Top Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘bottom’ and now, of course, look at ‘top’.

From the top, as in from the beginning, is seen as early as the late 14th century. Whilst it may be seen as an Americanism, it can’t be because the earliest forms are before they used English and before the Europeans really knew it existed.

Top of the morning, as a greeting, is first recorded in 1843.

Top of the world has been seen since the 1670s.

Top of the line has only been used since 1950.

Off the top of one’s head is first recorded in 1939.

Top off, as in to finish, is used first in 1836; while the sense of ‘to fill up’ dates from 1917.

Nobody paid top dollar until 1942.

Top drawer, in the sense of ‘the best’, is not used before 1920.

No recording made the top ten until 1942.

Top notch has been seen since 1841, and was once used for a part in umbrella manufacture.

Nothing was top heavy before 1530; although the same phrase was used to mean ‘drunk’ around 1680.

Box tops has been used since 1937 – if you’re too young to remember, people once collected box tops (as proof of purchase) and sent them off to claim a free gift or coupon.

Nobody was described as top dog before 1868.

Top coat was the outer garment from 1804, but not used in decorating until 1959.

Top sail, a nautical term, has been known since 1400.

Roll top, a type of lid used on desks, has been seen since 1884.

Table top has only been seen since 1914.

Over the top is a World War One reference to the onset of an attack.

Treetops are unknown before the late 15th century – of course trees had them, they just weren’t described as such.

Nobody wore a top hat until 1875.

Tip top, as in excellent, is first seen in 1702.

Tank tops were not worn until 1968, but did exist earlier when they comprised the upper part of a swimsuit.

Rooftops first appeared in 1610.

Topsoil suddenly appeared in 1789.

Topknots have been described as such since 1680.

Countertops have been used since 1878.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: P

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

P is for palm, which is either a tree or a part of the hand. The body part is not recorded until around 1300, it came to English from Old French paume and Latin palma 'the flat of the hand'. Both are derived from Proto-Indo-European pele 'flat, to spread' and for obvious reasons.

The tree or the word for the tree, correctly known as the date palm, spread to Western Europe along with Christianity. It is thought to describe the leaves of the tree which have a spreading effect like the fingers on the hand.

The sense of 'palm' meaning a bribe is seen as early as 1620, but then the term was 'palm oil'.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: O

Many words have two meanings, sometimes more, which are often very different. Such words have identical spelling and pronunciation, they are known as homonyms. Here I continue an A to Z list of such words and look at how that word came to have two different meanings.

O is for orange, and the pretty obvious choice for 'O' as it enables us to examine the age-old chicken and egg question as to which came first, the fruit or its colour. The answer is surprisingly easy, for we have to show the orange was known as such in the late 14th century (albeit as the tree more than its fruit) while the colour was known as red-yellow for some time after that. The fruit originated in India with Sanskrit naranga-s 'orange tree', sadly nothing earlier than that is known.

Whilst on the subject of such posers, we do not which came first the chicken or the egg. It was the egg, and by a staggering period of time. The chicken was domesticated by man about 10,000 years ago, having diverged from the junglefowl about 58,000 years ago. A long time, most certainly, but a blink of the eye in the life of the Earth and life on it, for eggs were certainly used by all manner of creatures before chickens - dinosaurs, fish, and just about every multi-cellular creature to evolve in the sea all began life as an egg (this applies to humans, too). Hence, eggs have been around for at least 500 million years.

The chicken and egg question has an answer, because the question is wrong. It should be, which came first the chicken or the chicken egg? The answer is the chicken, because until there's a chicken to lay the egg, it won't be a chicken egg.

Somalia 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 Somalian cities.

Bur Salah, formerly known as Burar, is named after Saalax Jaamac, owner of a water pool in the town's centre.

Burtinle is named after the hill which largely surrounds it. This hill, known as Buurta Ninle, has a name meaning 'hairy hill' and named for the desert scrub growing here.

Damala comes from the Somali word meaning 'acacia woodland'.

Galinsoor combines two Somali words: gelin is 'half of the day' and therefore either morning or afternoon, or day or night, depending on context. However, here the addition of the element soor or 'hosting', enables us to see this was known as a stopover, where travellers would be accommodated for the night.

Hargeisa is thought to be derived from its use as a watering stop for nomadic herders en route to Harar. If indeed harar as-sagir is the origin and meaning as 'little Harar', itself named for its early occupation by the Harari people - the calling it Gey or 'the city' and which also gave them their alternative name of Geyusu 'people of the city'.

Hingalol comes from the Somali tongue where hin 'densely', combines with Galol, the local name for the acacia tree'.

Laag is a Germanic name, probably from loga meaning 'field'.

Luuq is from the Somali language and means 'alley', a reference to the location almost surrounded by a river and just the 'alley' as a land bridge.

Mogadishu is the capital city, probably taking its name from the Somali Muuq Disho 'sight killer'.

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

Qatar 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 Qatar cities.

Doha, the capital city, either comes from the Arabic Ad-Dawha or ‘the big tree’, a marker for the original fishing village and possibly used as a marker by the fishermen, or from dohat the Arabic word for ‘bay’ where the fisherman cast their nets.

Al Wakrah comes from the Arabic wakar which translates as 'bird's nest' and probably refers to the colonies of birds in the nearby hills.

Al-Shahaniya is named from the local flora, specifically the plant known here as sheeh, used as it is an anti-inflammatory. Known to science as Artemesia inculta, it can be found across the Middle East and North Africa but is quite rare in Qatar as the soils are largely unsuitable.

Mesaieed is another named from the local flora. Known as sead it is difficult to know what that plant was, and therefore its use, as it no longer grows here.

