meaning and origin of ‘to raise Cain’

15th March 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

to create trouble or a commotion—USA, 1840—a euphemism for synonymous phrases such as ‘to raise the Devil’ and ‘to raise hell’—from the name of the eldest son of Adam and Eve and murderer of his brother Abel

the Christian-Latin origin of ‘Noël’

16th December 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

French—from the noun use of the Latin adjective ‘natalis’ (from Christian-Latin ‘natalis dies’, ‘day of birth’), denoting the festival of the nativity of Christ

the uncertain origin of the word ‘cockney’

22nd November 2017.Reading time 13 minutes.

originally ‘pampered child’, later ‘town-dweller regarded as affected or puny’—origin uncertain—probably not the same word as ‘cokeney’, literally ‘cock’s egg’

the long history of the word ‘blues’

18th August 2017.Reading time 17 minutes.

‘blues’—from ‘blue’ (‘sorrowful’) and elliptically from ‘blue devils’ (‘depression’)—originally a metaphorical use of ‘blue’ (‘bruised’), as in ‘black and blue’

meaning and origin of ‘ivory tower’ (‘tour d’ivoire’)

9th August 2017.Reading time 10 minutes.

1837—used by Sainte-Beuve to describe French poet Vigny’s seclusion in a turret room and preoccupation with inspiration unconnected with practical matters

origin of ‘according to Cocker’

22nd July 2017.Reading time 10 minutes.

according to Cocker: correctly; reliably—early 19th century, from the name of Edward Cocker (1631-75), English arithmetician, reputed author of a popular Arithmetick

origin of ‘castles in Spain’ and ‘castles in the air’

18th July 2017.Reading time 9 minutes.

In French medieval chansons de geste ‘castles in Spain’ denoted fiefs that had to be conquered from the Saracens by the knights to whom they had been granted.

meaning and origin of the phrase ‘to wet one’s whistle’

29th June 2017.Reading time 8 minutes.

In ‘to wet one’s whistle’ (to take a drink), attested in the late 14th century, in Chaucer, ‘whistle’ is jocular for the mouth or the throat.

origin of the word ‘sneeze’

2nd June 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

The verb ‘sneeze’ is an alteration of the obsolete verb ‘fnese’ due to misreading or misprinting it as ‘ſnese’ (= ‘snese’).

‘Galloglossia’ (19th-century invasion of English by French words)

17th May 2017.Reading time 19 minutes.

John Bull taking a Luncheon:—or—British Cooks, cramming Old Grumble-Gizzard, with Bonne-Chère. hand-coloured etching by James Gillray, published on 24th October 1798 — © Trustees of the British Museum This print was published just after Nelson’s victory at the Battle of the Nile. He is shown in the forefront of British admirals and naval heroes, serving up […]