January 07, 2005

• two loves please you're the bees knees but so am I /Smiths
• *feedbacky store microphone* Languagehat to the front please . . . Languagehat to the front. -=eEowwp*kth*=- I dug it. I disagree with the "OK" one though. My understanding was that it came from a political speech that described the politician's hometown (specifics, of course, unremembered). stuff here, too But what about the Bee's Wacky??
• You're thinking, I think of "Old Kinderhook," which was...Martin Van Buren? I don't think anyone has ever agreed on where it comes from.
• yup, ol' Martin van Buren. but why do they have to put the kinders on hooks? (besides the usual reasons)
• sorry to go off-topic but this made me wonder He does this a lot. Apparently, he was not an English major. Is this to suggest that if he'd been an English major he would've read more literature and already know the origins of many of these phrases? Or just that he'd be less averse to cracking open (or going online to) the dictionary?
• Lacking the background story for "Goody two-shoes", I'm surprised that I never wondered about that one before. Another phrase that has made me wonder about its origins, though, is "peachy keen." Some students at my high school tried to revive it as the new cool/rad/awesome.
• Seems like he got lazy at the end.... fuckin' makin me click the links for myself. Asshat. Seriously... lotsa good interesting stuff here. (Though I'm seriously too lazy to click the links near the end. Man, I'm such an American!)
• Awesome link, thanks. And if you scroll on down. . "The word "monkey" is of uncertain origin; its first known usage was in 1498 when it was used in the literary work Reynard the Fox as the name of the son of Martin the Ape. "Monkey" has numerous nautical meanings, such as a small coastal trading vessel, single masted with a square sail of the 16th and 17th centuries; a small wooden cask in which grog was carried after issue from a grog-tub to the seamen's messes in the Royal Navy; a type of marine steam reciprocating engine where two engines were used together in tandem on the same propeller shaft; and a sailor whose job involved climbing and moving swiftly (usage dating to 1858). A "monkey boat" was a narrow vessel used on canals (usage dating to 1858); a "monkey gaff" is a small gaff on large merchant vessels; a "monkey jacket" is a close fitting jacket worn by sailors; "monkey spars" are small masts and yards on vessels used for the "instruction and exercise of boys;" and a "monkey pump" is a straw used to suck the liquid from a small hole in a cask; a "monkey block" was used in the rigging of sailing ships; "monkey island" is a ship's upper bridge; "monkey drill" was calisthenics by naval personnel (usage dating to 1895); and "monkey march" is close order march by US Marine Corps personnel (usage dating to 1952)." Monkeyfilter: Sucking the liquid from a small hole in a cask. Or: For the instruction and exercise of boys.
• Aww. This is kinda bummer, actually. I find his grammar poor and his grasp specious at best. At the very least, enjoy Word Detective as a better version of the same thing (and the wordsmith.org A Word A Day archives is often the best place to look for word origins).
• Any a' yall ever read H.L. Mencken's The American Language?
• PY: The second one. Actually I don't mind much - it's fun to see the look on his face when I haul out a nice five-dollar word and then have to explain it. Although, you'd think "innocuous" wouldn't be considered elevated speech. That was the word of the day this morning along with the phrase of the day (bees knees)
• 4. I think the idea is that on a bee, knees are strictly a luxury. Hmpff! Please, keep yer mitts off my knees! These are no more luxuries for bees than for monkeys. Guy, just you try doing without one -- you'll find walking's neither fun nor easy. Possibly if you, sir, were a bee, ye might be missing two or three or four or five -- in which case ye won't make it out of a hive alive ere the workers seize ye.
• 4. I think the idea is that on a bee, knees are strictly a luxury. Hmpff! Please, keep yer mitts off my knees! These are no more luxuries for bees than for monkeys. Guy, just you try doing without one -- you'll find walking's neither fun nor easy. Possibly if you, sir, were a bee, ye might be missing two or three or four or five -- in which case ye won't make it out of a hive alive ere the workers seize ye.
• Well, it bears saying again, I suppose. *sigh*
• Your pomes usually do, my good bees.
• I like finding out some of the sources off odd turns of phrase, but I'm more of a fan of the new oddities that are consciously or unconsciously created by friends. My nephew used the term "carpal diem" with me in conversation recently, explaining that, while I might want to seize the day, my arthritis prevented me from doing so. I'd have throttled him, but I couldn't close my fist....
• This site is much better than I expected it to be. Frequent use of "origin unknown" is a very good sign; presentation of alternate theories is another. I disagree with js; the Word Detective is too cutesy for my taste, and you have to wade through a labored rehash of somebody's question and a few jokes before you get to the answer they think is correct. I must say, this bit from the linked site, under "Nitty-gritty," is pretty scary: Addressing rank and file officers at their annual conference, Home Office minister John Denham had referred to the "nitty-gritty". Sorry, said Metropolitan Police constable Chris Jefford, but that phrase is banned. ... The phrase - said to have its origins in the 18th Century slave traders' phrase for the debris left at the bottom of a slave ship after a voyage. A visit to the hold was described as 'going to the nitty-gritty'. ... PC Jefford later expanded on other phrases that were considered likely to cause offence. They include the saying 'you're a good egg'. This is linked to the slang expression 'egg and spoon' which rhymes with the highly derogatory name for black people, 'coon'. We live in increasingly crazed times.
• Finally, the answers I have been seeking for so long.