2677: Who Is Steven, Even? Apr 19, 2024
There is a phrase, 'even-steven', usually not capitalized, that gets thrown around, but the question remains: who is, or was, Steven?
The answer for sure is no one person or really anything to do with the name, but it's not clear why. One theory is that this is just rhyming for emphasis, though that wouldn't explain the 'st-' in particular except that Steven is relatively common compared to other rhymes.
Another theory, however, places the steven from the Old English 'stefn' meaning 'voice' and likewise 'vote' or 'constitution; composure'. This is related to the German 'Stimmen' with the same range of meanings. It's possible that both theories are at play and that people opted for a somewhat relevant word that would carry more emphasis than saying 'even composition'.
2644: The Cut of His Jib Mar 14, 2022
The phrase "the cut of one's jib" is a strange one, because few people actually know what a jib is. The specific etymology of the word jib is not clear, but for the purposes of the phrase it refers to a particular type of triangular sail on the front of a ship. These were standard among various navies in different ships, so knowing the shape and rigging of the jib would be a quick indication of which vessel and which type of vessel it was. This meaning was applied to people in the 19th century, with the same idea of judging one's face and overall appearance, possibly especially one's nose.
2606: True Blue Feb 2, 2022
The adjective 'true blue' now refers to a trustworthy and committed person, often with political connotations to national loyalty. This goes all the way back to the Medieval era with associations to both the monarchy and faith of the time. In some places this will have somewhat conservative connotations whereas elsewhere like Australia this phrase often reflects commitment to workers unions. In French, a similar phrase 'pure laine' exists meaning 'pure wool' or effectively 'genuine', but in Quebec this phrase is both politically or in some ways racially charged.
2542: Roll Tide Nov 28, 2021
Lots of chants don't mean anything, such as the University of Minnesota's "ski u mah" which many believe to be from Lakota but is total gibberish. University of Alabama's 'roll tide' though probably is meaningful, though no one is quite sure what for. The nickname 'Crimson Tide' was used towards the start of the 20th century for the team, though this again is not entirely clear as to why. Whatever the case, the phrase is not trademarked.
2493: druthers Oct 9, 2021
The word 'druthers' is almost always used in the plural form, though the singular is technically possible, and more common in the past. This is a bit strange, because the word originated in the US as an amalgamation of the phrase "I'd rather". These days, it is usually a noun as well, but it does sometimes appear as it might from the original contraction such as "I druther not", though this verb is more farcical, while the noun can be used in more serious contexts, relatively speaking.
2484: Irreversible Binomials Sep 30, 2021
A so-called irreversible binomial is a phrase which exists with separable words that occur in a fixed order, like 'fish and chips', 'fight or flight, 'or 'short and sweet'. These can exists for all types of words, including for those which are no longer productive, like 'kit and caboodle' or 'vim and vigor'. This leads to come pairs like 'time and time again' abbreviated as 'time and again' which would make 'again' sound like a noun and is ungrammatical, but here there is no loss in meaning. Many of these near-idiomatic phrases are also somewhat poetic in their structure, relying on rhymes or alliteration frequently. These nearly always use a conjunction either 'and' or 'or', but in some cases exceptional like 'hoity toity' this is not necessary.
2387: son of a gun Jul 1, 2021
The phrase 'son of a gun' is often thought to be a euphemistic replacement for another worse insult, but this is not so true. While its precise origins are certainly a matter of some dispute, it seems to have originated somewhere around the mid- to late-18th century as military slang. The earliest uses of this phrase was in reference to a military brat, though other, less reliable theories have emerged about its use for those infants born on the ships of the Royal Navy, or even earlier.
2350: pedigree May 25, 2021
The word 'pedigree' these days refers to record of lineage of a purebred animal such as for dogs, but this word originated with birds' feet. The word is actually from a French phrase 'pé de grue' (today 'pied de gru') meaning 'crane-foot'. This had nothing to do with actually bird lineage per se, but instead with keeping paper records of animal ancestors with each generation splitting along forked paths resembling a crane's foot. The reason for referencing cranes in particular is probably just that these were quite common across England and France at the time.
2327: 'To Pit Against' & 'Cockpit' May 2, 2021
Although in many places cock-fighting is illegal now, in medieval Europe one might find them in any small town even. This had led to a number of phrases in English, including the phrase "to be pitted (up) against", but also the more innocuous term 'cockpit'. This was eventually used for nautical purposes, and later for cars and planes, with the original sense being a tight, enclosed space.
