Spring Fever, Cabin Fever

You made it through the month of March without being as “mad as a March hare” but there there is April, May and most of June to survive before summer, so spring fever is still a possibility.

“Spring Fever” is an interesting term for a phenomenon or perhaps a pseudo-illness. The term seems to have entered English in the mid-1800s. Linguistically, it is interesting because it has two meanings which are opposites. There is the term contronym to describe words that are also antonyms. Examples include words such as cleave which can mean “to cling” or “to split”, and the verb “to dust” which can mean to remove dust (cleaning a house) or to add dust (dust a cake with powdered sugar).

Similarly, “spring fever” means a sluggishness, apathy or inertia at this time after winter OR a renewed energy and freedom at the opportunity to get outside and be active again. 

The negative feeling is related to the dormancy, like a hibernating animal, that occurs for many of us in colder climates during winter. Like a bear coming out of hibernation, we are slow to get moving.

The more positive meaning applied to this seasonal change is experiencing new-found energy after being confined mostly indoors for a few months. Time to start that spring cleaning, get back to exercising, start working on outdoor projects, and get into the Sun.

It’s not a real disease or fever, but historians think the American colonists coined the term to refer to the weakness, fatigue, and irritability many felt after a long winter without fresh fruits or vegetables. These symptoms could be quite real but were probably signs of the very real disease scurvy which also plagued sailor on long voyages. Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C. Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs and without treatment, causes decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding from the skin.

“Cabin fever” is phrase we started using in the early 1900s for a kind of claustrophobic reaction we have to be “trapped” inside with less to keep us busy and no access to nature for an extended period. I love cabins, so the thought of being in one seems quite pleasant to me, but that might change if I was snowed in for a month. You could get cabin fever in an isolated cabin in the woods, but it can happen in a home in the suburbs or a city apartment too. Ever notice how crowded your local park is on those first really warm and sunny spring days?

In German, they have the difficult-to-pronounce term frühjahrsmüdigkeit which is literally translated as “spring tiredness”, so this is not a purely American phenomenon. The German version is on the negative side. It means a temporary mood characterized by low energy levels.

Is there any science to all this? Though the diagnosis of “spring fever” or “cabin fever” probably doesn’t appear in any manual with a code for your insurance coverage, there are things that can cause all the symptoms. The cause most often noted is hormone imbalance.  One hormone that increases our happiness is serotonin, whose production depends on daylight, so the level may be lowered over the winter. Serotonin is the basis for many anti-depressant medications. The lowered serotonin might also allow melatonin, a hormone related to sleep,  to have its way with us. The longer days of spring and summer allow more endorphin, testosterone, and estrogen to be released.  It has also been suggested that this seasonal readjustment of hormones stresses our bodies and we react with a feeling of tiredness.

The cure or prevention is getting outside, being active, and getting some sunlight (a half hour is enough to help). Avoid taking any melatonin tablets for a while.  Eat less food and, as those hormones adjust, increase vitamins and proteins. Look at the cures for seasonal affective disorder and get happy.

April Fools

Maybe today you were the victim of a practical joke. For centuries, April 1 has been a day marked by hoaxes and practical jokes played on people around the world.  If you fall for one of these pranks, then you are an April fool.

This tradition goes back to Europe in the mid-1600s and crossed over to the English-speaking world in the late seventeenth century.

Although the origin of April Fools is still debatable, most references trace it back to France and the French calendar reform of the sixteenth century.

Up until 1564, the Julian calendar was the accepted one to use in France and the beginning of the New Year was around April. But King Charles IX declared that France would begin using the Gregorian calendar which has New Year's Day on January 1.

Those who did not accept the change became the focus of April jokes and were mocked as fools. Pranks were played on, like being invited to parties that never occurred. In rural areas, word of the change was not always known, so these people were also mocked for celebrating the new year on the wrong day.

