Calling Dibs and Playing Jacks

Have you ever "called dibs" on something? Let's say that a group of people decide to rent bicycles for a ride, and one person says, "I call dibs on the red one." "First dibs" is sometimes called to establish a claim on the first use or the ownership of something. 

What does that mean and where did this odd expression originate?

This slang term has been in use since the early 19th century. The origin is disputed, but the most common origin story is that it comes from an old children's game called dibstones.

Dibstones is a child's game, similar to jacks and dice games. A dibstone is a pebble used in the game as a counter. The pebbles or the discarded knucklebones of sheep have been used since the late 17th century.

The game is from England, but the slang usage seems to be American. While playing, you can place a stone at your place to indicate a point. Similar to the modern slang usage, this means you have claimed a point.

To "call dibs" today is to claim a temporary right to something or to reserve it.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder - Children's Games - Knucklebones

The more common game of Jacks is also known as Knucklebones, Tali, or Fivestones. The games all have origins going back to ancient Greece and are mentioned by Sophocles and in the Iliad and Odyssey.

The games are usually played with five small objects (ten in the case of jacks). At one time, the game pieces were literally knucklebones, which are the astragalus bone in the ankle, or the hock of sheep. The jacks are thrown up and caught along with a ball or other object.

Modern jacks have six points/knobs and are usually made of metal or plastic. The simplest throw consists of either tossing up one jack, or bouncing a ball, and picking up one or more jacks/pebbles/knucklebones from the ground while it is in the air.

The games have a whole series of throws with odd names such as "riding the elephant", "peas in the pod", "horses in the stable", and "frogs in the well".

Sheep knucklebones used in the game

A variant on the previously mentioned games that is played by Israeli school-age children is known as kugelach or Chamesh Avanim ("five rocks"). Instead of jacks and a rubber ball, five die-sized metal cubes are used. The game cube is tossed in the air rather than bounced. 

here's also the Korean game Gonggi, another variant.

I was not able to find the origin and reason why the game or the game pieces are called "jacks."  Do any readers know?

Steal Your Thunder; Specious; Limelight;

Here's an origin that sounds specious to me. By the way, specious means superficially plausible, but actually wrong.  - which itself has a specious origin in late Middle English (in the sense ‘beautiful’) from the earlier Latin specious (fair).

I found that “steal your thunder” - which today means to take the attention or limelight away from someone. By the way, the term "limelight" comes from the discovery in the 1820s that heating calcium oxide with oxygen and hydrogen produces a brilliant white light. The light was used as a theatrical spotlight and to illuminate stages. 

Back to "steal your thunder" which is said to have a quite literal origin. In the 18th-century, playwright John Dennis wanted an authentic sound of thunder for his play. He invented a thunder-making machine, but his play flopped. Later, he learned that someone had seen his machine in action and made a similar one for another play. It was pretty much the same machine but was not credited with the invention. This other person had literally stolen his thunder.

punk

cattail

I wrote elsewhere about something that was part of my New Jersey childhood autumns. We would gather cattails, dry them, light them, and blow out the flaming tip so there was a glowing and smoking tip. Some people said the smoke kept away mosquitoes and bugs, but honestly, we just liked the fire and smoke.

We called them punks, but until I wrote about that, I had no clue why that was the name we used for them. It may be a Jersey thing. There were also very small, manufactured punks that are still sold and are used as a lighter for fireworks and as an unscented incense stick. 

Doing a bit of etymological research, I found the more common usages of the word.

I suspect that today, the most common usage might be as an adjective describing a loud, fast-moving, and aggressive form of rock music, popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Some of the genre's followers with their colored spiked hair and clothing decorated with safety pins or zippers could be called punks.

Earlier in North America, to call someone a punk would be saying they were a worthless person. The word shows up in 1950s movies, TV, and books as being close to being a criminal or hoodlum.

Slightly less derogatory American usage would be using it to describe an inexperienced young person or novice.

As a verb, it can be used to mean being tricked or deceived.

In sports, it can mean to totally beat or defeat an opponent.

The word's origin is late 16th century. I found that in an archaic sense, it meant a prostitute. 

