Mouth Idioms

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

Mouthorgan is not seen until the 1660s.

Mouth-breather is a description first recorded in 1883 (although I have no idea what it was describing).

Mouth-to-mouth was not performed until 1909, or at least not recorded as such. Interesting to note it is by no means certain this referred to artificial respiration.

Word of mouth is a phrase first recorded in the 1550s.

To put words into someone’s mouth is first recorded at the end of the 14th century.

But to take words out of someone’s mouth had to wait another 40/50 years until around the 1520s.

Nobody was down in the mouth before the 1640s, or at least it was not descibed as such – incidentally, it is a reference to the mouth being turned down at the corners.

Blabbermouth is not seen until 1931.

Cottonmouth is a venomous snake of the southern US states, named for the white line along its mouth, is first described as such in 1851.

While nothing was mouth-watering before 1822….

…. surprisingly a mouthwash is recorded in 1801.

Mouthpieces are seen as part of musical instruments as early as 1776, this later used to refer to one who speaks for another in 1805, and in a legal sense from 1857.

Word Idioms

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

Have words with first appears in a 15th century document.

Word to the wise is a translation of a Latin phrase, where verbum sapienti satis est meant 'a word to the wise is enough'.

Word for word is another of some age, appearing in the 14th century.

Word of mouth, once again, has some longevity and appears in writing for the first time in the 1550s. It would be good to know if the first time this expression, it speaking of an oral communication, appeared in writing the irony was not lost on the writer.

Swear word is obviously a combination of two simple and early English words. However, we do not find them in combination until 1873, when it is used in an America.

Crossword is another combining two much older words, and does not appear until 1925 when it is given as a 'crossword puzzle'. The first crossword in New York World newspaper on 21 December 1913, but was described as a 'word-cross'.

Homonyms, Etymologically Speaking: C

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.

C is for cross, as in 'angry' and the name of the best-known Christian image. The latter came first, derived from 'across' in the sense of 'going across the grain' or 'across the main flow' or simply 'intersecting'. This can be traced back, and through any number of languages, back to Latin crux with the same meaning. Having learned the early meanings, it is easy to see why someone not conforming or agreeing with another would be seen as 'cross' in that sense and, at least etymologically speaking, both words have a common root.

An A-Z of English Loanwords

After looking at the origins of some of the newer words and phrases added to the English language last time, I began thinking about earlier loanwords. English is positively rife with examples, hence I chose a simple A to Z format, paying particular attention to those which have been around long enough to have seen a change in meaning.

A is for Admiral
Comes from Arabic amir, where it shares a root with emir, and originally spoke of a commander on land, whereas English usage is a naval rank.

B is for Bully
A very negative expression in modern English and one coming to our language from Dutch boel meaning 'lover' or 'brother'.

C is for Carrot
Not seen in English until the sixteenth century, it is thought to come from the Proto-Indo-European root ker meaning 'horn, head'.

D is for Drug
Today medicinal and coming to our language through Old French droge 'supply, stock, provision' and from Middle Dutch and Low German drog-vate 'dry barrels'. The Old French meaning shows it was misunderstood as referring to the contents and not a barrel containing dry goods.

E is for Easel
Today the stand used to support a canvas, for an artist, or a chalkboard, for a teacher. Originally this was the Dutch ezel meaning 'donkey'.

F is for Fetish
In the modern era most often used to refer to unusual sexual preferences. It comes from Portuguese fetiches where it referred to the charms and talismans worshipped by the inhabitants of the coastal region of Africa near Guinea and also adopted by the Portuguese sailors and merchants who discovered them.

G is for Garble
Today's meaning of incoherent or jumbled speech is remarkably recent. Until the nineteenth century it was used to mean 'to sift' and first came to Western Europe as Catalan garbellar meaning 'to sift' and invariably used in reference to spices and dyes.

H is for Hug
Probably used more today that it has ever been, it is first seen in Old English as hycgan meaning 'to think, consider'.