The tradition of pranking these "fools" commonly included sneaking a paper fish to their backs. These victims were called Poisson d’Avril, or April Fish. Today the term is still used in France for April Fools where the tradition is more popular with younger children. Bakeries and chocolatiers even make fish-shaped treats for the "holiday."

Why related to fish? That's unclear but it has been suggested that it relates to the zodiac sign of Pisces (a fish), which falls near April.

In Italy,  Il Pesce d’Aprile, or April’s Fish, is very similar. Youngsters secretly attach a paper cutout pesciolino (small fish) to the back of a school companion and then everyone asks, "L’hai visto?—Chi?—Il pesce d’Aprile!" (or Have you seen?—Who?—the April Fool!) and laugh at the Fool.

In France, Italy, the United States and other countries, adults get in on the game - usually minus the fish.

basket cases

“Basket case” has multiple meanings nowadays. Referring to a person it often means someone unable to cope with mental or emotional stress, especially due to anxiety. It can be temporary. Someone who is very nervous, tired, and unable to think or act normally. "By the end of the day, he was a complete basket case".

Used to describe a non-person, it can be anything that is impaired or incapable of functioning ot is beyond repair. For example, "The company was in such financial trouble, it was considered a basket case".

Simply defined, it means stressed out, or unable to cope

But why basket? 

WWI wounded arriving at triage station, Suippes, France

In World War I, soldiers who had lost all of their limbs and could not be safely carried on stretchers were put into makeshift baskets. The term is considered insulting and dates back to around 1919. 

The Oxford English Dictionary says the colloquial term “basket case” originated in the United States shortly after World War I, and meant “a person, esp. a soldier, who has lost all four limbs.”

But there is some evidence that is a mythic origin.

"However, the phrase, which initially referred to American soldiers supposedly left limbless by the war, was a product of the postwar rumor mill in the US. No quadruple-amputee American soldiers existed, and there’s no evidence that any head-and-torso survivors from any country were carried around in baskets."

At the drop of a hat

“At the Drop of a Hat” is an expression that means to do something without delay, warning or much preparation.

In the 19th century, a hat was often used to indicate the start of a race or a fight. A hat would be dropped or swept in a downward arc and participants would begin.This was particularly in usage in the American West.

If you do something at the drop of a hat, you do it immediately without really stopping to think about it:

"Do you think I can just meet you at the drop of a hat?"  Though in a usage such as "People will file lawsuits at the drop of a hat these days," there must have been some thought beforehand. 

Big Wigs, Mad Hatters and Sons of a Gun

I saw that a question on TV's Jeopardy was about  “Big Wigs.”  The term has come to mean a very important person. The origin is quite literal. In the 18th century, wigs for women and men were common. The important figures within the political system would wear the biggest wigs.

You might have heard the expression that someone is “As Mad as a Hatter” meaning they are crazy or insane. I first encountered it in Alice in Wonderland.

The origin also goes back to the 17th and 18th centuries. Hatters - those who made hats - made felt hats using mercury. That led to all kinds of side effects, including literal insanity. The Mad Hatter, from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, is based on this phenomenon.

It is not a bad thing to call someone a "son of a gun" as it is a term of endearment. The origin I found goes back to when sailors took their wives to sea on long voyages. Inevitably, some of the women became pregnant. It was believed that the safest place to give birth was deemed to be between the guns/cannons. I couldn't find why that was the place, but therefore, a child born on the gun deck was known as a "son of a gun."

Another variation I found is that when in port, wives - and prostitutes - were allowed on board. In the morning, the Bosun's mates would yell "show a leg" as they came to the gun deck, where the sailors hung their hammocks. A female leg meant not to upend the hammock to get the sailor to work. That origin story also said that if a baby was born onboard, especially if the father wasn't known for sure, then the babe was a son of a gun.

Perhaps related is that the term "gundecking" is still used to mean really screwing up or doing the job wrong.

Walk of Life

What is the meaning and origin of the idiom "from all walks of life"?  When people talk about walk(s) of life, they are referring to different types of jobs and different levels of society. "The club has members from all walks of life."