The closest I can find for my childhood usage is a North American, late 17th century (as noun) usage of uncertain origin, meaning a soft, crumbly wood that has been attacked by fungus, used as tinder to start a fire.

rutting

 

The term "rutting" is used to describe the mating season of deer and moose which occurs starting in mid-September because it refers to the aggressive and competitive behavior that males exhibit during this time.

"Rut" is a word that comes from the Old English "rot," which means "to copulate."

During the rut, male deer and moose become territorial and engage in fierce battles with other males to establish dominance and access to females. This behavior is often accompanied by loud vocalizations, such as bugling or grunting, and physical displays of strength.

Yankee

Though my first association with the word Yankee will always be baseball's New York Yankees, the word "yankee" has existed much longer than the team and is used in many ways.

The word Yankee (noun or adjective) and its contracted form Yank have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Their various meanings depend on the context and may refer to New Englanders, the Northeastern United States, the Northern United States, or to people from the U.S. in general. 

Outside the United States, Yank is used informally to refer to an American person or thing. It has been especially popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand where it may be used variously in an uncomplimentary overtone, endearingly, or even cordially.[

In the Southern United States, Yankee is a derisive term that refers to all Northerners, and during the American Civil War it was applied by Confederates to soldiers of the Union army in general. 

Elsewhere in the United States, it largely refers to people from the Northeastern states, but especially those with New England cultural ties, such as descendants of colonial New England settlers, wherever they live.

It can also be used as a more cultural than geographical usage. In that usage it emphasizes Calvinist Puritan Christian beliefs and traditions of the Congregationalists who brought their culture when they settled outside New England. The speech dialect of Eastern New England English is called "Yankee" or "Yankee dialect"

The origin is somewhat in question but it is commonly said to be from the Dutch Janneke, a diminutive form of the given name Jan which would be Anglicized by New Englanders as "Yankee" due to the Dutch pronunciation of J being the same as the English Y.

British General James Wolfe made the earliest recorded use of the word "Yankee" in 1758 when he referred to the New England soldiers under his command. "I can afford you two companies of Yankees, and the more, because they are better for ranging and scouting than either work or vigilance."

Later British use of the word was in a derogatory manner,
as seen in this cartoon published in 1775 ridiculing "Yankee" soldiers.

There are several odd foreign applications of the word. One comes from the late 19th century when the Japanese were called "the Yankees of the East" in praise of their industriousness and drive to modernization. But less flattering is the term yankī (ヤンキー) which has been used since the late 1970s to refer to a type of delinquent youth associated with motorcycle gangs and frequently sporting dyed blond hair.

During the American occupation of Korea and the Korean War, black markets in the country that sold smuggled American goods from military bases were called "yankee markets." (Korean: 양키시장).[66] The term "yankee" is now generally viewed as an anti-American slur in South Korea, as in the exclamation "Yankee go home!"

Arctic and Antarctica

The Arctic Circle currently at roughly 66° north of the Equator,

defines the boundary of the Arctic seas and lands CC BY 3.0, Link

We know the "top of the world" - the northernmost area of the Earth - as that frozen area known as the Arctic. The name comes from an ancient Greek word. 

Arctic comes from the Greek word ἀρκτικός (arktikos), "near the Bear, northern" and from the word ἄρκτος (arktos), meaning bear. It has nothing to do with the Polar Bears found there but refers either to the constellation known as Ursa Major, the "Great Bear", which is prominent in the northern portion of the celestial sphere, or to the constellation Ursa Minor, the "Little Bear", which contains the celestial north pole (currently very near Polaris, the current north Pole Star, or North Star).

Ursa Major and Minor are constellations visible only in the Northern Hemisphere.

Ursa Major as depicted in Urania's Mirror,
a set of constellation cards published in London c.1825

Antarctica is etymologically believed to be the land “of no Bear,” however, the Greek is actually “άντιάρκτικός” which translates to “opposite of the Bear.”

People often forget that Antarctica is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. It is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe. It is mostly covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).

