Are you like me? Do you wonder from where a particular phrase originates? I am often in a position to search out a phrase or a word to determine whether it is too modern for my writings set in the Regency Period of British History. I once had an editor who changed my sentence from “He donned his cloak and beaver” to “He donned his cloak with the beaver lining.” For those of you reading this who are not aware, a “beaver” was a type of hat worn by gentlemen of the Regency period.
So, what are some of you favorite phrases? These are ones which have always brought forth my curiosity…
“Crying Uncle”
Being from West Virginia, colloquialisms abound in my language. The boys would often taunt each other to cry “uncle” or even to cry “cavey.” The “uncle” part could be traced to the Latin phrase, Patrue mi patruissinme, which means “Uncle, my best of uncles!” – a fair cry for someone crying quits in a matter of wills. Meanwhile “cavey” is a corrupted contraction of peccavi, meaning “I am at fault.”
“Whipping Boy”
We know this phrase lies in the use of a scapegoat for an inflicted punishment. Some five hundred years prior, a royal prince was considered sacred; therefore, no governess or tutor would dare to strike the child. In the early 1600s in England, a “whipping boy” was presented with the punishment meant for the prince. The son of James I (who was to become Charles I) was the first reportedly to be given the reprieve of a punishment at the expense of a lad known as William Murray, his fellow pupil.
“On Tick”
This was originally a form of an IOU. “On Ticket” was a form of note of hand, a written notice of indebtedness. The contracted “On Tick” came into use in the early 17th Century. The Oxford English Dictionary cites the phrase first coming into use in 1642, but we know such words and phrases are likely around for 20 years or more before they show up in a dictionary.
“High Jinks”
This phrase was first used by Sir Walter Scott in Guy Mannering: “[t]he frolicsome company had begun to practicse the ancient and now forgotten pastime of High Jinks.”
“On the Carpet”
Originally “on the carpet” referred to something “on the table,” meaning something to discuss. However, in the early 18th Century, the mistress of the house placed the table coverings upon the floors of their bedchambers. Later, a servant might “walk the carpet,” meaning he/she was called before his/her master or mistress for a reprimand. We in America have transformed the phrase to “on the carpet.”
“Not Worth a Hill of Beans”
This is one of the oldest phrases common to our language. Robert of Gloucester used it in his English Chronicles of 1297:
Be king of alimayne sende specialliche inou
To king Ion bat he wipdrowe him of is wou
& vnderuenge be erchebissop holichurche al clene
Lete abbe ir franchise & al nas wurp a bene.
{The king of Almain sent especially to king John to forget his hurt, and receive the archbishop, and let Holy Church have her franchise, clear and clean; although not worth a bean.}
Americans inserted the “Hill” to the phrase during the later part of the 1800s. It added an exaggerated emphasis, a characteristic common to Americanisms.
“Cutting Off One’s Nose to Spite His Face”
This one likely stems from a French 17th Century phrase. In the 1658 Historiettes of Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux, one finds “Henri iv conçut fot bien que détruire Paris, c’étoit, comme on dit, se couper le nez pour faire dépit à son visage.” Essentially, this says Henry IV would know destroying Paris would be as foolish as cutting off his own nose. The French phrase made its way to England by the end of the 18th Century and was recorded in Grose’s A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue” (1796).
“Alpha and Omega”
Needless to say, these are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and the meaning comes from that particular fact, but did you know that “alpha” and “omega” are found in the Bible in the “The Revelation of St. John the Divine”? The phrase is repeated four times: in both the 8th and the 11th verses of chapter one; in the 6th verse of chapter 21; and in the 13th verse of chapter 22.
“Jitney”
This term became popular in the early 1900s in the United States as a slang term for a nickel. The term was transferred to the passenger vehicle (except for a streetcar) which required a five-cent fare. Dr. F. H. Vizetelly suggests the word might be a corruption of jetnée in a catch song of the French-speaking Louisiana Negro:
Mettons jetnée dans li trou
Et parcourons sur la rue –
Mettons jetnée – si non vous
Vous promenez à pied nu!
(Translation: Put a jitney in the slot; And over the street you ride; Put a jitney – for it not; You’ll foot it on your hide.)
