Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift; that’s why they call it the present.
-- Eleanor Roosevelt
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Number three granddaughter, Katie (in sequence, not importance), commented the other day about English (as we Americans speak it) and how so much of it is difficult for her autism kids to understand, especially our crazy idioms. Those kids are not alone; most of us have the same problem. Katie mentioned two or three that really had been problems, so I have tried to do a little research to find out where all of this nonsense might have come from. Let’s start with the (relatively) easy one first:
Sitting pretty; I think most of us kind of understand the meaning of this idiom, which is “in a position of advantage.” For instance, a person who has just inherited a million dollars from his rich grandpa (ha!) would find that his financial worries were suddenly over (or just beginning, depending upon his tax bracket) and that he was now sitting pretty. Or consider another example; the tennis player who is just one point away from winning a game is said to have the advantage, so some might say that the player is sitting pretty. This phrase ties in precisely with the idiom, “in the catbird seat” that we discussed in an earlier blog (see #22 dated May 19). Unfortunately, the actual origin of the phrase, like so many of our idioms, is not known for certain. This much apparently is known though (and I quote): “Although the use of ‘pretty’ in the sense of ‘advantageous’ is much older, this colloquialism [sitting pretty] dates only from the early 1900s.” Sorry but that’s the best I can do right now, but I’ll keep looking.
Raining cats and dogs: Another colorful phrase whose meaning is known to most of us—an unrelenting or extra heavy downpour of rain; a deluge or torrent—but we have probably seldom stopped to think of where it (or any other idiom) came from. We just blithely go along throwing these phrases into our conversations while those who are new to our country (and our language), or those with learning disabilities must just wonder what in the world we are talking about. One minute we are discussing the weather, and then all of a sudden the subject has turned to animals. The origin of this particular idiom is often credited to Dean Jonathon Swift, who used the phrase in his literary piece, Polite Conversation (1783). But he was about 100 years behind another author, Richard Brome (with whom I’m sure we are all familiar). In Mr. Brome’s play The City Wit (c.1652), one of the characters tries to convince people of his great wisdom by demonstrating his knowledge (or lack thereof) of Latin, which he translates entirely by ear. This character, Sarpego, the pedant, says (I quote):
“…Erit fluvius Deucalionis / the world shall flow with dunces;
“Regna bitque / and it shall rain;
“Dogmata Polla Sophon / Dogs and Polecats, and so forth.”
As I have often said, my familiarity with Latin is pretty much limited to what’s printed on the backside of our paper money, so I’m in no position to say whether these phrases are even Latin, let alone that the translations make any sense. Apparently, though, whether they are accurate or not is not important; the main thing we are interested in right here and now is where this saying first originated. The people that wrote the two or three big books that I have been referring to are apparently all scholars—what is that word? Oh, yes, etymologists—and they must know what they’re doing so I won’t argue with them.
Costs an arm and a leg: Again, I believe most of us know that this means getting something of value but having to pay dearly for it. When we use this idiom, I suspect that most of us say it in reference to the exchange of goods for money—e.g. that new Mercedes is a beauty, but even if it were on sale it would still cost you an arm and a leg. That certainly is a valid use, especially in the case of a Mercedes. Oddly, the origin of this particular idiom has been a tough one to pinpoint. In fact, I haven’t been able to track it down (yet). However, I do have my own theory of where and why it might have started. I believe that it probably first appeared in general usage in the mid- to late-1860s, just about the time the Civil War was winding down and soldiers were returning to civilian life. Most of those soldiers had faced the cannonades of the enemy and many of them had terrible injuries and disfigurement to prove it. The thing of great value that those men bought was their life, and for many it literally cost them an arm and a leg. Well, that may not be the real story behind the idiom but it seems to make sense to me. I’m open to suggestions, though.
One final idiom discussion. The other day, John (that’s Katie’s dad, not John the Baptist) and I were talking about important stuff like we usually do and the phrase “dry run” came up. We both agreed that it had to do with a preliminary or trial run of a thing or project before the official run took place. However, neither of us knew for sure what the origin of it is. Its origin, like almost all of the idiomatic expressions that I have tried to track down, can’t be precisely authenticated but many of them have several plausible possibilities. This quote from World Wide Words by Mr. Michael Quinion, who writes on International English from a British viewpoint, is the one that seems most logical:
“The term run, more fully fire run, has for at least the past century been used by local fire departments in the USA for a call-out to the site of a fire. It was once common for fire departments or volunteer hose companies to give exhibitions of their prowess at carnivals or similar events. Companies also competed with each other to show how well they could do. These competitions had fairly standard rules, of which several examples appear in the press of this period, such as in the Olean Democrat of 2 August 1888:
‘Not less than fifteen or more than seventeen men to each company. Dry run, standing start, each team to be allowed one trial; cart to carry 350 feet of hose in 50-foot lengths. … ’
“These reports show that a dry run in the jargon of the fire service at this period was one that didn’t involve the use of water, as opposed to a wet run that did. In some competitions there was a specific class for the latter, one of which was reported in the Salem Daily News for 6 July 1896:
‘The wet run was made by the Fulton hook and ladder company and the Deluge hose company. The run was made east in Main Street to Fawcett’s store where the ladders were raised to the top of the building. The hose company attached [its] hose to a fire plug and ascending the ladder gave a fine exhibition.’”