The phrase "people from all walks of life" is often used informally to convey that a group of people consists of individuals from diverse backgrounds and occupations. It can also bring to mind the idea that people from all socioeconomic classes and ways of living are represented

OED's earliest evidence for "walk of life" is from 1733, in the writing of Eustace Budgell.

But why is it a "walk" of life? I found no explanation. My guess would be that each life is a journey and walking is one, especially in the 1700s, way of moving through the day and your life. 

Riding Shotgun

 

Joan Weldon & Randolph Scott in RIDING SHOTGUN

The term "riding shotgun" originates in the early 1700s and for almost two centuries it literally meant a person riding beside the driver of a stagecoach or other vehicle armed with a weapon, A shotgun was the original weapon of choice as it offered a better chance of hitting a robber from a moving vehicle on rough roads at speed.

Armed guards positioned beside drivers continued long after stagecoaches were replaced by motorized vehicles. 

The term gained popularity in movies like Stagecoach (1939) and Riding Shotgun (1954). 

Andy Devine & George Bancroft STAGECOACH

By the 1960s, it had entered into American culture as a common way to claim the front passenger seat with the phrase "I call shotgun."

By Jove

Marble statue of Jupiter from c. 100 AD

There are some milder, euphemistic substitutes for using the name of God, such as “gosh darn it,” “for Pete’s sake,” “by George,”and “good golly." "By Jove" is another one but is also different. "By Jove" did not start as a euphemism, and when it first showed up in English. 

Both “by Jove” and “by Jupiter” were originally Latin oaths as pro Iovem and pro Iuppiter. Roman would use this literally in the way we might say “my God!” or “good God!” Jove or Jupiter was the top deity for the Romans. This sender of thunderbolts was Zeus to the Greeks and equated to Germanic Thor.

Today, the phrase is used to express surprise or to emphasize a statement. "By Jove, that was some explosion."

In classical times, the name was written as Iovis or Iuppiter
(Iuppiter was a compound of the archaic Latin Iovis and pater).
There was no “j” in classical Latin.
The letter “i” was both a consonant and a vowel;
as a consonant, it sounded like the English letter “y.”

A Horatio Alger Story

I have always heard the phrase "a Horatio Alger story" and took it to mean that this Horatio person had a rags-to-riches success story. The phrase is not in very common usage today and it turns out that my definition is not completely accurate to its origin.

There was a real Horatio Alger Jr. who was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1832. He was the oldest of five kids, and he was nearsighted and asthmatic. He was accepted to Harvard when he was 16, and he said, "No period of my life has been one of such unmixed happiness as the four years which have been spent within college walls." 

He studied under Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was named Class Poet, and wrote essays, poetry, and short sketches. After graduation, he didn't enjoy much publishing success, so he made his living by taking a series of temporary teaching jobs.

He moved to New York City and began working with homeless and delinquent boys, establishing boarding houses and securing homes and public assistance for them. It was during this time that he started writing dime novels for boys. It was his fourth book Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York with the Boot-Blacks (1868) that finally made him a literary success.

The book followed a formula that he would return to often - a young boy, living in poverty, manages to find success and happiness by working hard and never giving up. The books created a kind of American concept that if you worked hard, and lived virtuously, and had a combination of "pluck and luck," you could go from the gutter to the mansion.

The popularity of the books - and maybe that idea - decreased as the century turned. He revised his style, making the stories more violent and gritty, but they had peaked.

He died in near-poverty in 1899. So his story is more of a riches-to-rags story. 

wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Alger

Idioms, phrases, expressions and sayings

I use the category label of "idioms and phrases" on this site, but I sometimes rather cavalierly call multiple-word phrases "sayings," "expressions," or just plain old "terms." Are they truly interchangeable? I decided to investigate this confusion. 

An IDIOM is defined as a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words. "Raining cats and dogs" and "see the light" are examples. 