Madinat Khalifa, both North and South, refer to the Arabic madinal or 'city' with former emir of Qatar from 1972 to 1995, Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani.

Nuaija comes from the Arabic word naaja meaning 'ewe' or 'female sheep'. This is nothing to do with the mammal but eludes to the water from the well hereabouts being as sweet as sheep's milk.

Umm Ghuwailina is from Arabic umm meaning 'mother' but used here in a geographical sense, together with ghuwailina, referring to a local tree, speaks of 'the mother of ghulan'. The tree is used as fodder for camels.

Al Thumama is another derived from the local flora. Known to science as Panicum turgidum (literally 'swollen foxtail'), it is welcomed in the desert as this perennial grass encourages soil formation.

As Salatah al Jadidah means 'New Salata', named after the Al-Sulaiti tribe and founded as recently as the 1970s.

Al Sadd is also named from a local plant. Sadd is the local name for a plant abundant in this region of the coast.

The Pearl is built on a man-made island begun in 2004 and an on-going project. It is named because it occupies one of Qatar's former pearl diving sites.

Dukhan translates as 'smoky mountain', for clouds are seen to gather around the summit of Jebel Dukhan.

Mebaireek takes its name from an Arabic personal name Mubarak, although just who that seemingly important individual may have been is unknown.

Fereej Abdel Aziz comes from fereej or 'district' of Abdel Aziz, he a former sheikh who governed in this area.

Umm Lekhba shares a first element with Umm Ghuwailina above, also sharing the geographical context. Here the second element is Arabic khabaa 'to hide' and a reference to the location being in a depression.

Duhail comes from dahal, the Arabic word for 'cavern' and a large cavern can be found here.

Umm Bab uses the 'mother' prefix again in a geographical sense, with the second element a reference to a passage between two hills and thus 'mother of the gateway'.

Rawdat Rashed is from the Arabic rawdat and a personal name and refers to its low-lying position where water tends to accumulate after rainfall in 'low wetland of Rashed'.

Hazm Al Markhiya takes the Arabic hazm or 'hill' and adds the tree known locally as markh. This tree, known officially as Leptadenia pyrotechnica. This 'tree' is actually a drought-resistant desert herb used for thatching huts, the plant fibre is useful in making ropes, makes a good fodder for camels, and the ripe pods used as vegetables and are said to possess some medicinal properties.

Al Ghuwariyah comes from ghar or 'cave' and not, as so often stated, a plant known as alghar as that is simply not found in the region.

Al Jemailiya comes from the Arabic jamila 'beauty' and thought to refer to the abundant vegetation in an area otherwise largely desert.

Al Karaana comes from karaa or 'fresh water' and refers to a well providing water of particularly excellent quality.

Al Bidda comes from the Arabic badaa 'to invent'. Not a technological invention but the creation of the settlement in what had been a area devoid of any true features.

Abu Samra takes the name of the Samr tree, used as fodder for camels.

Al Utouriya comes from Arabic atar meaning 'perfume, aroma'. This area lies in a rawdat or depression where the collected rainwater means aromatic herbs grow freely.

Al Nasraniya takes its name from a time when the local well, dug through particularly hard rock, became usable. Their efforts were referred to as Nasraniya or 'Christinaity' and a reminder of the victory by the Muslims over the Christians.

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

Philippines 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 the Philippines' cities.

Quezon City takes its name from its founder, Manuel L. Quezon, 2nd President of the Philippines. It became the nation's capital in 1948, replacing Manila which returned the compliment in 1976 but Quezon City remains the largest in terms of population.

Manila comes from the Filipino may nila meaning 'where indigo is found'. Several plant species can be used to produce this colour dye, and undoubtedly one or more were once found here.

Davao City comes from the indigenous Bagobo language and named from the Davao River, itself having three slightly different names depending upon which dialect is spoken. Despite the differences the meaning largely remains the same in 'a place beyond the high grounds'.

Caloocan is from the Tagolog language where kalook lookan means 'innermost area'.

Cebu City comes from the Cebuano word sibu 'trade' and has clearly also given the people their name. Previously the area was known as Sugbu, itself describing the region as 'scorched earth' or perhaps 'great fire'.

Zamboanga City is the Spanish pronunciation of the earlier Somboangan itself meaning 'mooring place'.

Taguig comes from the Tagalog mga taga gilk and means 'rice thresher'.

Antipolo was named after the tipolo or 'breadfruit tree' which grows in great numbers hereabouts.

Cagayan de Oro is from the Spanish and speaks of 'the river of gold'.

Paranaque has several suggested origins. Most popularly said to be from a local feature used to locate the mouth of the river and thus from palayag or 'point of navigation'.

Dasmarinas was named after the 7th Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, Gomez Perez Dasmarinas. He served from 1590 to 1593when his son Luis Perez Dasmarinas took over until 1596. The surname means 'of the shore'.

Valenzuela took the name of Pio Valenzuela, a physician and leading member of the Katipunan, a secret society who fought against colonial Spain.

Bacoor is said to remember when the Spanish first arrived and they asked the name of the place. The man they spoke to, who was constructing a bamboo fence, misunderstood and answered bakood 'bamboo fence'.

General Santos took the name of the former commander of the Philippine Army, General Paulino Santos.

Las Pinas is named for - well it depends whether you think it means 'pineapples' or 'the rocks'.

Makati is the Tagalog makati or 'ebbing' as in the tide.

Bacolod comes from bakolod, the Old Ilongg for 'hill, rise'.

Muntinlupa is the smallest of the cities with a population in excess of half a million at the last census. Three possible origins here: either referring to 'topsoil', the card game played by locals when the Spanish arrived, or a reference to the mountainous country.

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