I is for Indigo
Today only ever a colour and rarely mentioned unless speaking of the rainbow or spectrum. It originates as a Portuguese reference to the 'dye from India', one which, rather predictably, produced such a colour.

J is for Jeer
Today's use of 'to mock' is rather different to the German scheren 'to shear'.

K is for Knickerbockers
Perhaps some would see this as an item of attire. Others, such as I, would instantly think of a rather large dessert. Both are very much removed from the original Dutch meaning of 'toy marble baker'.

L is for Lambada
A well-known dance one would think, but beware accepting an invitation to dance for it was originally Portuguese lambada meaning 'beating, lashing'.

M is for Macrame
The modern use of a textile made from knotting rather than weaving or knitting is very different from the original Arabic qaram. By the time it reached English in the nineteenth century it had evolved through Turkish, Italian and French and very much changed since the Arabic meaning of 'to nibble persistently'.

N is for Nasty
Another Dutch loanword and one originally seen as nestig or 'like a bird's nest'.

O is for Orange
Originally a reference to the fruit in English and first seen in the 13th century. As a colour it was not used until the 13th century, prior to that the colour orange was known as geoluread or 'yellow-red'. The House of Orange has a completely different etymology, coming from the place name and named after the Celtic water god Arausio. The colour was not adopted by the House of Orange until the sixteenth century.

P is for Poppycock
Probably seen in the 21st century as a rather polite way to describe another's opinion with which one disagrees. The original Dutch pappekak meant 'soft dung'.

Q is for Quisling
As many will know a word not used until the Second World War and a reference to Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian traitor who headed the puppet government under German occupation for which he was tried and shot.

R is for Robot
Another word recently introduced to English, somewhat predictably considering the scientific usage of today. It comes from the Czech language where robot originally meant 'labour, drudgery'.

S is for Slim
Today something many would strive to become and spend a great deal of time, effort and money in doing so. The original Dutch slim could be 'bad, sly, crooked'.

T is for Tariff
Today is a tax, particular on goods crossing international boundaries. Originally this Arabic word was arraf meaning 'to notify'.

U is for Ukelele
Possibly the best known of this list, for while the instrument may come to mind the original Hawaiian described a 'jumping flea'.

V is for Vernacular
Common speech today, originating from Latin verna meaning 'home-born slave'.

W is for Widow
Either the female 'widow' or the male 'widower' describe a marriage ended by the death of one individual. It can be traced to the Latin viduus meaning 'bereft, void' and ultimately from the root weidh 'to separate'.

X is for Xenophobia
Something of a cheat as I was unable to find anything beginning with X in fairly common use in English. However as the idea was to find a different original meaning 'xenophobia' does fit. This is from the greek xeno 'foreign, strange' phobia 'fear', but was earlier used (until at least 1884) in the same context as 'agoraphobia' would be today.

Y is for Yacht
Coming to English from Dutch, where it referred to a'hunting ship'. it can be traced to the Proto-Indo-European yek meaning 'to hunt'.

Z is for Zebra
Today the image of black and white stripes comes to mind, however the Portuguese zebro described the female of a kind of deer.

Buzzwords

Regular readers of my blog will already know of my fascination with words and etymologies. As we grow older with have a natural resistance to change – the old music, films, actors, et al were always better. The same is true with language. Slang terms used by younger generations become part of the language remarkably quickly and loan words from other languages pepper the English tongue. Cola, boogie, admiral, tea, yacht, orange, candy and ginger are all common enough English words but all are borrowed from other languages.

In recent years we in the United Kingdom have been treated to the introduction of various phrases introduced from the United States of America. Some arrived through business contacts and many others through the medium of television. It did occur to me that some who use the phrases would have no notion of the original meaning. For example to say “Stepping up to the plate” is, as most will know, a reference to take responsibility and a baseball term. Those who have no knowledge of this particular sport should be made aware this is where the next player takes his stance when coming in to bat. For those in the United States to hear the phrase “Walking to the crease” (or perhaps “Taking guard”) would perhaps be equally mysterious, cricket being even less popular west of the Atlantic than baseball is to the east.