The modern name given to the continent originates from the word antarctic, which comes from Middle French antartique or antarctique ('opposite to the Arctic') and, in turn, the Latin antarcticus ('opposite to the north') which is derived from the Greek.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote in Meteorology about an "Antarctic region" in c. 350 BCE, and the Greek geographer Marinus of Tyre reportedly used the name in his world map from the second century CE. (The map is now lost.) The Roman authors Gaius Julius Hyginus and Apuleius used for the South Pole the romanized Greek name polus antarcticus, from which derived the Old French pole antartike (modern pôle antarctique) attested in 1270, and from there the Middle English pol antartik, found first in a treatise written by the English author Geoffrey Chaucer.

Doobie Brothers, marijuana and doobies

The Doobie Brothers started when drummer John Hartman went to California in 1969 hoping to meet Skip Spence of Moby Grape. He wanted to join a Moby Grape reunion that never happened.

Spence introduced Hartman to singer, guitarist and songwriter Tom Johnston and the two proceeded to form the nucleus of what would become The Doobie Brothers. They called that early incarnation "Pud," and had a number of lineups and styles. As a "power trio" with bassist Greg Murphy and later with a horn section, they gigged around San Jose. In 1970 they teamed up with bass player Dave Shogren and singer, guitarist and songwriter Patrick Simmons.

Johnston has said that the Doobie Brothers name can be credited to a friend who thought it served the band's fondness for "doobies" - a slang for marijuana cigarettes.

Since this site is more about name etymologies (and not really a music site), let's take a look at the doobie connection.

Marijuana has always had a good number of nicknames. "Joints" is a common one. "Spliffs" is another that refers to cigarettes rolled with a bit of cardboard or a rolled business card in one end to serve as a mouthpiece. These are also known as a "crutch" or "roach." In North America, "roach" usually means the smoked-down butt of a joint.

Where did "joint" as a marijuana cigarette come from?  Ultimately, it's from French where it is an adjective meaning "joined" (past participle of the verb joindre). And that comes from the Latin iunctus, the past participle of iungo meaning "I join."

You might guess it has something to do with joining that spliff filter/mouthpiece, but it seems not.

By 1821, "joint" had become an Anglo-Irish term for an annex, or a side-room that is "joined" to a main room. By 1877, this had developed into U.S. slang for a place, building, or establishment that had a negative or questionable association - like an opium den.

By 1935, "joint" was being used to refer to the hypodermic needles used to inject heroin and other drugs at such establishments.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, its first usage in the sense of "marijuana cigarette" is dated to 1938.

Before we get back to the band, let's just say that for our international readers in Europe, some Commonwealth nations and the Middle-East, joints or "spliffs" are rolled by mixing cannabis or hashish with tobacco.

A more modern usage of the past 20 years in North America is the term "blunt" which is rolled using a cigar skin, from which the filler tobacco has been removed, and replaced by marijuana.

The Doobie Brothers played live all over Northern California in 1970 and attracted enough of a following to get a contract at Warner Bros. Records. Their following was not essentially potheads but leather-jacketed motorcycle fans.

But the band's 1971 self-titled debut album didn't really play to that audience and featured acoustic guitars and some country influences.

Album two was Toulouse Street and had the more rock-oriented hits "Listen to the Music" and  a cover of The Byrds' recording of "Jesus Is Just Alright."

With some changes to the rhythm section, their sound became more of a mashup of R&B,  country, bluegrass, hard rock, roadhouse boogie, and rock and roll.


They had a string of hits in 1973 including two songs that every bar band covered -  "Long Train Runnin" and "China Grove" from the 1973 album The Captain and Me.

Personally, I liked the addition of Steely Dan's (see our post on that band) guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.

They had their first #1 single with "Black Water."

What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits was a multi-platinum album. The album also has the horn-driven funk song "Eyes of Silver" and during this period and for several subsequent tours, the Doobies were often supported on-stage by Stax Records legends The Memphis Horns

The band was under contract to release another album in 1976 and they turned to Michael McDonald to add songs to Simmons and Porter's offerings. The resulting album was Takin' It to the Streets which marked another change to the sound which pleased some listeners and pissed off some of their original followers.

