the metaphorical sense comes from 1678, when Samuel Butler used it in his poem Hudibras when he writes ‘The Oratour, at last broke the silence and the ice’.

A bite at the cherry – a second chance, especially after a missed opportunity – comes from the UK in the early 20th century, likely a reference to those who picked the cherries and the number which were eaten when the opportunity arose.

Cutting corners – not fully completing a task – dates from the horse-drawn vehicles of the early 19th century, and when a sharp turn involved negotiating a kerb the driver would clip it with the rear wheel of his vehicle.

Actions speak louder than words – or get on with it instead of just talking about it – came into general use following John Pym’s writings about the English Civil War in 1628; although the phrase was around earlier and even appears in the New Testament – John 3:18.

At the drop of a hat – to begin something – dates from the 19th century when dropping a hat signaled the start of many a sporting contest: a fight, or race, for example.

Hit the sack – to take to one’s bed – comes from the time when beds were often sacks stuffed with hay, ‘hit the hay’ would also be from the same time, around the late 18th century.

Go back to the drawing board – a comment on a failed design which needs to be rethought – it can be dated to a cartoon by Peter Arno in New Yorker Magazine published on 1st March 1941. A engineer walks away from a crashed aeroplane and utters the now very familiar line.

Call it a day – let’s stop work – first recorded in 1919 as the end of the day’s work (in 1938 we see ‘call it a night’ for the first time); but we also see it in 1838 when ‘call it half a day’ spoke of leaving work early.

Synonym Etymologies B

As with the last post, a look at a number of synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist. This time B for Bag, which is from the Old Norse baggi 'pack, bundle'. Some sources give the origin as Old French bague, which could explain its longevitry in having been introduced to English twice, but as this would also have come from the Old Norse, too, it is hardly relevant.

Sack is known as such because of the material it is made from. Usually known as 'sacking' in English, many European languages have borrowed the early Greek sakkos 'bag made of goat hair', itself related to Hebrew and Phoenician saq 'cloth of hair'.

Carrier is clearly from the verb 'to carry'. Coming to English from old French, it can be traced to Latin carricare and derived from Latin carrum, their name for the 'Celtic two-wheeled war chariot'. We can even trace this further back to that source of many languages, the root language which spread across India, Middle East, and Europe with the retreating of the ice sheets, the Proto-Indo-European root kers meaning 'to run' - this is also the origin of the word 'horse'.

Receptacle, from Old French in the 14th century, has the same origin as its parent word 'receive', which is traceable back through Latin to Proto-Indo-European kap 'grasp'.

Container, clearly from 'contain', is another which came to English from Old French and further back Latin. The Latin coninere was used in the sense of 'to hold together, enclose', and comes from Proto-Indo-European ten 'to stretch'. Not until the 14th century did the idea of 'hold together' become seen as also conveying the sense of 'containing'.

Bag again, this time as a verb, not the noun as above. In the sense of killing or capturing prey (or even criminals), its use is unrecorded until 1818. Clearly this refers to the game, a bird or rabbit, to be placed in the bag. Now, that the bag would swell is more the reason for the use of 'bag' here, rather than the bag itself. We know this as the word 'bag' had been used to refer to loose fitting clothing and, usually to animals, particularly livestock, to the swelling of a belly when pregnant and had been since the late 14th century.

Catch has exactly the same origins as 'receptacle' and 'receive', traceable to Proto-Indo-European kap 'to grasp'. The difference is largely how the word came through the later Latin and Old French routes.

Capture is also from Proto-Indo-European kap, and much easier to see.

Snare, as a verb, comes from the noun, This noose for trapping animals is from the Old Norse soenri or 'twisted rope'. Neither verb nor noun used in English until around 1300.

Kill, be it a noun or a verb, must surely be an old word, and indeed it does go back to Proto-Indo-European through the Germanic route to English. Working back in history, usage has meant not only 'kill, put to death', but also 'die', 'torment', 'tease', 'suffer pain', and ultimately Proto-Indo-European gwele 'to throw' and also used in the extended sense of 'to pierce'.

Shoot can be traced back through the German line and originaly used in the sense 'to push, shove, impel', which is effectively what the bow does to the arrow and the gun to the bullet.

Sag used to refer to body parts and/or clothes in the mid-16th century, it is from an Old Norse root sokkva 'to sink'.

Swell has been used to mean 'to grow bigger' for so long and virtually unchanged and in so many Germanic tongues it is impossible to know where the word originated.

Balloon, as a verb, comes from the noun, itself a derivative of 'ball' and the Latin palla. The idea of the balloon and the ball in these old tongues, come from the original Proto-Indo-European bhel which meant 'to swell, and thus the word has returned to its original use after several thousand years.

Bulge is not difficult to see as related to 'balloon' and it does also go back to the Proto-Indo-European bhel.