A PHRASE is defined as a group of words that works together in a sentence but does not contain a subject or a verb. Often phrases are used to describe people, things, or events. The English teacher in me notes that I used to have to teach these phrases in grammar units: Noun Phrase; Friday became a cool, wet afternoon. Verb Phrase; Mary might have been waiting outside for you. Gerund Phrase; Eating ice cream on a hot day can be a good way to cool off. Infinitive Phrase; She helped to build the roof. Prepositional Phrase; In the kitchen, you will find my mom.

But when I label something as a phrase on this website I don't mean those things. I am more likely talking about simple expressions, idiomatic expressions, and the "turn of phrase." Still, I find other websites that also lump idioms and phrases together.

There are plenty of these that don't need an explanation or origin story from me: "A hard nut to crack" meaning a person who is very difficult to deal with is obvious.

What label would you put on "A picture is worth a thousand words" or "Better late than never" or "Born with a silver spoon in mouth"? 

I can say that idiom comes from late 16th-century French idiome, or via late Latin from Greek idiōma oddly meaning "private property" from idiousthai  "to make one's own" which in turn comes from idios meaning own or private. Is suppose the idea was that these phrases began as some personal expression and then some became more widely used.

Okay, I suppose I keep using the idioms and phrases" category and also use the other terms.

Zuzu's Petals

"Zuzu's petals" is a phrase from the 1946 movie It's A Wonderful Life which since its release has become a Christmas-season film classic.

The petals belong to Zuzu Bailey, the youngest daughter of George Bailey the main character. Early in the film, Zuzu shows a flower that she brought home from school and became upset when the petals started to fall off. Her father pretended to reattach them but actually just slipped the lost petals into his pocket.

By the end of the movie, after considering suicide, George has been shown what the world might be like if he had never been born. Given a second chance by God, aided by the angel Clarence, all the changes he had seen in the world were undone. His first realization that his world had been returned to him was when he found that Zuzu's petals were once again in his pocket.

The unusual name, Zuzu, is sometimes used as a short nickname for Susan. But Grimes, who played Zuzu in the film, has another origin story. She says it came from a Nabisco cookie called Zu Zu Ginger Snaps. It was a widely advertised product in magazines of the period. If that sounds farfetched, remember that near the end of the film, George runs up the house stairs and when he meets his little daughter he says “Zuzu, my little ginger snap!“

The phrase has become a kind of shorthand way of reminding people of the hope that things can be mended and made better.

"Zuzu's petals...Zuzu... There they are!"

Nautical Terms part 2

Image: Darkmoon_Art

In part one of my posts about nautical terms, I focused on terms about competency that have come from the nautical world. I also found several expressions for incompetency that come from that world.

Have you heard about someone who is over a barrel? To be "over a barrel" has come to mean to be left without choice or in someone else's power. Its nautical origin first appeared in the late-19th century. It referred to the actual situation of being draped over a barrel, either to empty the lungs of someone who has been close to drowning, or to give a flogging. in either case the person is in a helpless position and under someone else's control.

The expression has softened in meaning and now used to refer to anyone in a situation where they have little choice.

When we say that someone or something "ran afoul," we are also referencing a nautical expression. To run afoul in nautical terms means to collide or become entangled with something. One boat can run afoul of another or one small boat can run afoul of something like seaweed.

Currently, it is more commonly used to be in severe disagreement, trouble, or difficulty with someone or something, such as running afoul of the law.  

This expression originated in the late 1600s when it was applied to a vessel colliding or becoming entangled with another vessel, but it went into non-nautical usage around the same time and both senses remain current.

"Scraping the bottom of the barrel" means using something of very poor quality because that is all that is left. It has a quite literal origin from 17th-century ships when sailors would scrape empty barrels used to store salted meat to recover any remaining scraps. Away from ships, it can mean to obtain the last dregs of something or to procure someone or something that is of inferior quality.

And there are still at least 50 more nautical terms and sailing phrases that have enriched our language.