2321: Drunk-Driving vs. Drink-Driving Apr 25, 2021
In the US, driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol is often referred to as 'drunk-driving' while in the UK and Australia it is 'drink-driving'. While the phrases themselves are somewhat random of course, one theory on the difference is that of different connotations to 'drunk', with consideration to the fact that something can be considered DUI without necessarily being as drunk as one might associate with that word, and could include someone who appears more clear-headed. Either way these are not usual for laws and other official purposes and if the aforementioned theory is true, 'drunk-driving' can't be so easily changed now that has embedded itself in the cultural lexicon.
2142: South African 'k*ffer' & Hebrew כפרה (redemption) Share Same Arabic Cognate Oct 26, 2020
The Arabic كفر (k-f-r) is the source of the very offensive South African slang 'kaffer', but also to the Hebrew כפרה (kapará) which in modern slang is a term of endearment. This is because the Arabic word meaning as a verb 'to disbelieve' can be used as a noun, كَافِر (kāfir), essentially to mean ‘infidel’. This word comes from Bantu—the Africans of this region of East Africa having extensive contact historically—but has now been taken up in other languages as an offensive term for black people. Meanwhile, the Hebrew כפרה (kapará) literally means "atonement; redemption", and also practically 'sacrifice'. This connection then to 'infidel' may seem odd, but it may seem even odder than the Semitic root relating these words means 'village'. Essentially, an infidel would be someone outside the village, and in other Semitic languages it came to refer to a more generic covering, or in this case protection. The phrase in Modern Hebrew comes from Judeo-Moroccan Arabic 'nímšī kapā́ra ʿalēk', or literally “I will go as atonement for you”, as a way to express humility—sort of like with ciao—and abbreviated as כפרה.
1265: the bees knees May 28, 2018
There are a lot of theories about where the phrase "the bees knees" referring to something outstanding, but as with many folk etymology, there is a bit of logically weeding to be done. One theory is that it comes from Italian immigrants to America saying 'business', but this doesn't work for two reasons: the phrase has been around for far longer than Italians were coming to the US, and it originally had the meaning of 'a small thing' so 'business' would not make sense as an derivation for it. Other theories include things such as how it would be related to the collection of pollen, and other biological ideas, but these don't hold up for similar reasons. The prevailing theory is that it went from meaning something small to something great on the pattern of other phrases like "the cat's pajamas", 'flea's eyebrows', 'the canary's tusks', and "the cat's whiskers", though not all of these slang terms from the 1920's have lasted the test of time.
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1249: Semantic Diversion: verklemmen, farklempt, and clam May 11, 2018
To see effect of time and culture on language, loot how one root develops in two languages; this is best exhibited with English's 'black' and French's 'blanc' (white) coming from the same origin. Less directly than that, though still notably, the Germanic 'klammjan' lead to the Modern German 'verklemmen' meaning 'to jam/press', the Yiddish 'farklempt' (ווערקלעמפּט) meaning 'grieving' (although in Jewish English it only means 'emotional'), and the English 'clam'. All of these go back to a root that meant 'block', but were taken different ways. The original meaning was probably closest kept in German, but in English it was applied to an animal with a tightly shut shell. The meaning in Yiddish, however, emphasizes the emotional side to this word, and it is by no means the only one; other terms in English such as 'choked up', or indeed 'clam up' convey the sense of having a sort of emotional or mental blocking up. Ironically, there is the expression "happy as a clam".
951: big apple Jul 17, 2017
The nickname 'big apple' as a reference for New York City for a long time had no clear origin, but did have a great amount of folk-etymology surrounding it. More recently, etymologists agree on having found an answer. The first recorded use of the phrase was in 1909 from Edward Martin "Kansas is apt to see in New York a greedy city… It inclines to think that the big apple gets a disproportionate share of the national sap…". Here, and in other instances following this, the association of the city to big apples is thought to be from the idea that things were especially big, both in terms of grandeur but also that there was a lot of money in the area. Though the moniker faded out of use in the 1960's, it was brought back in a tourism-campaign in the 1970's, not to showcase wealth, but to give the impression of cleanliness and brightness to counter the popular image that the city was dirty.