Sunday 17 March 2024

Job Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'elephant' last time and this time it's 'job'.

Job lot is first recorded in 1832, but an earlier obsolete sense of ‘cartload’ and even ‘lump’ existed. Now this earlier sense probably has a different etymological trail (albeit the same root) in an early Germanic gob which, again, means ‘lump.

Job is used in the slang sense of ‘theft, robbery’ from 1722.


Nobody is recorded as being ‘on the job’ until 1882 – no, then it would have been describing someone hard at work; which is clearly the beginnings of your initial understanding. Let’s move swiftly on.


Job security appears for the first time in 1932 – predictably job insecurity followed four years later.

Nobody ever thought of job sharing until 1972.

Job hunting was not seen in print until 1928.

The phrase ‘job of work’ is first seen in a work by Trollope in 1873.

Job is also used in the sense of ‘to buy and sell as a broker’ in the 1660s.

Another sense of ‘job’ is seen from 1721, when the word described those dealing in their own stocks and shares rather than using a broker.

In 1903 ‘job’ became slang for ‘cheat, betray’ – and from the earlier use of the word to mean ‘the perversion of justice for one’s own benefit’..

I’m not going to say nobody had a blowjob before 1961 - although earlier it had been simply ‘to blow (someone) off’ and had been since 1933 – because blow jobs were used as military slang from the 1950s, as USAF pilots used this to describe their jet aircraft.


In the 1940s the phrase ‘hand job’ appears, but describes ‘a piece of work done by hand’.

A nose job, correctly rhinoplasty, is seen from 1948.

Nobody was jobless until 1892.

And from the 1680s, and now obsolete, comes jobation, which is defined as ‘a long, tedious scolding’. Here the term probably comes from the Biblical character Job, he seen as a patriarchal figure (and a very wealthy individual).

Sunday 10 March 2024

Elephant Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'silver' last time and this time it's 'elephant'. To see the elephant, an Americanism from around 1835, refers to gaining knowledge by experience.


Elephant jokes have only been told since around 1960. Of course I will – What wears glass slippers and weighs over three tons? (Cinderellephant)


Nobody bought a white elephant until 1851.


Elephantiasis is one of two diseases, normally by a thickening of a part of the body (usually the legs) or a wrinkling of the skin akin to that of an elephant – both seen from around 1580. Note the skin version is also known as Egyptian leprosy.

Elephantine, used to describe something very big, is first seen in the 1620s.

Oliphant is first seen in the early 17th century, not a reference to the animal but to its ivory tusk, while heffalump is first seen in A. A. Milne’s books from 1926, although we are never overly sure it is actually an elephant.

Monday 4 March 2024

Silver Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'gold' last time and this time it's 'silver'.

Silverware, ie articles made from silver, is first seen in the early 14th century.

Silver age was a term used to describe the years 18AD to 133AD and the literature produced during those years, it clearly wasn’t as good as the golden age which reigned for the previous 88 years.

Silver spoon in the literal sense is seen from the early 15th century, the metaphorical sense in referring to affluence is seen from 1719.


Silver hook may not be in general use these days, but from 1600 it was used to refer to anyone (or anything) can be lured if the potential prize is seen as worth it. Daniel Defoe wrote “The Golden Bait and the Silver Hook will catch Fish upon dry land” in 1708.

Silver bullet is a reference to a remedy so effective as to be almost magical, while weapons of silver have been lauded as guaranteed to defeat the foe since Greek times.

Silver lining, which as we all know every cloud has, is first recorded in 1843, when John Milton wrote Comus.


Silver star was a US military decoration from 1918, when a small badge was given to be worn on the campaign ribbon, then the medal itself was established on 8 August 1932.

Silver screen, a reference to the movie industry, is seen from 1924. However, the term had been recorded for the three preceding years and referred to the colour of the projection screens as the metallic paint gave a better result by being more reflective.

Quicksilver, an alternative name for mercury, is seen in late Old English cwicseolfor meaning ‘living silver’ as it is a liquid at normal temperatures and pressures. Thus this dates from around 1200 years ago.

Silverfish, that insect also known as the bristletail and which tends to eat paper, is recorded from 1855. References prior to that are simply generic terms for any fish.

Sunday 25 February 2024

Gold Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'back' last time and this time it's 'gold'.

The gold rush is first recorded in 1859.

The first gold medal for a winner was awarded in 1757.

Gold records were first awarded in 1948. Apparently it was awarded to Frankie Laine for his recording of That’s My Desire, it having sold a million copies. Remembering these were 78rpm recordings, a million pressings would represent over 98 tons in weight, around 15 African elephants.


Gold leaf is first recorded in 1727.

The metal was extracted from what was named as a gold mine for the first time in the late 15th century, and the phrase was later used to describe anything producing great wealth in 1882.


One who looks for gold in the ground is described as a gold digger in 1816, then 99 years later we find the phrase used to describe someone using their situation purely for financial gain.

The marigold, as in the flower, is first named as such in the late 14th century, prior to that it was known simply as a ‘golde’.