Their harder guitar-based rock gave way to "blue-eyed soul" and soft rock with keyboards and horns.  Baxter and MacDonald had both spent time in Steely Dan and Baxter's playing was more jazz-inflected guitar and McDonald's voice became the voice of the band in this period. His "Takin' It to the Streets," and "It Keeps You Runnin" were both hits.

A greatest hits compilation, Best of the Doobies, also came out that year and it was certified in 1996 by the RIAA as "Diamond" for sales in excess of ten million. The follow-up was a volume two of songs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doobie_Brothers

• Very Best Of The Doobie Brothers
• World Gone Crazy
• Captain & Me
• Toulouse Street
• What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits
• Minute By Minute
• Takin' It to the Streets
• Doobie Brothers
• Stampede
• Livin' On the Fault Line

 

moxie and Moxie

As a word, "moxie" means something like "energy, determination, spunk, courage, nerve, spirit, or guts". This term has been around since the 1930s and has continued in use, to some extent, into the early 21st century. "That girl has got moxie!"

I thought to look for an origin when I came across on Netflix the film MOXiE!, a 2021 American young adult comedy-drama film directed by Amy Poehler. 

But Moxie with a capital "M" is a brand of carbonated beverage that is among the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States. It was originally marketed as "nerve food" which would "strengthen the nervous system" and was "very healthful" and a "drink for athletes" that "strengthens and invigorates" - hence its slang usage. 

It was created around 1876 by Augustin Thompson as a patent medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food" and was produced in Lowell, Massachusetts. Thompson claimed that it contained an extract from a rare, unnamed South American plant, which is now known to be gentian root. Thompson claimed that he named the beverage after Lieutenant Moxie, a purported friend of his, who he claimed had discovered the plant and used it as a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases (a panacea). 

from the 1922 ad "The Moxie Boy compels attention..."
Public Domain, Link

Etymologies say it likely derived from an Abenaki word that means "dark water" and that is found in lake and river names in Maine, where Thompson was born and raised. 

The sweet soda is similar to root beer, with a bitter aftertaste and it is flavored with gentian root extract, an extremely bitter substance commonly used in herbal medicine.

Moxie was designated the official soft drink of Maine in 2005 and continues to be regionally popular today, particularly in New England states, and is even available on Amazon. Moxie was purchased by The Coca-Cola Company in 2018.

hullabaloo

Hullabaloo is defined as a commotion, usually over something of little or no importance.
"There was a hullabaloo about who should cut the wedding cake."

The Cambridge Dictionary defines it a bit more seriously as "a loud noise made by people who are angry or annoyed; a lot of angry comments made in public about someone or something," so it might have a slightly different meaning in the UK. 

The origin is given as being mid-18th century as a reduplication of hallo, hullo, etc. I'm not sure that satisfies my curiosity. 

It is a word I associate with an old American TV show that I have seen clips of on YouTube. Wikipedia says it was "an American musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 12, 1965, through April 11, 1966 (with repeats to August 1966). Similar to ABC's Shindig! and in contrast to American Bandstand, it aired in prime time."

Foil

A foil in literature is a character who contrasts with the main character to highlight the main character’s attributes. The purpose of the foil is to give the protagonist more color, depth, and nuance. So, the kind protagonist has a cruel foil. It's common in novels, movies and comic book superheroes.

A foil is not necessarily an enemy or antagonist. Sherlock Holmes had Dr. Watson. harry Potter has Draco.

But why? We know that a common use of foil is the metal that we use to wrap foods. Jewelers also place foil under gems to make them shine more brightly. Is it because this contrast makes a jewel’s brilliance and facets more apparent. Is that why a literary foil character serves as a "backdrop" to make the protagonist “shine.”

As a noun, "foil" means "very thin sheet of metal". It comes from the Old French words fueille, foile, or fueill, which mean "leaf; foliage; sheet of paper; sheet of metal". These words come from the Latin word folium, which is the plural of folia and means "leaf". The word "foil" has been used since the early 14th century.

As a verb, "foil" means to overthrow, defeat, beat off, repulse, or discomfit. In wrestling, it can also mean to throw or inflict a "foil" upon.