A Perfect Storm

Image: WikiImages

The phrase "a perfect storm" has multiple uses but they all originate from the same basic meaning. The commonality is that any "perfect storm" is an event in which a rare combination of circumstances drastically aggravates the event. 

The most literal use of the term is in weather forecasting. It refers to an unusually severe storm that results from a rare combination of meteorological phenomena. It is somewhat ironic since a perfect storm is often deadly and hardly "perfect" to those affected by it.

The phrase entered our vocabulary when a 1997 book, The Perfect Storm, and in 2000 a popular movie adaptation entered the mainstream. 

Sebastian Junger planned to write a book about the 1991 Halloween Nor'easter storm which was technically an "extratropical cyclone." While researching for the book, Junger learned that the event was the confluence of three different weather-related phenomena which a meteorologist told him was the "perfect situation" to generate such a storm. Junger then coined the phrase perfect storm and use it as the title of his 1997 book.

Since the book and movie's release, the phrase has grown to mean any event where a situation is aggravated drastically by an exceptionally rare combination of circumstances.

Despite Junger coining the weather-related perfect storm, the Oxford English Dictionary has published references going back to 1718 for "perfect storm." The earliest citations use the phrase in the sense of "absolute" or "complete." For example, in Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair, he writes "in the midst of a perfect storm of sympathy.

There is even an 1850 meteorological use of the phrase describing "A perfect storm of thunder and lightning all over England."

Today, a "perfect storm" most often means a worst-case scenario, such as its use during the financial crisis of 2007–2008 to describe the terribly "perfect" combination of circumstances that allowed the crisis to occur.

Nautical terms part one

 

Image by Brigitte Werner from Pixabay

As with my earlier posts on terms that come from the world of printing, such is the case with nautical terms that entered the language in some form. I gained some inspiration for this post from an essay by Hester Blum about her brief voyage on a 19th-century whaling ship.

"Think of all the idioms for competency that come from seafaring: knowing the ropes, crackerjack, all told, first rate, flying colors. There are plenty of nautical expressions for incompetency, too: deadwood, over a barrel, run afoul, scraping the bottom of the barrel. My expertise in the language and literature of sailing does not necessarily translate to manual or experiential fluency, nor did I expect it to."

Some of these terms have fallen out of fashion. As a child, I would hear adults tell us kids to "pipe down" meaning to get quiet. Aboard a ship, the boatswain's pipe, or whistle, is used to summon a crew, relay orders and dismiss them. To dismiss a crew, the boatswain piped and the command "pipe down" is given. After dismissal, things were quiet and the command became associated with quieting down or making less noise.

Boatswain's whistle, pipe, or bosun's pipe

The phrase “know the ropes” comes from sailing where ropes, or lines, are important to navigating and steering the ship. One who knows the ropes has experience in sailing.

"Crackerjack" isn't just a snack food that appeared in the 1890s. In the late 19th-century crack and jack were merged into a new word. Cracker is an elongation of crack which is an adjective meaning "expert" or "superior" that dates from the 18th century, as in "He is a crack shot with a rifle." Even earlier, "crack" was a noun meaning "something superior" and a verb meaning "to boast." 

"Jack" has been used for "man" since the mid-1500s. We find it in the expression "jack-of-all-trades" and in nautical terms as "Jack Tar" to mean a sailor. (The "tar" comes from the coating on ropes.) Crackerjack entered English as a noun referring to "a person or thing of marked excellence," and then was used as an adjective. 

"All told" is an idiom we don't hear very much these days. It means with everything or everyone taken into account. "All told there will be 75 people attending." It was once used on board ships to indicate all were present.

"First-rate" has its origin in the rating "A1" which was used to mean "having the highest qualifications" in reference to commercial ships. Lloyd's of London used this rating system. Shipping was very important in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Lloyd's rating system became known beyond shipping to mean "of the finest quality" or "first-rate."

