RELATED SEARCHES
Sponsored Word Origins Results:
Word Origins
By:
Published: October 11, 2006
Many colloquial phrases exist in the English language. Some people jump on the bandwagon while others go on the wagon. Some people in the Big Apple go out for the evening dressed to the nines in their goody two shoes. They stay out all night and hear "Twenty-three Skidoo" when the bars close.
Or perhaps when you go to work everyday you go the whole nine yards and the Catch-22 is that you have to work late. Where did all of these phrases come from? Believe it or not, there is a perfectly logical explanation for all of these word origins and more.
The word origin of Goody Two-Shoes dates back to a 1765 story called "The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes. The "goody" was the mistress, or woman of the house. It is a shortened version of "goodwife." The term means the pleasure a wife takes in her shoes.
Another clothing-related phrase is dressed to the nines. Basically "the nines" means perfection, especially in numerology. Numerology is defined in the American Heritage dictionary as, "the study of the occult meanings of numbers and their supposed influence on human life". Simply put, numerology is the study of numbers.
The assumption that the nines refers to wear nine items of clothing is incorrect. One of the authors that wrote the phrase in print is Thomas Hardy in 1876, "When she's dressed up to the nines for some grand party."
The word origins of jump on the bandwagon and on the wagon are two more commonly used phrases. To be "on the wagon" means someone has given up drinking alcohol. Before paved roads were created, water wagons went around spraying the roads in order to prevent dust clouds from forming from the passing traffic. The only drink other than alcohol in those days was water. Therefore, if someone was to be drinking large amounts of water rather than alcohol, that person "climbed aboard the water wagon," which was shortened to "on the wagon."
Jumping on the bandwagon was first used in the days of P.T. Barnum. People would jump on it to follow the crowd for entertainment or to travel to an event. People typically jump on the bandwagon in political and sports events.
Catch-22, Twenty-three Skidoo, and going the whole nine yards are all commonly used numerical phrases. The origin of the whole nine yards has many theories behind it. Some say that its beginnings are numerogical, like dressed to the nines. Others point out a football reference in that a person who went the whole nine yards fell just short of their goal. Another popular, yet incorrect theory is that it comes from warfare. Many thought giving the whole nine yards meant the length of a belt of ammunition a World War II gunner used. Giving the whole nine yards meant spending all of your ammunition. However, ammunition is measured in rounds or weight, not the length of the ammunition belt.
Catch-22 was first used in Joseph Heller's 1961 book of the same name. "There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind." In the book, the character Yossarian had to decide if he was sane or insane in order to decide if he could or could not fly a plane. If Yossarian asked to be grounded because if insanity, he was grounded. However, knowing that he was crazy meant that Yossarian could be rational in thought. Therefore, Yossarian was forced to continue flying. Basically it's a huge catch, or drawback, to a major decision.
Skidoo is another way of saying skedaddle, or leave, but the twenty three in the phrase has two stories behind it. The first story comes from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. When the story was performed on stage in 1899 New York, a woman knitting called out Sydney Carton as the twenty-third
victim of the guillotine. The twenty-three represents the end or a finality. Other historians relate twenty-three skidoo to New York's Flatiron building on 23rd Street. The shape of the building created an updraft that would cause women's skirts to lift. Young men would stand around the building and watch the women's clothing lift. As a result of this effect, police would chase off the loiterers with the phrase "twenty-three, skidoo."
People who travel or live in New York City are in The Big Apple. What does fruit have to do with New York? The meaning dates back to early 1900 literature. In Edward Martin's 1909 book Wayfarer in New York, New York is referred to as "one of the fruits of that great tree." The tree is the Mississippi Valley trade route. Because goods are shipped to and from New York constantly, fruits, or more specifically apples, are used as a shipping metaphor.
Word origins come from history, literature, or everyday life. Wherever they come from, they still stand the test of time and will probably still be used in the future.
