November 3rd, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
“The jig is up” is a slang phrase “said of risky or improper activity,” according to Webster’s. This association reflects its origin, which “American Slang” puts at sometime after 1800 as another way of saying, “The criminal enterprise is discovered.”
Its current definition is “that ends it; all chances for success are gone.”
It’s sometimes written improperly as “The gig is up.” There are actually four separate “gigs” in Webster’s, but none is a good fit for the phrase. (I’ll look at the gig family tomorrow.)
How the word “jig” was chosen for it isn’t exactly clear either. In fact, even its association with dancing is speculative. The dictionary says it probably came from the Middle French “giguer,” meaning “to gambol, dance,” which came from “gigue,” “a fiddle.”
The jig is “a fast, springy sort of dance, usually in triple time.” Its motion also inspired “jigsaw” and “jiggle,” which is what Jell-O does.
I wasn’t sure I could fit that in, but apparently there is always room for Jell-O.
October 7th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
“Hobnob” is a word you don’t hear much anymore, maybe because it has more pasts than presents.
It used to be a noun for “a friendly chat,” an adverb for “at random,” and a verb for “to drink together.” Webster’s gives all three the label “now rare.”
What has survived is “hobnob” as a verb for “to be on close terms (with someone); associate in a familiar way.”
So what does this have to do with Ernest Hemingway? I’m glad you asked.
The origin of the word is the Middle English “habben, ne habben” — literally, “to have and not have.”
Yes, film buffs, we have arrived at 1944 and the Howard Hawks movie “To Have and Have Not,” which paired Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, then 19, for the first time.
The script, which literary giant William Faulkner had a hand in, was loosely based on a book by Hemingway.
Other notables in the film were “Stardust” composer Hoagy Carmichael; three-time Oscar winner Walter Brennan; and character actor Sheldon Leonard, better known as producer of four classic TV series: “The Danny Thomas Show,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “I Spy.”
Now that would have been a group to hobnob with.
October 6th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
I’m a big fan of simplicity, but sometimes we try to make English too simple.
Case in point: Here’s an entry in The Associated Press Stylebook — recur, recurred, recurring. Not “reoccur.”
The problem is, there’s a subtle difference between “reoccur” and “recur.”
I concur with trying to avoid “reoccur.” It simply means “to happen again.” So why not just say “happen again” instead of “reoccur,” which seems inelegant.
However, “recur” is perfect for “to appear at intervals.” In other words, for when something occurs again and again.
That’s how we get the adjective “recurrent” for “intermittent.”
All of them can be traced to the Latin verb “currere,” for “to run,” which is also where “current” comes from.
And you thought it came from electrical devices.
October 5th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
The dictionary’s third definition of “dilemma” is “any serious problem,” and it gives “predicament” as a synonym. This is about as loose as usage can get.
The word comes from the Greek “di-” for “two” and “lemma” for “proposition.” Its original sense, and still its first definition, is “an argument necessitating a choice between equally unfavorable or disagreeable alternatives.”
Its second definition expands its reach beyond arguments to any situation presenting two such options — in other words, “between a rock and a hard place.”
There are many kinds of problems, and many words for them, including the aforementioned “predicament,” “plight,” “quandary,” “pickle” and “fix.
Let’s keep “dilemma” for those no-win situations where there are two choices and both stink. To be “on the horns of a dilemma” is a particularly unpleasant place to be.
September 24th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
Word detectives have been on the trail of “cop” for a long time. More than one prime suspect has been encountered along the way.
One of the first was the metal “copper,” which reportedly was what the uniform buttons of British law officers of the time were made of. Or perhaps it was their badges.
Another was “COP,” the acronym, for “constable on patrol” or “constabulary of police” or even “chief of police.”
Both still have their defenders.
Webster’s New World College Dictionary suggests it came from the “north British dialectical form” of the obsolete “cap,” meaning “to seize.” And it says that probably could be traced back to the Latin verb “capere,” for “to take.”
But according to “Webster’s New Explorer Dictionary of Word Origins,” the case has been solved — and the culprit is an English verb “cop,” not “cap,” that appeared around 1700. It was slang for “to catch, capture,” and by 1844 it had appeared in print “to refer to what police do to criminals.”
Just two years later, “copper” appeared in print for “policeman” — “one who cops or catches or arrests criminals.”
