Field

There's a British actor that's been appearing in some high profile films lately who has an unusual name.  J. J. Feild (left) has come a long way from a small role in Heartbeat to a supporting role in this year's Captain America. 

What struck me about his name was the spelling.  His name is spelt the way we pronounce the commonly used word for an area of open land surrounded by hedges - a field.  The earliest recorded use of field is in 1155, it appeared in Gower's Confessio Amantis c.1393.  The word developed from the Old English folde meaning earth, land.  This is the same as the Old Saxon folda, also meaning earth.  This spelling with 'ie' was most likely introduced to English by Anglo-French scribes during the late 1400s, who represented the long 'e' sound with the grapheme 'ie'.

However, in the Cursor Mundi (written c.1325), we find the spelling of feild.  Which brings me neatly back to the actor's name.  I wonder if it's derived from this fourteenth century word in the Cursor Mundi? 
Sources:
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988), Chambers
J. J. Feild (2008) [online] http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/the_bridge/features/move-over-mr-darcy/ (Accessed 12 September 2011)


Juliana

Tawdry

This word has a fascinating history.  Since 1676 century it has meant showy, cheap and gaudy, however, before this it had a different meaning.  It is a shortened form of tawdry lace.  Tawdry is a corruption of Saint Audrey, and tawdry lace was a lace necklace or ribbon sold at annual St. Audrey fairs during the Middle Ages.  In one of Shakespeare's plays A Winter's Tale (c.1610), a shepherdess called Mopsa says "Come, you promised me a tawdry lace and a pair of sweet gloves" (Act IV, Scene 3).

In the Middle Ages, tawdry lace necklaces were believed to have healing powers, to cure illnesses of the throat and neck.  This was derived from the legend of Saint Audrey (also known as Saint Ethelreda), who died in the seventh century from plague.  Before her death, a doctor removed a tumour from her neck, which the Audrey believed was divine punishment for her youthful fondness for pretty and expensive necklaces.  However, when her body was exhumed seventeen years later it was not only uncorrupted (a common sign of saintliness), but the wound from her neck surgery had healed.  Thus the myth of the tawdry necklace was born.

When the Reformation removed all images of saints and attempted to eradicate all belief in their legends, the meaning of tawdry lace changed from being a miraculous amulet to the current meaning of showy and gaudy.

Tawdry is a good example of how a word's meaning can be affected by changes in society.  In this case, religious reformation altered tawdry's meaning from a positive one requiring faith in the saint's\legend to something negative and perjorative.

Sources:
Bridgman, Peter (2004) Shakespeare and St. Ethelreda's, Ely Place [online], available from www.stethelreda,com/pamphlet.doc (accessed 9 June 2011)
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988), Chambers


Juliana

Susurrus

According to Websters dictionary, susurrus comes from the Latin and means whisper, murmur, hum; a whispering, rustling or muttering sound.  One of T.S Eliot's essays (written in 1922) talks about "the confused cries of the newspaper critics and the susurrus of popular repetition that follows". 

Nearly a century later, and this word still occasionally appears in literature.  One modern writer, Jim Butcher, used it in his short story 'Aftermath' published in 2011:  "Then I circled around, killed the engine with the bike still in motion, and came coasting back over the cracked old asphalt, the whisper of my tires lost in the susurrus of city sounds and water lapping the lakeshore."

Susurrus is a fine example of onomatopoeia.  These are words which suggest the sound of their meaning -for instance, ricochet, ping, cock-a-doodle-doo, etc.  With onomatopoeic words sound and sense echo and reinforce each other, often using alliteration and assonance.  They are common in children's stories, advertising and comics.  Remember that television series of Batman in the 1960s?  They even had onomatopoeic onscreen captioned sound effects during the fight scenes.  Have a look at this youtube video to see what I mean... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r94AJzJZZaU

Onomatopoeia is all around us, if you look and listen for it.

Sources:
Butcher, Jim (2011) 'Aftermath' from Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files, Orbit. 
Eliot, T.S. (1922) 'Tradition and the Individual Talent' from The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism.
McArthur, Tom, ed. (1992) The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press.
Websters Third New International Dictionary, unabridged (1993)


Juliana

A Ham Actor

I recently went to see Grease: The Musical in Cardiff.  It was an excellent show apart from the actor playing Danny.  He could sing and dance superbly, but overacted terribly.  He was what we call a ham actor.  So where did this phrase come from?

Ham first appears in America in 1882.  It was slang for a performer who overacts, an inferior actor or performer.  It is actually a shortened form of hamfatter (from 1880), which was a term of contempt for an actor of low grade, such as a minstrel.  These second rate actors had to use ham fat on their faces as a base for theatre make-up, as they couldn't afford the better greasepaint and oils.