Goldfish are first described as such in the 1690s when they were first imported from China.

Goldfish bowl, a situation where a person has no privacy, is first used in 1935.

Goldilocks first appears in the Three Bears story in 1837 (in Robert Southey’s collection called The Doctor), but from 1540 it was used to describe a person with bright yellow hair, and from 1570 was another name for the buttercup.

A goldsmith, one who works in the metal, is first seen in Saxon times.

Sunday 18 February 2024

Back Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'hand' last time and this time it's 'back'.

Turning one’s back on someone (or something) appears in the early 14th century.

Nobody knew anything like the back of their hand is first recorded in the book Catriona by Robert Louis Stevenson, pubnlished in 1893. In the late 19th century ‘the back of my hand to you’ is used in the context of ‘I will have nothing to do with you’.

Backdoors didn’t exist before the 1640s.

Back seat – you know that place where passengers sit when you’re driving – appears for the first time in 1923, but refers to those seated to the rear of a coach, while the term back-seat driver is first seen in print as early as 1923.


Back-formation, a term I use quite often when speaking on the origins of place names, refers to any word formed from an existing word and has been found since at least 1887.

Back beat is officially defined as ‘a strong beat regularly falling on a normally unaccented beat of a bar’ when it was first used in 1928 to describe jazz. Or, as John Lennon tweaked the words to Chuck Berry’s Rock and Roll Music ‘It’s got a back beat you can’t blues it.”

Back slang has rather fallen out of use in the modern era, but when first seen in 1860 it described words prounced backwards (or nearly so).

A ladder-back is a chair design seen from 1898.


Pullback is first seen in the mid-17th century when it described the action of pulling someone back, but from 1951 it was used to refer to an orderly military retreat.

Nobody offered their support by saying they would back them up before 1767, but the sense of back up used to describe such as a blockage in a pipe (or latterly traffic) is not seen until 1834.

Back down, as in withdraw a challenge or statement, is first seen in 1859.

Nobody suffered from back ache until the beginning of the 17th century.

Back-breaking is not used until 1849.


And nobody described a leatherback turtle as such until 1855.

Sunday 11 February 2024

Hand Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'street' last time and this time it's 'hand'.

Firsthand (also secondhand, etc) is first recorded in the 15th century.

At hand in its current use is first seen around 1300, but there is an earlier use from around 1200 when it meant ‘near in time’.

In hand is first seen in the early 13th century, while …..

Out of hand doesn’t make an appearance until 1590.

Hand over fist first appears in a document dated 1803, then used solely in a nautical sense.

On the one hand (and on the other hand) are first recorded in the 1630s.

Hand to hand appears around 1400.

Hand to mouth first recorded around 1500.

Hand in hand is also seen from around 1500, but was then used to mean ‘with hands clasped’, not until seventy years later did it gain the modern sense.

Hand it to (someone), when referring to an acknowledgement of another’s abilities, is recorded from 1906.

Handful in the modern sense of all that can be held in one hand, has been used since the 15th century. Prior to that the term used was ‘handbreadth’, which was also used for a linear measurement of about 4 inches. Having one’s hands full (as in busy) is first seen in the late 15th century.

Offhand is first seen in 1690 when used to mean ‘immediately’, shortly afterwards, in 1719, it is also used in its modern sense.

Right hand, when describing the hand, is first seen around 900, coming about as it was seen as the correct hand to use. Around 1200 the term is starting to take on the sense of that side. Later, in the 1520s, it is used to describe a close worker or assistant. And finally, around 1700, it is used to refer to a person’s dominant side.

Handbasket is seen from the late 15th century, when it referred to a basket held in the hand. The expression hell in a handbasket is first seen in 1867, and was probably born from the earlier (and now largely obsolete) heaven in a handbasket from 1853, which referred to an easy journey.


Nobody said they were drawing ‘freehand’ until 1867.

And nobody had handwriting until 1745 – which makes sense, as everything would be written by hand before the invention of printing.


The hand jive was created, and referred to, for the first time in 1958.

Nothing was ‘handmade’ until 1610, and for the same reason as the handwriting comment above.

Hand grenade is first seen as early as 1660.


Nothing had a handrail until 1793, or at least wasn’t described as such.

Monday 5 February 2024

Street Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'road' last time and this time it is, perhaps predictably, 'street'.

Street people is a reference to the homeless seen from 1967, albeit ‘on the streets’ had been used since 1852, and the former used to refer to prostitutes from around 1728.

Street smarts, another Americanism, is first recorded in 1971.

Street credibility, today almost always abbreviated to ‘street cred’, has only been seen since 1979.


Street preacher is first seen in 1722, albeit originally referring to Methodists, or sometimes Quakers.

Street sweepers were not known as such before 1848.

Street wise is first recorded in 1951.

Street car, the American equivalent of the British ‘tram’, is first recorded in 1859.


Street walker is used tro refer to a prostitute from 1590, and twenty years later describes a pedestrian.

Backstreet has been used to refer to a route away from the more regular routes since the 15th century, and used in a derogatory sense for almost as long.