In 1859, the noun “copper” was shortened to “cop.”
Would that case hold up in court? You be the judge.
September 23rd, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
We received a reader complaint about the use of “cops” in a headline on Sunday’s Local cover — “Rally for Rockford cops brings 1,000 downtown.” Here’s what the AP Stylebook has to say about “cop”:
“Be careful in the use of this colloquial term for ‘police officer.’ It may be used in lighter stories and in casual, informal descriptions, but often is a derogatory term out of place in serious police stories.”
In other words, it’s a judgment call — unless we choose to never use it, except in quoted material. I think that might be carrying sensitivity to an extreme, but there’s no shortage of sensitivity issues swirling around this case already.
We could have avoided the whole thing by substituting “local police” for “Rockford cops.” Yes, it would have been a bit shorter, but a lot safer.
Interestingly, John B. Bremner had this to say in “Words on Words”:
“As a noun, ‘cop’ is gaining respectability as a synonym for ‘policeman’ and does not seem to be resented by policemen. It is certainly more respectable than the barnyard word the crazies scream.”
That was back in 1980, and the barnyard word was, of course, “pigs.”
Notice, too, that Bremner used “policeman” and “policemen,” both of which would draw complaints today because of the gender component.
So word sensitivity is on the rise on more than one front — in case you hadn’t noticed.
September 11th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
Here’s a group of words just begging to be mixed up.
The verb “censure” means “to express strong disapproval of,” while “censor” takes disapproval to another level by restricting or actually prohibiting the use of something.
As nouns, a “censure” is a condemnation, formal or otherwise, and a “censor” is a person in charge of limiting or shutting off access to information.
Both can be traced to the Latin verb “censere” for “to tax, value, judge.”
In ancient Rome, a “censor” was a magistrate in charge of taking the census and, later, overseeing public morals.
Also in this mix are “censer,” “an ornamented container in which incense is burned,” and “sensor,” a general term applied to various kinds of devices that detect, measure, record, transmit, etc.
Three of them are homonyms; only “censure” is pronounced differently, with a “sh” sound in the middle.
“Censure” is sort of a slap on the wrist for someone who has behaved badly. “Censorship” is generally an affront to all.
September 10th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
There is a difference between being “bereaved” and being “bereft.” Both are listed as the past tense and past participle of the verb “bereave,” which is seldom used anymore in any other form.
It’s rooted in the Old English “bereafian,” meaning “to deprive, rob,” and this sense of “dispossess” is still the first definition of “bereave.” This is the case that calls for “bereft,” as in, “The war has left them bereft of hope,”
The second definition of “bereave” is “to leave in a sad or lonely state, as by loss or death.” This is the one we use for people who are in mourning — they are “the bereaved.”
As Bryan A. Garner points out in “Garner’s Modern American Usage,” “bereaved” applies to losses of people, and “bereft” applies to losses of “immaterial possessions or qualities.”
Either way, it’s a very sad situation.
September 9th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
I was asked to say a few words about “incentives.” An “incentive” is “something that stimulates one to take action, work harder, etc.; stimulus; encouragement.” It’s a noun.
So far, there is no generally accepted verb form. I’ve heard of “incentivize” (avert your “-ize”!) and “incent,” which is nowhere to be found.
The time is probably coming when all nouns will have been converted to “-ize” verbs, but the language will be poorer for it.
Is it so awful to say “the program will include incentives” instead of “the program will be incentivized” or some such concoction?
If only we had an incentive program to encourage creativity and discourage such language laziness. It could be the inventive incentive.
September 4th, 2009 07:00am
Barry Wood
“Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”
In this famous passage from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” the word “cauldron” is spelled the traditional way, with a “u” in it.
Webster’s considers this the variant and prefers “caldron.” This is more in line with its Latin root “calderia,” which also gave rise to “caldarium” (”a room for taking hot baths” in ancient Rome) and “caldera” (”a broad, craterlike basin of a volcano”).
However, it just plain looks wrong without the “u.” And ever since it began evolving from Latin, it’s had one — first the Old French “cauderon,” then the Anglo-French and Middle English “caudron.” The “l” was reinserted during the Renaissance — not its only accomplishment, by the way.
Plus, according to “Garner’s Modern American Usage,” “cauldron” is the clear winner by 4-to-1 in American print sources.
So I vote against Webster’s and for “cauldron.”
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