The word hamfatter or ham fat man was closely linked to minstrels in late 19th/early 20th century America.  There is even a song called De Ham Fat Man.  The language is shocking to our politically correct world today, so be warned... http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/songster/13-de-ham-fat-man.htm

I have also discovered an article in the New York Times in 1883 discussing the origins of hamfatter and ham-fat man, which also refers to this phrase's negro connections.  You can read this article here http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F0DE2DE1731E433A25756C0A9659C94629FD7CF

It's surprising to discover that this phrase has such fascinating origins.  It gives a whole extra dimension  to it's meaning, doesn't it?

Sources:
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988), Chambers
Green, Jonathan (2000) Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, Cassell & Co, London.
Traditional Music (unknown) De Ham Fat Man [online] Available from: http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/songster/13-de-ham-fat-man.htm (accessed 14 August 2011)
Uncle Rufus (1883) 'Hamfatters and a Ham Fat Man' New York Times, 5th March [online] Available from http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F0DE2DE1731E433A25756C0A9659C94629FD7CF (accessed 14 August 2011)


Juliana

Veriloquy

This word is particularly apt for this blog.  According to Thomas Blount's Glossographia in 1656, it means the expression of a word, the etymology of a word.  This is exactly what this blog is all about, discovering the meanings of words, their origins and and earliest recorded usage.

Veriloquy also means truth speaking, from the Latin veri meaning truth, and Latin loquis meaning to speak.  This word has been used since the 17th century.  Other words with similar origins are veriloquent, verity and verily.

Sources:
Blount, Thomas (1972) Glossographia 1656, G. Olms.
Colonial Sense (2011) Colonial Dictionary [online] http://www.colonialsense.com/Society-Lifestyle/Colonial_Dictionary/Main.php?CS=V (Accessed 17th May 2011).


Juliana

Portmanteau

This is not just the name of a travelling bag with two compartments (taken from the Middle French c.1584), but is also an adjective describing the blending of two of more different things of the same type.

However, for this blog, there is another more relevant meaning.  In 1882 portmanteau words entered the dictionary, thanks to Lewis Carroll, who coined the phrase as a noun to describe words made from a combination of two different words.  In Through the Looking Glass (1872), Humpty Dumpty tells Alice: "Well, slithy means 'lithe and slimy'...You see it's like a portmanteau - there are two meanings packed into one word."  Another word, also created by Lewis Carroll in the same novel is still used to day - chortle, a blend of chuckle and snort.

Other portmanteau words I have heard recently are ginormous (a mix of giant and enormous) and fantabulous (fantastic and fabulous).  Von has coined her own portmanteau word - interweb (internet and world wide web).

Although Lewis Carroll is credited with creating portmanteau words, there is evidence that they have been around since the early nineteenth century.  One of the earliest (c.1832), was savagerous - a blend of savage and dangerous.  One of my favourites, from the 1870s, is infanticipate, to await the arrival of a baby.  Such a pity this word is no longer used.

Portmanteau words are easy and fun to create.  You never know, maybe you already have some in your vocabulary.

Sources:
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988), Chambers.


Juliana

Big girl's blouse

In a small article in the Times on the 24th February 2011, on discussing Channing Tatum's experiences filming The Eagle (a Roman epic, pictured left) in Scotland in winter, describes the actor as a big girl's blouse.  Now, it was very surprising to read this phrase in the Times, as I always associated it with other types of media - such as the Daily Mirror and the Sun newspapers, OK and Chat magazines, etc.,  but not something like the Times.  So, it made me wonder, where did this ridiculous phrase come from?

General consensus is that this phrase originated in the dialect of the working class in Northern England.  The earliest recorded usage is in an episode of Nearest and Dearest (season 2, episode 1) in 1969.  This TV sitcom took place in Lancashire and had many examples of Northern dialect.  The phrase has come to mean an effeminate or ineffectual man, used mainly in a derogatory sense by women, which makes me think the Times journalist was female.

According to the Times, Channing Tatum, known for his tough, macho roles is a big girl's blouse when it comes to shooting a film in the remote depths of Scotland in winter.  And who can blame him?  I just hope all that suffering transferred over to the finished film and made it better.

Sources:
Green, Jonathan (2000) Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, Cassell & Co, London.
Quinion, Michael (2011) Big Girl's Blouse [online] http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-big3.htm (Accessed 24th May 2011).
The Times (2011) 'Sword, sandals and the Scottish winter', The Times, 24th February.
Images:
The Eagle (2010) [online] http://www.flicksandbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/the-eagle-poster-channing-tatum.jpg (Accessed 4th June 2011).



Juliana