Hot Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘cold’ and now, rather predictably, look at ‘hot’.

Hot has been used in the sense of ‘spicy, biting’ since 1540.

Hot has been used in the sense of sexually attractive since as early as the beginning of the 16th century.

Hot flushes have been described since 1887.

Hot stuff, principally American English, has been used since 1889.

The hot seat has been occupied since 1933.

Hot potato, used in the figurative sense, has been in use since 1846.

Hot cakes have been used as a description of something selling well since 1839; although ‘hot cake’ had been in use for 150 years prior to that when it was used to describe – well, hot cake.

Nobody was hot and bothered until 1921.

Yet hot under the collar is first recorded in 1895.

Hot dogs have been eaten since 1886 as hot dogs, although the concept was described 14 years earlier. Originally the hot dog was simply the sausage – which is why there are early references (from 1901) to the hot dog sandwich and even simply the sausage sandwich. Prior to the edible hot dog, it was used to describe a heated bolt used in engineering.

Hot dog as an exclamation of how rather excellent something was comes from 1896.

People have been in hot water in the figurative sense since the 1530s. Weirdly, nobody used the term of ‘hot water’ in the literal sense prior to about 1400.

Hot water bottles are first described in 1813.

Hot spots, as in a dangerous situation, is seen from 1838 – as in a skin irritation from the following year – as a nightclub from 1931 – in firefighting from 1938 – and as a place of conflict from 1941.

Hot rods, American English for a vehicle, is seen from 1945.

Hot foot or ‘hastily’ is seen from 1300.

Red hot meaning ‘lively, passionate’ from 1600 – red hot momma, American English once again, is used to described an earthy female singer from 1926.

Hotwire, to start a vehicle bypassing the ignition, dates from 1966, although the term was used to refer to electrical wires from 1889.

Hot pants were worn from 1970 – but the phrase had been used as early as 1927 when it described sexual arousal.

White hot has been used since 1820.

Hot-blooded meaning ‘passionate’ has been in use since 1590.

Hot air or ‘boastful talk’ is first seen in print in 1900 – some 87 years after hot-air ballooning is first described.

Hotbed was originally a bed for plants where heat was generated by fermenting manure – this described since the 1620s.

An important person has been described as a hot shot since 1933, for ten years prior to that it referred to a fast train, and since 1600 the meaning was rather different in describing ‘a foolish or reckless individual’.

Back Idioms

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

Turning one’s back on someone (or something) appears in the early 14th century.

Nobody knew anything like the back of their hand is first recorded in the book Catriona by Robert Louis Stevenson, pubnlished in 1893. In the late 19th century ‘the back of my hand to you’ is used in the context of ‘I will have nothing to do with you’.

Backdoors didn’t exist before the 1640s.

Back seat – you know that place where passengers sit when you’re driving – appears for the first time in 1923, but refers to those seated to the rear of a coach, while the term back-seat driver is first seen in print as early as 1923.

Back-formation, a term I use quite often when speaking on the origins of place names, refers to any word formed from an existing word and has been found since at least 1887.

Back beat is officially defined as ‘a strong beat regularly falling on a normally unaccented beat of a bar’ when it was first used in 1928 to describe jazz. Or, as John Lennon tweaked the words to Chuck Berry’s Rock and Roll Music ‘It’s got a back beat you can’t blues it.”

Back slang has rather fallen out of use in the modern era, but when first seen in 1860 it described words prounced backwards (or nearly so).

A ladder-back is a chair design seen from 1898.

Pullback is first seen in the mid-17th century when it described the action of pulling someone back, but from 1951 it was used to refer to an orderly military retreat.

Nobody offered their support by saying they would back them up before 1767, but the sense of back up used to describe such as a blockage in a pipe (or latterly traffic) is not seen until 1834.

Back down, as in withdraw a challenge or statement, is first seen in 1859.

Nobody suffered from back ache until the beginning of the 17th century.

Back-breaking is not used until 1849.

And nobody described a leatherback turtle as such until 1855.

Uganda 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 largest Ugandan cities.

Kampala began as the name of a nearby hill. Originally it was known as kasozi impala or 'hill of the impala' but that description became shortened.

Entebbe comes from the Lugunda langaugae and means 'seat, chair'.

Kabale comes from the local Rujiga language and means 'small stone'.

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