The term "flying colors," as in "she passed the test with flying colors" and "showing your true colors" to mean to reveal one's character (usually used in a negative way) both come from a sailing practice. At one time, ships hoisted their national flags ("fly their colors") before commencing battle, BUT some ships would carry flags from many countries and hoist "false flags" to confuse or mislead their enemies rather than show their "true colors."

Holy Toledo, Holy Mackerel, Holy Smoke and Holy Cow

The Roman Catholic Primate Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo
(Catedral Primada Santa María de Toledo)

I have heard "Holy Toledo" used as an exclamation of surprise, as in "Holy Toledo, have you seen the price of that stock today?" On the old Batman television show, Robin was rather fond of using 'Holy' sayings during the show. It is a rather old-fashioned expression but its origin is much older.

The expression does refer to Toledo, Spain (not Toledo, Ohio, USA) which became one of the great centers of Christian culture after its liberation from the Moors in 1085. It was the city where Christianity got its first hold in Spain and is often called the Holy City of Toledo in literature.

I'm not sure how relevant it is to the origin, but I also read that Toledo steel was used in medieval swords and was renowned for its quality, and some of those Holy Toldeo swords were used to fight the Infidels.

But there are odd other usages of the expression that are less than religious. For example, in show business, "Holy Week" (the week leading up to Easter) was once considered the worst week at the box office and a Hollywood joke was that any week in Toledo, Ohio was a "Holy Week."

The American city of Toledo was anything but "holy" and in the 1920s and 30s it a sanctuary for gangsters. They seemed to have made a deal with the police that if the police would leave them alone, they would leave Toledo alone. To gangsters, this sanctuary was known as "Holy Toledo."

There is a larger group of "Holy ____!" expressions in English, such as "Holy cow!", "Holy mackerel!" or "Holy smoke!" all of which are used as exclamations of surprise.

"Holy Mackeral" seems to go back to the early 1800s and might have been a euphemism for Holy Mary. It has been suggested that "Mackerel" was a nickname for Catholics because they ate the fish on Fridays or that the practice of selling mackerel only on Sundays in the seventeenth century (its quality deteriorates rapidly) made it be known as a "holy" fish.

From the Dictionary of American Slang (1960):

"Holy Buckets!" Equiv. to "Holy cats!" or "Holy Mike!" both being euphemisms for "Holy Christ!". This term is considered to be very popular among teenagers, and most teens claim it is definitely a very popular phrase. It is also the common oath and popular exclamation put into the mouths of teenagers by many screenwriters, and is universally heard on radio, television, and in the movies. It was first popularized by the "Corliss Archer" series of short stories, television programs, and movies, which attempted to show the humorous, homey side of teenage life.

Incense burner

As far as the use of "Holy smoke!" according to the OED, Sir John Beaumont in 1627 writes: “Who lift to God for us the holy smoke / Of fervent prayers”. The idea being of a burnt sacrifice or incense is a metaphor for the carrying of one's prayers up to heaven.

The phrase "Holy cow!" and other similar expressions can be not only an exclamation of surprise but also a minced oath or euphemism for an actual expletive. (Not that you won't hear "Holy shit" and other literal expletives too.) As a way to avoid using obscene or indecent language, it probably alluded to the holiness of cows in Hinduism and other religious traditions. 

It was popular with baseball players going back to the early 1900s and was associated with several American baseball broadcasters. Growing up in the NY-metro area as a NY Yankees fan, I always associated it with Yankees shortstop and announcer Phil Rizzuto. He used the expression in a variety of poetic contexts. When the Yankees honored him following his retirement, the ceremony included a real cow with a halo prop on its head.

Printing Part 2: hot off the press, stereotype, typecast, make a good impression

Earlier I had an earlier post about some words and phrases that come from the world of printing and this is part two. Most of the words and phrases are quite old and printing processes have changed a lot, but some of these are still in common usage. I picked up this information from the book Printer’s Error: Irreverent Stories from Book History. 

