Wood Idioms

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

Can’t see the wood for the trees is said to have first appeared in print in 1546, used in John Heywood’s Prouerbes in the English Tongue.

Out of the woods, a way to say ‘safe’, is most often used when describing a patient who is on the road to recovery. I found it surprising to learn it appears in print as early as 1792.

Matchwood, first seen around 1390 to describe small pieces of wood used as kindling, took on the use of small fragments of wood in 1791.

Heartwood, that central portion of the tree, is found as late as 1400.

Deadwood, as used to refer to something useless, is found from 1887.

Nobody collected driftwood before 1660 – at least they certainly collected it but did not refer to it as such.

Similarly firewood is not found in writings until the late 14th century, and yet humans must have been burning the stuff from the time when they first tamed fire.

Woodpeckers have only been known as such since 1520 – prior to that a variety of dialect terms were used including laughing Betsey, taffingale, yappingale, Jack Eikle, rainbird, weather cock, wet bird, and (as featured in that well-liked BBC series for children named Bagpuss) yaffle.

Nobody played a woodwind instrument until 1876, again used prior to that but not referred to as such.

Knock on wood is in print from the 19th century, but is believed to originate with the Druids more than two thousand years ago.

Put wood in the hole (or shut the door) is a phrase of uncertain origins, although I can guarantee it was not used before doors were used.

Come out of the woodwork – something long-lost relatives did on American soap operas -

Wooden spoon, is to come last in a competition, is said to have originated in the early 19th century at Cambridge University and an award given to the student coming last in the mathematics tripos – a course taught specifically at Cambridge.

And I could not resist putting in ‘shiver me timbers’, a phrase synonymous with Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island - although he also uses ‘shiver me sides’ and ‘shake up me timbers’ – yet the first appearance in print is in 1834 when Captain Frederick Marryat published Jacob Faithful.

Touch Idioms

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

Touch and go is a game similar to tag, first seen in 1812.

Touch football, a 'safe' form of American Football (to the British) where tackling is replaced by a mere touch and is first recorded in 1933.

Touch me not is an expression first recorded in 1590, it's a put down used to deter would be suitors.

Touch screen is first seen as early as 1974.

Touch up, and I'm using this in its earliest sense of 'improvement requiring little effort' is first seen in 1872; and if used in a painting sense, dates from 1715.

Touch wood (or knock on wood) dates from at least Celtic times 2,500 years ago.

Touchdown, the main scoring method in American Football, comes from 1864 and was borrowed from rugby where it is recorded five years earlier.

Touchstone, a fine-grained black quartz used for testing gold and silver alloys, is first seen in the late 15th century.

Touched, a term meaning 'stirred emotionally', is first seen in the middle of the 14th century.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: X

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.

X is for x ..... well it isn't for anything as there isn't a single homonym beginning with that letter. So let's have some fun with etymologies of words beginning with X and we will begin with....

Xenon, a gas named in 1898 by Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay from the Greek word xenon meaning 'foreign, strange' and coming from the Proto-Indo-European root ghos-ti 'stranger, guest, host'.

Xylem is named from the German xylem and the Greek xylon 'wood'. It is the woody tissue found in the most evolved of plant life.

Xerox, the trademark name of a copying device, it held by Haloid Co, of Rochester, New York State. It comes from xerography, defined as 'photographic reproduction without liquid developers'. In 1965 the word became listed in the dictionary as a verb meaning 'to produce using a copier', and while the company strongly objected to inclusion in the dictionary, thus making it acceptable, they were ultimately unsuccessful.

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.

Slovenia 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 Slovenian cities.

Ljubljana is thought to derive from Ljubija, the same as the river, and is thought to derive from the Old Slavic personal name 'the one of a lovely appearance'.

Maribor is a compound of Middle High German march 'borderland' and burc 'fortress'.

Celje is likely another from a personal name, here the proto-Slovene Cele or Celeae is possible.

Kranj is from a root borrowed from Romance Carnium and derived from the Carni tribe who, in turn, got their name from the Celtic root karno 'peak, hill, pile of stones'.

Velenje is almost certainly referring to the selo or 'village of Velene'.