Number three granddaughter, Katie (in sequence, not importance), commented the other day about English (as we Americans speak it) and how so much of it is difficult for her autism kids to understand, especially our crazy idioms. Those kids are not alone; most of us have the same problem. Katie mentioned two or three that really had been problems, so I have tried to do a little research to find out where all of this nonsense might have come from. Let’s start with the (relatively) easy one first:
Sitting pretty; I think most of us kind of understand the meaning of this idiom, which is “in a position of advantage.” For instance, a person who has just inherited a million dollars from his rich grandpa (ha!) would find that his financial worries were suddenly over (or just beginning, depending upon his tax bracket) and that he was now sitting pretty. Or consider another example; the tennis player who is just one point away from winning a game is said to have the advantage, so some might say that the player is sitting pretty. This phrase ties in precisely with the idiom, “in the catbird seat” that we discussed in an earlier blog (see #22 dated May 19). Unfortunately, the actual origin of the phrase, like so many of our idioms, is not known for certain. This much apparently is known though (and I quote): “Although the use of ‘pretty’ in the sense of ‘advantageous’ is much older, this colloquialism [sitting pretty] dates only from the early 1900s.” Sorry but that’s the best I can do right now, but I’ll keep looking.
Raining cats and dogs: Another colorful phrase whose meaning is known to most of us—an unrelenting or extra heavy downpour of rain; a deluge or torrent—but we have probably seldom stopped to think of where it (or any other idiom) came from. We just blithely go along throwing these phrases into our conversations while those who are new to our country (and our language), or those with learning disabilities must just wonder what in the world we are talking about. One minute we are discussing the weather, and then all of a sudden the subject has turned to animals. The origin of this particular idiom is often credited to Dean Jonathon Swift, who used the phrase in his literary piece, Polite Conversation (1783). But he was about 100 years behind another author, Richard Brome (with whom I’m sure we are all familiar). In Mr. Brome’s play The City Wit (c.1652), one of the characters tries to convince people of his great wisdom by demonstrating his knowledge (or lack thereof) of Latin, which he translates entirely by ear. This character, Sarpego, the pedant, says (I quote):
“…Erit fluvius Deucalionis / the world shall flow with dunces;
“Regna bitque / and it shall rain;
“Dogmata Polla Sophon / Dogs and Polecats, and so forth.”
As I have often said, my familiarity with Latin is pretty much limited to what’s printed on the backside of our paper money, so I’m in no position to say whether these phrases are even Latin, let alone that the translations make any sense. Apparently, though, whether they are accurate or not is not important; the main thing we are interested in right here and now is where this saying first originated. The people that wrote the two or three big books that I have been referring to are apparently all scholars—what is that word? Oh, yes, etymologists—and they must know what they’re doing so I won’t argue with them.
Costs an arm and a leg: Again, I believe most of us know that this means getting something of value but having to pay dearly for it. When we use this idiom, I suspect that most of us say it in reference to the exchange of goods for money—e.g. that new Mercedes is a beauty, but even if it were on sale it would still cost you an arm and a leg. That certainly is a valid use, especially in the case of a Mercedes. Oddly, the origin of this particular idiom has been a tough one to pinpoint. In fact, I haven’t been able to track it down (yet). However, I do have my own theory of where and why it might have started. I believe that it probably first appeared in general usage in the mid- to late-1860s, just about the time the Civil War was winding down and soldiers were returning to civilian life. Most of those soldiers had faced the cannonades of the enemy and many of them had terrible injuries and disfigurement to prove it. The thing of great value that those men bought was their life, and for many it literally cost them an arm and a leg. Well, that may not be the real story behind the idiom but it seems to make sense to me. I’m open to suggestions, though.
One final idiom discussion. The other day, John (that’s Katie’s dad, not John the Baptist) and I were talking about important stuff like we usually do and the phrase “dry run” came up. We both agreed that it had to do with a preliminary or trial run of a thing or project before the official run took place. However, neither of us knew for sure what the origin of it is. Its origin, like almost all of the idiomatic expressions that I have tried to track down, can’t be precisely authenticated but many of them have several plausible possibilities. This quote from World Wide Words by Mr. Michael Quinion, who writes on International English from a British viewpoint, is the one that seems most logical:
“The term run, more fully fire run, has for at least the past century been used by local fire departments in the USA for a call-out to the site of a fire. It was once common for fire departments or volunteer hose companies to give exhibitions of their prowess at carnivals or similar events. Companies also competed with each other to show how well they could do. These competitions had fairly standard rules, of which several examples appear in the press of this period, such as in the Olean Democrat of 2 August 1888:
‘Not less than fifteen or more than seventeen men to each company. Dry run, standing start, each team to be allowed one trial; cart to carry 350 feet of hose in 50-foot lengths. … ’
“These reports show that a dry run in the jargon of the fire service at this period was one that didn’t involve the use of water, as opposed to a wet run that did. In some competitions there was a specific class for the latter, one of which was reported in the Salem Daily News for 6 July 1896:
‘The wet run was made by the Fulton hook and ladder company and the Deluge hose company. The run was made east in Main Street to Fawcett’s store where the ladders were raised to the top of the building. The hose company attached [its] hose to a fire plug and ascending the ladder gave a fine exhibition.’”
Well!!! As we used to say about a friend of mine who talked incessantly, "If you ask him what time it is, he’ll tell you how to make a watch."
I feel as though I might have just told you how to make a watch.
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Just for the record, the thought for today is one of my very favorites, and it is written by a lady I consider to be one of the brightest of the 20th century.
--30--
This is very interesting. Thanks for doing the research for us lazy people! Hey, are you saving all of these things you write. I was thinking I'd like to start putting them into a little booklet. They are memoirs, sort of. If you're not saving them into Word files, let me know and I will start doing that.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Grandpa! I can't wait to tell the kids - not that they'll be as impressed as I am!
ReplyDeleteLauri, thanks for your comments. No, I am not keeping them other than on this blog site.Feel free to do whatever you want with them.
ReplyDelete