When you hear that something is "hot off the press" you know it's something new and up to date, but at one time it was something literally hot. In printing, it's not the paper or the press that is hot in temperature, it is the metal type itself. The Linotype machine invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler allowed compositors to type on a keyboard what they wanted to print and as they did so the machine would cast the type right there out of molten metal (mostly lead). 

This process really sped up the older typesetting process of arranging "cold" pieces of type letter by letter.

The etymology of the company name Linotype is supposed to have come from the owner of the New York Tribune who excitedly said, “You have done it; you have produced a line o’ type.”

Take the idea of creating thousands of exact printed copies from a single original setting of type further and you get the modern meaning. The term "stereotype" is still widely used to mean when it is assumed that every person from a single group is the exact same. "He is a stereotypical jock."

When an actor is chosen for a role because she fits a certain profile, she has been typecast. “Type” and “cast” are both printing words. Molten metal is poured into a mold in a process known as casting. An actor who "fits the mold" of a role is said to be typecast. "She is often typecast as the suburban mom."

When you meet someone for the first time, like on a date or in a job interview, you want to "make a good impression." The Latin word imprimere means “to press into or upon.” American printers would make a first printing or first edition but in British English a print run was an “impression.”

Fare Well and Farewell

You have probably said "Farewell" to someone as they left for somewhere else. Maybe, they were heading to their home a few blocks away. Maybe, they were about to board a plane or boat for a more distant journey. 

The modern "farewell" originates in Middle English farewel, an expression, possibly further derived from Old English far wel. The verb fare means to travel or journey. Wishing someone "Fare well!" was a kind of blessing to travel safely and well.

Today's "farewell" can often just mean "goodbye" but in its earliest usage (first evidence of the word dates back to 1325–75) it was used to wish someone the best on a significant journey ahead.

Fare thee well, sailor!

Fare Thee Well was a series of concerts with most of the surviving members
 of the Grateful Dead to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band.

From Printing: ditto, mind your p's and q's, out of sorts

I am a big reader and I also love books and the bookmaking process. I came upon a book this past week called Printer’s Error: Irreverent Stories from Book History. The printing press and the democratization of knowledge through books changed the world.

One of the things in this book that I liked is how some common words and phrases come from the process of making books.

Here are a few I've found. I'm sure I'll add some more in the future.

I have used the word "ditto" and heard it used. Going back to schools 50 years ago, you might have recalled what we called a ditto machine that teachers used to make copies of handouts. In printing, ditto is shorthand to mean to repeat something that’s already been said. Its origin is the Italian word detto, the past participle of “to say.” 

The word came into wider usage with that early 20th-century duplicating machine which was produced by DITTO, Inc. And their simple logo was a single set of quotation marks " which is still used to mean "ditto" or same as above.

An 18th-century type case, with tools for typesetting

A phrase that I don't hear as much today as I did as a child is to "mind your p's and q's." When I was in seventh grade, I took a printing class and we actually learned to set type and use a printing press. (Yes, I must be old!)  This phrase when said by a teacher or parent meant to be on your best behavior or to pay close attention. But if my print shop teacher had said it in the printing context it would apply to setting type. In that process, you put each letter in backward, so that when the inked type is pressed into paper, the mirror image reads the right way forward. That meant that compositors had to be especially careful when it came to letters that look like mirror images of each other. In older type cases, each letter was kept in a segregated section to be picked out by the compositor setting the type. The lowercase p’s and q’s were nastily put right next to each other. If the placement had been different, maybe the phrases that would have emerged would have been “mind your b’s and d’s.” 

Related to those type cases, the capital letters were usually on the top rows and so were referred to as uppercase letters. 

Also from this typesetting area is the phrase "out of sorts." In common usage, it means to be feeling a bit off, perhaps unwell, or just grumpy. For printers and typesetting compositors it meant you were literally out of sorts. A sort is an individually cast piece of type. If you run out of out of type in the middle of a job, it would certainly make you feel out of sorts figuratively and literaaly.