Novo Mesto is a Slovene name meaning simply 'new town'. Earlier it was known by its German name of Rudolfswerde or 'the island of Rudolph', and a reference to Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, who died in 1364.

Trbovlje seems to speak of itself a Trebovie selo or 'Trebo's village'.

Nova Gorica simply means 'new Gorizia', the earlier place name given by Count Meinhard I or also styled himself Graf von Gorz from around 1127.

Jesenice is derived from its location in or near 'ash woods'.

Skofja Loka tells us it was 'the bishop's wet meadow', and records show this was land held by the Bishops of Freising.

Izolais a Slovenian version of the Italian name of Isola and simply means 'island'.

Murska Sobota is generally known as simply Sobota by its inhabitants, itself linked to Hungarian szombat meaning 'Saturday', the day on which the city held its fairs. Other Slovenians refer to the place as Murska.

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

Saudi Arabia 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 Saudi Arabian cities.

Abha is probably the same as the Sanskrit abha and means 'splendour, light'.

Tabuk is mentioned in the Quran and dated at 3500BC as being known as Ashab al-Aykah or 'the companions of the wood'.

Ta'if has a name describing its early use, for this former fortified town's name means 'with a wall around'.

Najran was traditionally named after the first man to settle here, one Najran ibn Zaydan ibn Saba ibn Yahjub ibn Yarub ibn Qahtan. The Arabic word najran does have a couple of other meanings, 'thirsty' could well be the origin of a place name, while the idea of this referring to 'the wooden frame on an opening door' sounds rather forced, at best.

Ar Rass comes from the Arabic and means '(place) at the old well'.

Riyadh simply means 'gardens', a reference to the earlier oasis towns which were effectively the origin of the city.

Uyun AlJiwa is another from a water reference, referring to the water ponds which once surrounded the area and translating as 'the valley's ponds'.

Qatif translates to either 'harvest' or 'grain' depending on the context.

Ras Tanura is Arabic for 'cape oven' or 'cape brazier', thought to be a reference to the heat generated by the topography.

Jeddah has two possible origins. Somethimes explained as the Arabic word for 'grandmother', traditionally this is where Eve's tomb is to be found. Alternatively this is named after Jeddah ibn Al-Qudaa'iy, the clan chief.

Dammam has two explanations: either from the Arabic dawwama 'whirlpool' and a warning to shipping that such had to be avoided, or it is onomatopoeic and sounds like the drums sounded to alert the villagers that the fishing fleet were returning.

Medina comes from the Arabic al-Madinah meaning simply 'the city'.

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

Saint Lucia 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 St Lucian cities.

Anse La Raye is simply the French for 'Bay of Rays', the rays being the flat fish found here.

Bocage can be traced to the Old Norman boscage. itself a combination of Old French bosc and a later suffix -age and describes 'the place of the wood'.

Castries has been known as such since 1785, when it was renamed after the French Minister of the Navy and Colonies, the splendidly named Charles Eugene Gabriel de la Croix, marquis de Castries. (1727 - 1801).

Canaries is also known locally as Kanawe, this coming from the Amerindian to describe 'cooking pots'.

Choiseul had earlier been known as Anse Citron, literally 'lemon handle'. The present name has never been understood.

Gros Islet translates from the French as 'large island'.

Laborie is named after Baron de Laborie, French governor of Saint Lucia from 1784 to 1789. Earlier it had been known as L'islet a Caret, said to refer to the Loggerhead turtles in the area, itself known to science as Carretta caretta.

Micoud is another named after a former French governor of Saint Lucia, Baron de Micoud held the role in the 18th century.

Mon Repos is, as anyone with a mastery of schoolboy (or schoolgirl) French knows, a phrase meaning 'my rest' and thus simply describing someone's home.

Ravine Poissin, like the previous name, is easily translated as 'the valley of the fish'.

Rodney Bay is named from the British era, specifically after Admiral George Brydges Rodney, who built a fort at Pigeon Island.

Roseau is named for the local flora, for it simply means 'reeds'.

Soicis is another named during the era of French control and is an unusual name as it means 'troubles'. Just why this was chosen is unclear.

Vieux Fort is another of French origin, this simply translates as 'old fort'.

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