Calling All Verbivores
This column introduces you to a few books that might interest verbivores such as ourselves--books about the origins of words, phrases, and sayings that are parts of everyday American English.
Let’s begin with a puzzler this time. Here is one from “Ask Marilyn” that appeared in an edition of Parade for which I do not have the date. I apologize to Marilyn vos Savant and to you for the lack of a complete citation.
Consider these words: beard, bowl, cave, come, food, gone, wand, watch, weight. If you were learning the English language, what might perplex you about them?
Now let’s get down to business. In this column and at least one more to follow, I aim to introduce to a few books that might prove entertaining to you verbivores. I am purposely excluding the works of Richard Lederer, because I want to pay special homage to him a bit later. Lederer is one of my heroes and the creator of the word “verbivore.” For now I will refer to three books on the origin of words, phrases, or sayings that are parts of everyday American English.
I will start with the oldest of the three. It is Why Do We Say It? (subtitled “The Stories Behind the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use”), by Castle Books, Edison, New Jersey, 1985, authorship unattributed. This book arranges the expressions alphabetically. Here are a couple of examples.
- Go West. How did the term “go west” come to be used as a synonym for death?
In the beginning this expression did not mean “to die” but just “to disappear from sight.” In the early days of our country many men who were wanted for a crime in the East “went out West” into the wilderness. Some lived; some died; but all who wished to do so disappeared from sight. But since they “might as well be dead’ the term in time came to mean death. (p. 106) - Parlor. How did the “parlor” get its name?
“Parlor” comes from the French parler, meaning “to speak”—it’s really a “conversation room” in which you entertain your guests. “Drawing room” is short for “withdrawing room”—the room to which you withdraw after a meal. (p. 184)
The next oldest of the three books is Why You Say It (subtitled “The Fascinating Stories Behind Over 600 Words and Phrases"), by Webb Garrison, 1992, MJF Books, New York. Garrison organizes his book by categories of sources. There are 19 of those sources, including “The World of Entertainment,” “Feathers and Fur,” “Money, Business, and Commerce,” “Making Fun of Others,” “Borrowed from the British,” and “Comparisons That Froze in Speech.” For the first example entry take note of one from “Feathers and Fur.”
- Bootlick
In the Daniel Boone era, dogs were integral members of frontier households. Every family had one or two packs of hounds, a few bird dogs, and a watchdog. Often a few stray curs also hung around. Prized animals were well fed, but mongrels only got what the others didn’t want.
Returning from a day in the woods, hunters often had bloody boots. Hungry curs, running up to them, would fight over the privilege of licking off the blood.
A human desperate for a favor may behave like a canine outcast and bootlick anyone considered likely to toss out a few scraps. (p. 46)
The next example comes from the category “The World of Entertainment.”
- Limelight
Lighting was one of the chief problems of the early theater. In the time of Shakespeare, all available devices were crude and ineffective.
Actors, playwrights, and theatergoers were delighted when Thomas Drummond devised a new source of light in 1816. A cylinder of lime was heated to incandescence by a flame, and when placed behind a lens or in front of a reflector, the limelight proved to be intensely bright.
The brightness made it ideal for use in making a star performer more visible. As long as one remained in it, audience attention was riveted.
Competition for a place in the limelight soon became intense. Consequently, it came to label any conspicuous spot—whether flooded by one of Thomas Drummond’s lights or not. (p 10)
Finally, the most recently published of the three books is A New Dictionary of Eponyms by Morton S. Freeman, 1997, Oxford University Press, New York. As its title reveals, this book specializes in words or phrases that derive from proper nouns, the names of persons or places. Freeman organizes the entries alphabetically by the first letter of the word or phrase. Again, take a couple of examples.
- BIKINI
How the word bikini came to apply to the skimpy, two-piece swimsuit as been a linguistic mystery since 1947, when bikinis were first seen on the beaches of the French Riviera, a year after the United States began testing atom bombs on the Bikini atoll of the Marshall Islands. Some shocked people said that the impact of the swimsuit on male beach loungers was like the devastating effect of the atomic bomb. Whoosh! And so they were called bikinis.
A simpler and more credible notion is that the daring swimsuits resembled the attire worn by women on the Bikini atoll. (p. 20) - MASON JAR
Ever since the mason jar was invented, it has been a household necessity. It provides a perfect means for making home preserves. The jars, made of glass have wide mouths with a glass or metal screw and are perfect containers.
The jar was invented by John L. Mason, a New Yorker, in 1857 and patented the next year. The jars carried the inscription “Mason’s Patent Nov. 30th, 1858.” Mason had a metalwork shop in New York but began his manufacturing of the jars at a glassworks in New Jersey. It is said that he had so little business sense that he lost most of his patent rights to others, who manufactured and then distributed similar jars. The name mason jar became a catchall for all such jars. In dire financial straits, Mason died in 1902 in a New York City house of relief. (p. 162)
Whether you want to track down the origin of some word or phrase that just sparks curiosity in you or you would just like to browse for entertainment, these three books are interesting and helpful resources I would recommend.
Until next time, send me your solutions (or suggestions or complaints or stumpers) at hfox@juno.com or 2005 Burroughs Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45406.