This made me think about other popular phrases.

“Touch base” – another baseball analogy. For those who don’t know it’s the bit where the running chap has to get in order to be ‘safe’ and not run out. I have to say I have never felt at all safe when anyone suggests it is time we touch base. The message here is to make contact and first used in the United States around the 1970s and in the United Kingdom in the 1990s.

“Thinking outside the box” – a reference to unconventional thinking and thought to originate in a puzzle test. The aim is to connect all nine dots (three rows of three) with four straight lines and never lifting the pen from the paper nor going over the same line a second time. Answer is searchable online and I won't spoil it. Suffice to say the solution involves in drawing the lines outside the area of the ‘box’ formed by the nine dots.

“Proactive” – one of my personal hates (probably because former England cricketer turned commentator Nasser Hussain uses it incessantly) and coined in the 1930s. Here the intention was to create a word to have the opposite meaning to ‘reactive’ – ie don’t react to a situation but do something to prevent the situation ever happening.

“At the end of the day” – in the modern era has only been seen since the late 1970s or early 1980s. In the 21st century it is used as ‘in the final analysis’ when the original usage was instead of ‘eventually’. Both these alternatives are infinitely better – and I’m not the only one to loathe this phrase, for in 2008 it was voted the most irritating,

“Going forward” (also “Moving forward”) – nearly always accompanied by an equally irritating gesture and meaning ‘in the future’ or even ‘soon’, nobody seems to have any idea when it came into use (outside board meetings) or just why anyone thought it made any sense at all.

“Paradigm” (also “Paradigm shift”) – began as a scientific term. Now I fully understand the need to create words in the name of science. Imagine Sir Isaac Newton having to write about gravity for the first time and deciding upon a name for this force, what would you have come up with? The original use of “Paradigm shift” was by Thomas Kuhn in his The Structure of Scientific Revolution published in 1962. For example science showed how germs were the cause of disease when previously it was thought to be a result of “bad air” and exactly how ‘malaria’ got its name. As a buzzword it is among the newest, appearing as recently as the late 1990s.

“Push the envelope” – was not first used in Tom Wolfe’s book The Right Stuff published in 1979 but likely the reason for its popularity. The use of ‘envelope’ here is nothing to do with letters but is a mathematical envelope defined as “The locus of the ultimate intersections of consecutive curves”. In some circles the phrase is altered to “Max the envelope”, a ludicrous idea as we are all aware envelopes are called Manilla, not Max.

“Cut to the chase” – or ‘get to the point’ is thought to have come from silent film director Hal Roach. In the days when all film comedy was visual, a chase was the inevitable conclusion to a film as it made for good viewing and could be extended to fill the void left by the lack of dialogue. However there is a record of an earlier form coming from around 1880 (and well before Hollywood). Here the phrase is given as “Cut to Hecuba”. Shakespearian devotees will know this as Act II, Scene II of Hamlet, thus avoiding the long speeches and soliloquies.

“Downsizing” – first used by car manufacturers to refer to the size of the vehicles they produced and almost immediately used by them to explain why they were reducing costs by cutting numbers of employees and/or wage bills. Today, especially in the United Kingdom, it has been introduced into daily speech by the innumerable presenters of daytime television programmes who like to show us other people looking to buy their next home (and who seem obliged to use the word ‘property’ at least once in every sentence). Oddly these same presenters do not use ‘upsizing’ for those who want a bigger home but always speak of needing “More space” or “A bigger home”.

“Decluttering” – ye gods what an appalling word! It would make more sense if we had introduced ‘cluttering’ as a verb meaning ‘to make a mess or untidy’ either at the same time or earlier. Indeed instead of telling my mother “Nothing!” or “Not much!” when she asked what I had been doing in my room, I would have enjoyed saying I was “Busy cluttering, Mumsie”.