“Fortnight” or “Sennight”
The Anglo-Saxons who had conquered Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries did not accept the idea of seven days = one week. Instead, they clung to the traditional phrasing of calling a week “seven nights.” Their term became seofon nihta in Old English, which was eventually corrupted into the term sennight. For those of us who write Regency pieces, a “sennight” is 7 days. Austen uses the word when Mr. Collins assures Mr. Darcy that Lady Catherine was well when he had last seen her a “sennight” past. “Fortnight” comes from the Old English feowertene nihta, meaning 14 nights – eventually contracted into “fortnight.”
“Milliner”
In the early 16th Century Milan traders flocked to English ports, bringing with them products from Milan and from Lombardy – chief among them textile goods such as Milan gloves and lace and ribbons, as well as steel work. At the time, the English pronounced “Milan” as if the city’s name rhymed with “villain.” Therefore, Milan merchants became “Milaners,” which was pronounced as if it were “milliners.” Thus, “Milliner” became the accepted spelling. The use of “millinery” to refer to women’s headgear came about in the years which followed.
So, tell me some of your favorites. Are there those we should search out together? Perhaps, I should make this a regular feature on my blog. It was certainly fun to organize.
Today marks the 204th Anniversary of the release of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and in my humble opinion, the world is a better place for having read Austen’s most popular work. 
Pre-Elizabethan drama moved from miracle plays to morality plays to folk plays to interludes. Interludes were the last to develop. Initially, “interludes” were closed identified with morality plays, especially in subject matter. 
Interludes were performed at colleges or at the homes of the wealthy. They were often staged between the courses of a supper. The dialogue was very lively and contemporary (politics, new scientific discoveries, the secular elements of religion, etc.). Interludes spoke of the ruling group, changing from emphasis on Protestants to Catholics, and back again. Sometimes they went so far as to “attack” a person or a cause. They might, for example, defend a personage. In John Skelton’s Magnificence, the plot satirized Thomas Wolsey, a cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. 
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45. Donald J. Trump (June 14, 1946 — ???} Republican. Trump is an American businessman, politician, and television personality. He is President of the U.S. as of today. His legacy, like Obama’s, is yet to be defined. Trump won the general election on November 8, 2016, gaining a majority of electoral college votes, while receiving a smaller share of the popular vote nationwide than Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. At age 70, Trump will become the oldest and the wealthiest person to assume the presidency, and the first without prior military and the first without either prior military or governmental service.
Okay, over Christmas I gave and received several jigsaw puzzles. I do puzzles on my Kindle Fire every evening. The presents I gave were those personalized puzzles where a person receives a puzzle of his or her hometown or community based on Google maps. I received a 3D one of London. With over 1200 pieces, it will take me a good long while…at least, I hope so. 
All this got me thinking of John Spilsbury (1739 – 3 April 1769), a British mapmaker and engraver, who is credited as the inventor of the jigsaw puzzle. 
Thomas Cook was a 32-year old cabinet maker by trade and a strong proponent of the temperance movement. One day in June 1841, he walked from his home in Market Harborough to the nearby town of Leicester to attend a “dry” meeting. A former Baptist preacher, Thomas Cook was a religious man who believed that most Victorian social problems were related to alcohol and that the lives of working people would be greatly improved if they drank less and became better educated. On the way, he passed a billboard poster announcing that the Midlands County Railway had opened a rail extension between Loughborough and Leicester. Thomas concocted an idea that the steam engine could be profitably harnessed to the temperance cause; therefore, he persuaded the railroad company to reduce the fare in return to his guarantee of 500 passengers to travel the newly opened rail extension, which customarily served only one-tenth that number. 
During Henry’s reign, the king was served by some 200 councillors from both the Lancastrian and Yorkist facets. His advisors included noblemen, men of law, men of religion, and those of the gentry. They gathered with the King in the Court of the Star Chamber at Westminster Palace. The men Henry VII had gathered dispatched cases of law involving those with specific grievances against one of the nobility. Sessions known as Requests were also conducted there. In these, the poor could pursue their grievances. 
Every Woman Dreams... 