Ad-lib and Improvise

I'm sure you've heard the expression "ad-lib." To ad-lib (verb) means "to improvise" or "to deliver spontaneously and the noun form is what is produced in that way. 

It is most commonly used with acting. That makes sense because ad-lib is a shortening of the Latin ad libitum, which means "in accordance with one's wishes." In its earliest usage, ad libitum referred to acting and any activity where the performer was free to do whatever they liked for as long as desired. 

The term was extended beyond performance to drawing, public speaking, singing or playing an instrument, playing a sport, doing an experiment, making a repair and many other situations. 

In performance, "improvisation" is a similar term and used more often than ad-lib. To improvise is to create and perform (particularly music or drama) spontaneously, without preparation or script or sheet music.

Improv or ad-lib?

The two terms are not exactly the same. I think of a performer such as Robin Williams. He was known for his improvisation. Was he sometimes ad-libbing? I learned that he often used bits that he had done before but it seemed like an ad-lib to audiences because it might be in a new context. Improvisation suggests something new, but you could ad-lib lyrics to a song if you forgot the actual lyrics or wanted to extend it.

A Ballcock Is Not an Obscenity

As I wrote in a short poem, this mechanism that is often found as part of toilet sounds obscene. It's not. At least it wasn't meant to be when it was invented by a priest.

A ballcock (also known as a balltap or float valve) is a mechanism or machine for filling water tanks, such as those found in flush toilets, while avoiding overflow. 

The modern ballcock was invented by José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez, a Mexican priest and scientist, who described the device in 1790 in the Gaceta de Literatura Méxicana. The ballcock device was patented in 1797 for use in steam engines by Edmund Cartwright.

It consists of a valve (11) connected to a hollow sealed float (1) by means of a lever (3) mounted near the top of the tank. The float is often ball-shaped, hence the name ballcock. The valve is connected to the incoming water supply, and is opened and closed by the lever which has the float mounted on the end. When the water level rises, the float rises with it; once it rises to a pre-set level, the mechanism forces the lever to close the valve and shut off the water flow.

Cock valves (also known as plug valves, stop cocks, or quarter-turn valves) are devices that allow the user to restrict or permit flow through a pipe from an external point. Their use can be dated all the way into antiquity, and they are one of the simplest means of controlling fluid flow.

The word cock has many meanings beyond being a slang term for a penis. Going back to the 1500s, we find the term used as a noun and verb referring to a part of a gun and the action of putting into position the hammer by pulling back to the catch before firing.

A later usage is the term "to go off half-cocked" which figuratively means to speak or act too hastily. That usage alludes to the literal situation when firearms fire unexpectedly when supposedly secure. A weapon that is half-cocked has the cock lifted to the first catch, at which position the trigger does not act.

In 1770, "half-cocked" was noted as a synonym for "drunk." 

British pub sign - Public Domain

The male of the domestic fowl is called a cock (and more politely and euphemistically as a "rooster') and they have been associated since ancient times with male vigor. Cock is short for cockerel and a cockerel might be introduced to a group of hens (roost) to encourage egg laying. It is then called a rooster. Rooster is more common in American English and cockerel (cock) is British English. The connection to a human male penis is unclear. Ironically, the fowl known as the cock has no penis.

The  (the Latin word is penis). There are examples of efforts to avoid the older usages of "cock." As with "rooster," haystack replaced haycock, and weathervane replaced weather-cock. Author Louisa May Alcott's father was born Alcox, but changed his name.

The word is still used in other expletives such as cock-teaser and cock-sucker which appeared in print as far back as 1891. 

A cocker spaniel was a dog breed trained to start woodcocks in the hunt. 

"Cock of the walk" is a phrase used to describe an overbearing fellow, probably alluding to the "proud" walk of the rooster.  

"Cock-and-bull" is used to label a fictitious story or exaggerated lie. It was first recorded in the 1620s and might be an allusion to the talking animals of Aesop's fables. French has parallel expression coq-à-l'âne.

A "cock-lobster is a male lobster and goes back to 1757.