All these do bring to mind a phrase my father used a lot and one which I wish would have or maybe will catch on. On hearing some gibberish being spoken he would describe it as “Talking scribble”.

Dr Samuel Johnson

Many things have been written about this most famous of Lichfield’s sons, indeed much more has been written than he ever wrote himself. One of the most-often quoted ‘facts’ is how this lexicographer wrote the first dictionary. However his A Dictionary of the English Language published in 1755 was merely a milestone, albeit a significant one – indeed the most significant dictionary until the first copy of the Oxford English Dictionary appeared 173 years later.

The very first dictionary of the English language appeared in 1604, although whether we would see it as a dictionary in the modern sense is doubtful. Written by schoolteacher Robert Cawdrey, the only surviving copy of A Table Alphabeticall is in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. This dictionary numbered just 120 pages and 2,543 words, some definitions of which were just a single word. Those included were seemingly chosen at random and many are highly obscure.

Of course no early 17th century book had a title of just three words, this was released as A table alphabeticall conteyning and teaching the true writing and understanding of hard usuall English words, borrowed from the Hebrew, Greeke, Latine, or French etc. With the interpretation thereof by plaine English words, gathered for the benefit and helpe of ladies, gentlewomen, or any other unskilfull persons. Whereby they may the more easily and better understand many hard English words, which they shall heare or read in scriptures, sermons, or elsewhere, and also be made able to use the same aptly themselves. (Personally I am delighted today’s titles are no longer effectively the blurb.) The book appeared in the form of a table where the reader was given some idea of how to use the word in context. What follows is a selection of entries listed alphabetically. Many will spot there are only 19 examples owing to there being no listings for words beginning with the letters J, K, U, W, X, or Y (how on earth he managed to omit every word beginning with ‘W’ is beyond me!)

ABBA – father

BISKET – bread

CIRCUMLOCUTION – a speaking of that in many words, which may be said in few

DECOCTION – liquor, wherein things are sod for phisicke

EMBLEM – a picture shadowing out some thing to be learned

FASTIDIOUSNESs – loathsomeness or disdainfullness

GLOBE – any thing very round

HECTIC – inflaming the heart and soundest parts of the body.

IMPLEMENT – stuff

LETHARGY – a drowsy and forgetful disease

METEORS – elementary bodies or moist things engendered of vapours in the air above.

NICE – slow, lazy

OFFICIAL – belonging to an office

POEM – verses of a poet (he then defines POET as ‘a verse maker’)

QUEACH – thick heap

RECEPTACLE – a place to receive things in

SEX – kind

TABLET – a little table

VENTRICLE – the stomach which receives the meat

ZODIAC – a circle in the heaven wherein be placed the twelve signs and in which the Sun is moved.

The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum in Lichfield. Informative, friendly staff, an excellent literary experience and it's all free, too.

Homographs

A homograph is defined as a word which has more than one meaning. Perhaps this should be explained further as there are some words which share a spelling – bow and wind, for example – but have different pronunciations as well as meaning. Here we are looking at the same spelling and different meanings. For crossword compilers (and solvers) such words are invaluable when trying to fill that five-letter space. Using the alternate definition when the word is clearly used in the other context can prove a minor distraction.

Bat – Every night untold millions of insects are killed by bats.

Bear – Bear watching bear baiting

Brace – A brace of pheasant will help support a family.

Can – Can factories can

Clear – Clear balls on a snooker table.

Conduct – Conductor attracts in electrical performance.

Down – Get down from that duck!

Lead – The vicar took the lead.

Quarry – The old man finally managed to bag his quarry.

Rock – Fred Flintstone’s music collection was all rock.

Spirit – Brandy was the epitome of spirit in the school

Wave – The hairdresser put a wave in my hair.