Yaelf.com. alt.usage.english newsgroup. August 1, 2006. English-usage.org. October 10, 2006.
http://www.yaelf.com/questions.shtml
Wilton, David, et al. Word Origins.org. April 8, 2006. Copyright 2006. David Wilton. October 10, 2006.
http://www.wordorigins.org/
Morris, Evan. "Oh, He Falls Down Like That Every Year." Word Detective.com. Last update: September 29, 2006. October 10, 2006. http://www.word-detective.com/back-p.html#wagon
"Numerology." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 11 Oct. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/numerology
The word origin of Goody Two-Shoes dates back to a 1765 story called "The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes. The "goody" was the mistress, or woman of the house. It is a shortened version of "goodwife." The term means the pleasure a wife takes in her shoes.
Another clothing-related phrase is dressed to the nines. Basically "the nines" means perfection, especially in numerology. Numerology is defined in the American Heritage dictionary as, "the study of the occult meanings of numbers and their supposed influence on human life". Simply put, numerology is the study of numbers.
The assumption that the nines refers to wear nine items of clothing is incorrect. One of the authors that wrote the phrase in print is Thomas Hardy in 1876, "When she's dressed up to the nines for some grand party."
The word origins of jump on the bandwagon and on the wagon are two more commonly used phrases. To be "on the wagon" means someone has given up drinking alcohol. Before paved roads were created, water wagons went around spraying the roads in order to prevent dust clouds from forming from the passing traffic. The only drink other than alcohol in those days was water. Therefore, if someone was to be drinking large amounts of water rather than alcohol, that person "climbed aboard the water wagon," which was shortened to "on the wagon."
Jumping on the bandwagon was first used in the days of P.T. Barnum. People would jump on it to follow the crowd for entertainment or to travel to an event. People typically jump on the bandwagon in political and sports events.
Catch-22, Twenty-three Skidoo, and going the whole nine yards are all commonly used numerical phrases. The origin of the whole nine yards has many theories behind it. Some say that its beginnings are numerogical, like dressed to the nines. Others point out a football reference in that a person who went the whole nine yards fell just short of their goal. Another popular, yet incorrect theory is that it comes from warfare. Many thought giving the whole nine yards meant the length of a belt of ammunition a World War II gunner used. Giving the whole nine yards meant spending all of your ammunition. However, ammunition is measured in rounds or weight, not the length of the ammunition belt.
Catch-22 was first used in Joseph Heller's 1961 book of the same name. "There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind." In the book, the character Yossarian had to decide if he was sane or insane in order to decide if he could or could not fly a plane. If Yossarian asked to be grounded because if insanity, he was grounded. However, knowing that he was crazy meant that Yossarian could be rational in thought. Therefore, Yossarian was forced to continue flying. Basically it's a huge catch, or drawback, to a major decision.
Skidoo is another way of saying skedaddle, or leave, but the twenty three in the phrase has two stories behind it. The first story comes from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. When the story was performed on stage in 1899 New York, a woman knitting called out Sydney Carton as the twenty-third
victim of the guillotine. The twenty-three represents the end or a finality. Other historians relate twenty-three skidoo to New York's Flatiron building on 23rd Street. The shape of the building created an updraft that would cause women's skirts to lift. Young men would stand around the building and watch the women's clothing lift. As a result of this effect, police would chase off the loiterers with the phrase "twenty-three, skidoo."
People who travel or live in New York City are in The Big Apple. What does fruit have to do with New York? The meaning dates back to early 1900 literature. In Edward Martin's 1909 book Wayfarer in New York, New York is referred to as "one of the fruits of that great tree." The tree is the Mississippi Valley trade route. Because goods are shipped to and from New York constantly, fruits, or more specifically apples, are used as a shipping metaphor.
Word origins come from history, literature, or everyday life. Wherever they come from, they still stand the test of time and will probably still be used in the future.
Yaelf.com. alt.usage.english newsgroup. August 1, 2006. English-usage.org. October 10, 2006.
http://www.yaelf.com/questions.shtml
Wilton, David, et al. Word Origins.org. April 8, 2006. Copyright 2006. David Wilton. October 10, 2006.
http://www.wordorigins.org/
Morris, Evan. "Oh, He Falls Down Like That Every Year." Word Detective.com. Last update: September 29, 2006. October 10, 2006. http://www.word-detective.com/back-p.html#wagon
"Numerology." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 11 Oct. 2006. http://www.answers.com/topic/numerology
Featured Word Origins Products:
