<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<p style="font-family:Calibri,Times New
Roman,serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:30pt;color:#008000;text-align:left;margin-bottom:0;">World
Wide Words</p>
<p
style="font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,san-serif;font-style:italic;font-size:17pt;color:#008000;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12px;">Issue
928: Saturday 1 October 2016</p>
<p style="font-family:Calibri,Times New
Roman,serif;font-size:14pt;color:#008000;text-align:left;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:36px;">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</p>
<p style="font-family:Calibri,Times New
Roman,serif;font-size:14pt;color:#008000;text-align:left;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:36px;">
<meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12">
<meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12">
<link rel="File-List"
href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CMICHAE%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:RelyOnVML/>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<link rel="themeData"
href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CMICHAE%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx">
<link rel="colorSchemeMapping"
href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CMICHAE%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:swiss;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073732485 9 0 511 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Georgia;
panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Kozuka Mincho Pro EL";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:643 717691921 18 0 131077 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Liberation Serif";
mso-font-alt:"Times New Roman";
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:swiss;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-520081665 -1073717157 41 0 66047 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"\@Kozuka Mincho Pro EL";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:643 717691921 18 0 131077 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin-top:6.0pt;
margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:0cm;
margin-left:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
line-height:15.0pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Georgia","serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Kozuka Mincho Pro EL";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Liberation Serif";}
p.Top3, li.Top3, div.Top3
{mso-style-name:Top3;
mso-style-unhide:no;
margin-top:0cm;
margin-right:0cm;
margin-bottom:18.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
tab-stops:right 326.05pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:13.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Kozuka Mincho Pro EL";
mso-bidi-font-family:Tahoma;
color:green;
font-weight:bold;
mso-bidi-font-weight:normal;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;
margin:72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt 72.0pt;
mso-header-margin:36.0pt;
mso-footer-margin:36.0pt;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<p class="Top3">This newsletter is also available online at <a
href="http://wwwords.org/dmef"><span
style="color:green;text-decoration:none;
text-underline:none">http://wwwords.org/dmef</span></a><br>
and is attached to this message as a PDF file containing
illustrations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Check
the recipient
address if you reply to this message. For security reasons, it
will be rejected
if it is sent to </i><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:worldwidewords@listserv.linguistlist.org">worldwidewords@listserv.linguistlist.org</a><i
style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">. Either use the email
address from the </i>Reply-to:<i
style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> header or — better —
create a new message
to the most appropriate of the addresses listed at the end of
this newsletter. <o:p></o:p></i></p>
</p>
<p
style="font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,san-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:12pt;color:#008000;margin-bottom:0px;padding-top:12px;">Feedback,
Notes and Comments</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">Two
pieces in this issue are rewrites of ones created more than a
decade ago and which have been updated as a result of new
information.</p>
<p
style="font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,san-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:12pt;color:#008000;margin-bottom:0px;padding-top:12px;">Tomfoolery</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><span
style="background-color:#008000;color:#ffffff;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;font-size:1.1em;margin-right:6px;padding-left:4px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:4px;padding-bottom:1px;">Q</span>
<em>From Joe Brown</em>: I was wondering where the phrase <em>Tom
Foolery</em> came from?</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><span
style="background-color:#008000;color:#ffffff;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;font-size:1.1em;margin-right:6px;padding-left:4px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:4px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span>
I would write it as one word, <em>tomfoolery</em>, and my ordered
ranks of dictionaries tell me I’m right. But it often turns up in
print in the way you have written it, or as <em>Tom foolery</em>
or <em>tom-foolery</em> or <em>Tom-foolery</em>. Such forms show
that their writers still link the word with some fool called Tom,
even though they may not know who he was.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">It
is sometimes claimed that the original Tom Fool was Thomas
Skelton. He was a jester, a fool, for the Pennington family at
Muncaster Castle in Cumbria. This was probably about 1600 — he is
said to be the model for the jester in Shakespeare’s <em>King
Lear</em> of 1606. In legend, he was an unpleasant person. One
story tells how he liked to sit under a tree by the road; whenever
travellers he didn’t like asked the way to the ford over the River
Esk, he would instead direct them to their deaths in the marshes.
Another tale links him with the murder of a carpenter who was the
lover of Sir William Pennington’s daughter.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">So
much for stories. In truth, Tom Fool is centuries older. He starts
appearing in the historical record early in the 1300s in the
Latinate form <em>Thomas fatuus</em>. The first part served even
then as a generic term for any ordinary person, as it still does
in phrases like <em>Tom, Dick or Harry</em>. The second word
means stupid or foolish in Latin and has bequeathed us <em>fatuous</em>
and <em>infatuate</em>, among other words. By 1356 <em>Thomas
fatuus</em> had become <em>Tom Fool</em>.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">Around
the seventeenth century, the character of Tom Fool shifted
somewhat from the epitome of a stupid or half-witted person to
that of a fool or buffoon. He became a character who accompanied
morris-dancers or formed part of the cast of various British
mummers’ plays performed at Christmas, Easter or All Souls’ Day. </p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">A
<em>tom-fool</em> was more emphatically foolish than an unadorned
fool. <em>Tomfoolery</em> was similarly worse than <em>foolery</em>,
the state of acting foolishly, which had been in English since the
sixteenth century. Perhaps oddly, it took until about 1800 for <em>tomfoolery</em>
to appear. It had been preceded by the verb to <em>tom-fool</em>,
to play the fool.</p>
<p
style="font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,san-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:12pt;color:#008000;margin-bottom:0px;padding-top:12px;">Fair
to middling</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><span
style="background-color:#008000;color:#ffffff;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;font-size:1.1em;margin-right:6px;padding-left:4px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:4px;padding-bottom:1px;">Q</span>
<em>From John Rupp, Dallas, Texas</em>: I have often heard the
phrase <em>fair to Midland</em> (middlin’?) in response to the
inquiry ‘How are you doing?’ Any ideas on the origins of this
phrase?</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><span
style="background-color:#008000;color:#ffffff;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;font-size:1.1em;margin-right:6px;padding-left:4px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:4px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span>
As you hint, the phrase is more usually <em>fair to middling</em>,
common enough — in Britain as well as North America — for
something that’s moderate to merely average in quality, sometimes
written the way people say it, as <em>fair to middlin’</em>.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">With
an initial capital letter, <em>fair to Midland</em> is a Texas
version of the phrase, a joke on the name of the city of Midland
in that state. A Texas rock band called themselves <em>Fair to
Midland</em> after what they described as “an old Texan play on
the term ‘fair to middling’”. American researcher Barry Popik has
traced it to May 1935 in a report in the <em>New York Times</em>,
“Dr. William Tweddell ... is what might be called a
fair-to-Midland golfer.”</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">But
we do occasionally see examples of <em>fair to midland</em> in
American contexts without a capital letter and without any
suggestion of humour:</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,sans-serif;margin-left:24px;margin-top:6px;margin-right:80px;margin-bottom:6px;font-size:11pt;line-height:14pt;">While
overall attendance was fair to midland — the championship session
drew about 800 — the Bartlett student section was outstanding.<br>
<span style="color:#008000;"><em>Daily Herald</em> (Arlington
Heights, Illinois), 31 Dec. 2011.</span></p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">This
lower-case <em>fair to midland</em> version is recorded in
Massachusetts in 1968, which suggests that even then it had
already lost its connection with Texas. It might be folk
etymology, in which an unfamiliar word is changed to one that’s
better known. But it’s an odd example, as <em>middling</em> isn’t
so very uncommon. It may be that people tried to correct <em>middlin’</em>
to a more acceptable version that lacked the dropped letter but
plumped for the wrong word.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">All
the early examples of <em>fair to middling</em> I can find in
literary works are similarly American, from authors such as Mark
Twain, Louisa May Alcott and Artemus Ward. To go by them, it looks
as though it became common on the east coast of the US from the
1860s on. However, hunting in newspapers, I’ve found examples from
a couple of decades before, likewise from the east coast. This one
was in a newspaper review of the current issue of <em>The Ladies’
Companion</em>:</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,sans-serif;margin-left:24px;margin-top:6px;margin-right:80px;margin-bottom:6px;font-size:11pt;line-height:14pt;">These
three articles are the best in the present number — of the rest,
most are from fair to middling.<br>
<span style="color:#008000;"><em>Boston Morning Post</em>, 6 Feb.
1841.</span></p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">The
earliest of all I’ve so far found comes from an article in the
July 1837 issue of the <em>Southern Literary Messenger</em> of
Richmond, Virginia: “A Dinner on the Plains, Tuesday, September
20th. — This was given ‘at the country seat’ of J. C. Jones, Esq.
to the officers of the Peacock and Enterprise. The viands were
‘from fair to middling, we wish we could say more.’”</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">So
the phrase is American, most probably early nineteenth century.
But where does it come from? There’s a clue in the <em>Century
Dictionary</em> of 1889: “Fair to middling, moderately good: a
term designating a specific grade of quality in the market”. The
term <em>middling</em> turns out to have been used as far back as
the previous century both in the US and in Britain for an
intermediate grade of various kinds of goods — there are
references to a middling grade of flour, pins, sugar, and other
commodities.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">Which
market the <em>Century Dictionary</em> was referring to is made
plain by the nineteenth-century American trade journals I’ve
consulted. <em>Fair</em> and <em>middling</em> were terms in the
cotton business for specific grades — the sequence ran from the
best quality (fine), through good, fair, middling and ordinary to
the least good (inferior), with a number of intermediates, one
being <em>middling fair</em>. The form <em>fair to middling</em>
sometimes appeared as a reference to this grade, or a range of
intermediate qualities — it was common to quote indicative prices,
for example, for “fair to middling grade”.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">The
reference was so well known in the cotton trade that it escaped
into the wider language. Some early figurative appearances in
newspapers directly reflect the market usage:</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,sans-serif;margin-left:24px;margin-top:6px;margin-right:80px;margin-bottom:6px;font-size:11pt;line-height:14pt;">Twenty-five
cents a line, then, may be quoted as the present commercial value
of good poetry ... fair to middling is probably more difficult of
sale.<br>
<span style="color:#008000;"><em>New York Daily Times</em>, 29 May
1855.</span></p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,sans-serif;margin-left:24px;margin-top:6px;margin-right:80px;margin-bottom:6px;font-size:11pt;line-height:14pt;">I
have only the opinions of some who patronized her entertainments,
who profess to be judges of such things. Verdict, as the Price
Current says, “fair to middling with downward tendency.”<br>
<span style="color:#008000;"><em>The Wabash Express</em> (Terre
Haute, Indiana), 18 May 1859.</span></p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">The
figurative term starts to appear in Britain in the 1870s, but
early examples are all in stories imported from across the
Atlantic. Even that seemingly most home-grown British composition,
Austin Doherty’s <em>Nathan Barley: Sketches in the Retired Life
of a Lancashire Butcher</em> of 1884, written in local dialect,
includes it in the speech of an old school fellow who had
emigrated and made his money in Michigan. So it was known but
labelled as an Americanism. It took until the twentieth century
for it to begin to be used unselfconsciously.</p>
<p
style="font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,san-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:12pt;color:#008000;margin-bottom:0px;padding-top:12px;">So
help me Hannah</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><span
style="background-color:#008000;color:#ffffff;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;font-size:1.1em;margin-right:6px;padding-left:4px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:4px;padding-bottom:1px;">Q</span>
<em>From Jon S of Mississippi</em>: By any chance do you know the
origin of the American expression, <em>So help me Hannah</em>? It
used to be heard more often in days gone by, and people today may
have never heard of it, but it’s an old saying that I cannot find
the origin of.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><span
style="background-color:#008000;color:#ffffff;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;font-size:1.1em;margin-right:6px;padding-left:4px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:4px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span>
I can’t provide a definite origin but I can give some pointers. </p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;"><em>Hannah</em>,
as a personal name, sometimes with the spelling pronunciation
“Hanner”, has been used in the US in various colloquial sayings
since at least the 1870s. They include <em>that’s what’s the
matter with Hannah</em>, indicating emphatic agreement, of which
John Farmer wrote disparagingly in his <em>Americanisms</em> of
1889, “A street catch-phrase with no especial meaning. For a time
it rounded off every statement of fact or expression of opinion
amongst the vulgar.” Another, <em>since Hannah died</em>, was a
reference to the passage of time.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">The
earliest on record is <em>he</em> <em>doesn’t amount to Hannah
Cook, </em>later often abbreviated to <em>he</em> <em>doesn’t
amount to Hannah </em>and also<em> </em>appearing<em> </em>as<em>
not worth a Hannah Cook</em>.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,sans-serif;margin-left:24px;margin-top:6px;margin-right:80px;margin-bottom:6px;font-size:11pt;line-height:14pt;">Mr.
Sweeney rose again to explain the mysteries of printing ballots
the evening before election, and added that the acceptance or
rejection of the investigating Committee’s report “didn’t amount
to Hannah Cook,” because it made no recommendations.<br>
<span style="color:#008000;"><em>Boston Daily Globe</em>, 9 Sep.
1875.</span></p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">This
early appearance in a Boston newspaper supports the general
opinion that it’s of New England origin. John Gould suggested in
his <em>Maine Lingo</em> of 1975 that it derived from seafaring:
“A man who signed on as a hand or cook didn’t have status as one
or the other and could be worked in the galley or before the mast
as the captain wished. The hand or cook was nondescript, got
smaller wages, and became the <em>Hannah Cook</em> of the adage.”
The story sounds too much like folk etymology to be readily
swallowed.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;"><em>So
help me Hannah</em> is a mildly euphemistic form of the oath <em>so
help me God</em>, which starts to appear in print in the early
twentieth century. <em>Hannah</em> here seems likely to have been
borrowed from one or other of the earlier expressions. It became
widely used in the 1920s and 1930s.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,sans-serif;margin-left:24px;margin-top:6px;margin-right:80px;margin-bottom:6px;font-size:11pt;line-height:14pt;">“By
hell, Chief,” he drawled, drawing a huge clasp-knife from his <br>
pocket, “I been grazin’ on this here Alasky range nigh on to
twenty <br>
yars, and so help me Hannah, I never did find a place so wild or a
<br>
bunch o’ hombres so tough but what sooner or later all hands
starts <br>
a-singin’ o’ the female sect.” <br>
<span style="color:#008000;"><em>Where the Sun Swings North</em>,
by Barrett Willoughby, 1922.</span></p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">After
the Second World War, the American firm Hannah Laboratories
produced a salve with the name <em>So help me Hannah</em>. Some
people have pointed to this as the origin of the expression,
though the firm was, of course, merely exploiting a phrase that
had long since become part of the common language.</p>
<p
style="font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,san-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:12pt;color:#008000;margin-bottom:0px;padding-top:12px;">Elsewhere</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;"><b>OED
history revealed.</b> I have this week spent much time that I
should have been devoting to other things in dipping into Peter
Gilliver’s scholarly work <em>The Making of the Oxford English
Dictionary</em>. It tells the story from its prehistory, through
the long and often difficult process of creating the first
edition, its supplements and the second edition, to the early
stages of the research into OED3. Uniquely among OED historians he
is an experienced lexicographer, who has worked on the OED and
other Oxford dictionaries since 1987. His heavily footnoted text
is a testament to the depth of his decade of investigation; it’s
not for the casual reader but will repay anyone with a serious
interest in the story behind one of Britain’s greatest treasures.
(Hardback, already out in the UK, £40; to be published in the US
on 25 October at $65.)</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;"><b>Slang
dictionary goes online.</b> While we’re on national treasures,
it’s timely to mention Green’s <em>Dictionary of Slang</em> (<a
href="http://wwwords.org/gdos">reviewed by me in 2010</a>), a
magisterial three-volume creation by Jonathon Green, which one
writer has called the OED of slang (53,000 headwords, 110,000
slang terms, 410,000 examples of usage). The work is <a
href="https://greensdictofslang.com/">going live online</a> on
12 October with comprehensive search facilities. If you wish only
to check a headword, an etymology and a definition, the site is
free; if you want to access the full work and timeline of
development, you can take out an annual subscription, currently
£49.00 ($65.00) for single users, £10.00 ($15.00) for students.
Just like the OED, online publication means that the work is
continually being updated; nearly 30% of the print book has been
revised, augmented and generally improved, and as just one
example, early quotations for various senses of <em>dope</em>
which I unearthed while writing my piece of 6 August and sent to
Jonathon have already been incorporated into the entry.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;"><b>Origin
of <em>slang</em>.</b> What is perhaps most interesting about
slang is that the origin of its name has long been debated and
still isn’t firmly established. Some experts have argued for a
link to the English verb <em>sling</em>, to throw, with the
implication that it’s disposable or throw-away language. Modern
dictionaries say this is improbable but have nothing to put in its
place, falling back on phrases such as “origin unknown”. In 2008,
in his <em>Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology</em>,
Professor Anatoly Liberman suggested it came from another sense of
<em>slang</em>, a narrow strip of land, which he linked to various
words of Scandinavian origin that imply a group of travellers,
tramps or hawkers. He argued that the progression of sense is “A
piece of land -> those who travel about this territory (first
and foremost, hawkers) -> the manner of hawkers’ speech ->
low class jargon, argot.” Prof Liberman has this week repeated his
argument in his <a href="http://wwwords.org/slang">Oxford
Etymologist blog</a>. Not everyone is as yet convinced.</p>
<p
style="font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,san-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:12pt;color:#008000;margin-bottom:0px;padding-top:12px;">Joe
Soap</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><span
style="background-color:#008000;color:#ffffff;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;font-size:1.1em;margin-right:6px;padding-left:4px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:4px;padding-bottom:1px;">Q</span>
<em>From Steve Campbell</em>: My dear old mother would
occasionally use the expression <em>Who do you think I am, Joe
Soap?</em> We migrated to Australia from the <a
href="http://wwwords.org/olda">Old Dart</a> in 1951 and I’ve
never heard it used by Australians. What is its origin and is it
still in use in the UK?</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><span
style="background-color:#008000;color:#ffffff;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;font-size:1.1em;margin-right:6px;padding-left:4px;padding-top:1px;padding-right:4px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span>
It remains moderately common in Britain but its meaning has
shifted since your mother learned it. She would have had in mind a
stupid or naive person, one who could be easily put upon or
deceived. These days it refers to a typical individual, the
archetypal person in the street.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,sans-serif;margin-left:24px;margin-top:6px;margin-right:80px;margin-bottom:6px;font-size:11pt;line-height:14pt;">The
full judgement will be published in a week or two and the ordinary
Joe Soap will take hours to read it and understand.<br>
<span style="color:#008000;"><em>Daily Mirror</em>, 9 Sep. 2015.</span></p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">This
sense is now known outside the UK, especially in North America.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">Your
mother’s sense is usually regarded as services slang from the
Second World War, most often associated with the Royal Air Force:</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,sans-serif;margin-left:24px;margin-top:6px;margin-right:80px;margin-bottom:6px;font-size:11pt;line-height:14pt;">Joe
Soap was the legendary airman who carried the original can. He
became a synonym for anyone who had the misfortune to be assigned
an unwelcome duty in the presence of his fellows, or to be
temporarily misemployed in a status lower than his own. “I’m Joe
Soap,” he would say lugubriously, and I’m carrying the something
can.”<br>
<span style="color:#008000;"><em>Royal Air Force Quarterly</em>,
1944. “Something” may be read as a polite substitute for a more
forceful epithet. <a href="http://wwwords.org/crtcn">See here
for <em>carry the can</em></a>.</span></p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">The
term certainly became popular during the war but there’s evidence
it was known earlier in the naive sense:</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,sans-serif;margin-left:24px;margin-top:6px;margin-right:80px;margin-bottom:6px;font-size:11pt;line-height:14pt;">I
ain’t no Joe Soap to go a-believin’ of all their yarns.<br>
<span style="color:#008000;"><em>Blackwood's Magazine</em>, 1934.
The writer who quoted this added, “Who Joe Soap was I have never
discovered”, which suggests it wasn’t then widely known.</span></p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">What
might be an earlier services connection is the song <em>Forward
Joe Soap’s Army</em>, which featured in Joan Littlewood’s
musical <em>Oh What a Lovely War</em> and in the film made of it.
Despite claims that the songs in the play were authentic First
World War creations, I can find no reference to it before the play
was first performed in 1963.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">However,
it wouldn’t have been an anachronism, since the phrase can be
traced to the nineteenth century as a generic name for someone
unknown, or a pseudonym that was adopted by somebody wanting to
stay anonymous.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,sans-serif;margin-left:24px;margin-top:6px;margin-right:80px;margin-bottom:6px;font-size:11pt;line-height:14pt;">A
man whose real name is unknown, but who is known in the district
as “Joe Soap,” had on Tuesday evening crossed a field near
Meltham, to get to Bingley Quarry, but in the dusk, mistaking his
position, he fell into the quarry, and was killed. <br>
<span style="color:#008000;"><em>Leeds Times</em>, 21 Sep. 1878.</span></p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,sans-serif;margin-left:24px;margin-top:6px;margin-right:80px;margin-bottom:6px;font-size:11pt;line-height:14pt;">Witness
then went across the road to him and told him to be quiet, and
defendant who was using very bad language, put on his coat and got
into his trap. Witness then asked him his name and he said “Joe
Soap, that will do for you.”<br>
<span style="color:#008000;"><em>Chepstow Weekly Advertiser</em>,
13 Apr. 1907.</span></p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">Nobody
knows for sure where this generic name comes from. </p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">The
first part has been widely used to refer to an ordinary person — <em>Joe
Bloggs</em>, <em>Joe Blow</em>, <em>Joe Sixpack</em>, <em>Joe
Average</em>, <em>ordinary Joe</em>, <em>Joe Doakes</em>, <em>Joe
Public</em> — there are lots of examples, though most of them
originate in North America. <em>Joe</em> was noted in Britain as
a generic term in 1846, albeit in a different sense, when it
appeared in <em>The Swell’s Night Guide</em>: “Joe, an imaginary
person, nobody, as Who do those things belong to? Joe.” The
unknown-person sense of <em>Joe Soap</em> might have come from
it.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">It
is usually assumed that the second part is rhyming slang for <em>dope</em>,
a stupid person, though this would have been improbable in the
nineteenth century. Though a couple of examples of <em>dope</em>
with that meaning are recorded from the dialect of Cumberland in
the 1850s, it wasn’t then widely known in Britain. In that sense
it was imported later from North America.</p>
<hr style="margin-top:2em;">
<p style="font-size:90%;"><em>My thanks to Peter Morris, Garson
O’Toole and Jonathan Lighter of the American Dialect Society for
their contributions to revising this article.</em></p>
<p
style="font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,san-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:12pt;color:#008000;margin-bottom:0px;padding-top:12px;">Sic!</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">•
A confusing headline in the <em>Boston Globe</em> online on 11
August left readers, among them Bart Bresnik, wondering who was
searching for whom: “Woman found abandoned in hospital as baby
searches for mom.”</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">•
The website of a hotel in California left Michael Boydston feeling
it may be providing more than he was looking for: “Nestled in your
opulent guest room with luxurious bedding and special amenities,
the Drisco’s thoughtful staff will be there to anticipate your
needs and carry out your wishes.”</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:6px;">•
Department of too much information: “Portis told us everything.
Then Princess Cire told us the rest.” (<em>Behind the Throne</em>,
by K B Wagers, 2016).</p>
<p
style="font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,san-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:12pt;color:#008000;margin-bottom:0px;padding-top:12px;">Useful
information</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><b
style="margin-right:12px;color:#008000;">About this newsletter.</b>
<em>World Wide Words</em> is written, edited and published in the
UK by Michael Quinion. ISSN 1470-1448. Copyediting and advice are
provided by Julane Marx, Robert Waterhouse, John Bagnall and Peter
Morris. The linked website is <a
href="http://www.worldwidewords.org">http://www.worldwidewords.org</a>.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><b
style="margin-right:12px;color:#008000;">Subscriptions.</b> To <em>leave
the list</em>, send an email from your subscribed address to <a
href="mailto:worldwidewords-leave@listserv.linguistlist.org">worldwidewords-leave@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>.
To <em>join the list</em>, send an email to <a
href="mailto:worldwidewords-join@listserv.linguistlist.org">worldwidewords-join@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>
from the address at which you want to subscribe. To <em>change
your subscribed address</em>, leave the list and rejoin. In each
case, the subject line and body of your message will be ignored;
you will be sent a message asking you to confirm your intention.
Please don’t contact me asking for changes you can make yourself,
though you can e-mail me at <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:wordssubs@worldwidewords.org">wordssubs@worldwidewords.org</a> if
problems occur. This newsletter is also available on <a
href="http://wwwords.org/rs">RSS</a> and via <a
href="http://wwwords.org/tw">Twitter</a> and <a
href="http://wwwords.org/fb">Facebook</a>. Back issues for the
past year are <a href="http://wwwords.org/bk">available here</a>.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><b
style="margin-right:12px;color:#008000;">E-mail contact
addresses.</b> Comments on newsletter mailings are always
welcome. They should be <a
href="mailto:wordseditor@worldwidewords.org">sent to me</a>. I
do try to respond, but pressures of time often prevent me from
doing so. Items intended for the <i>Sic!</i> section should go to
<a href="mailto:sic@worldwidewords.org">sic@worldwidewords.org</a>.
Questions intended to be answered in the Q and A section should be
sent to <a href="mailto:wordsquestions@worldwidewords.org">wordsquestions@worldwidewords.org</a>,
not to me directly.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><b
style="margin-right:12px;color:#008000;">Support World Wide
Words.</b> If you have enjoyed this newsletter and would like to
help defray its costs and those of the linked website, please
visit the <a href="http://www.worldwidewords.org/support.htm">support
page</a>.</p>
<p
style="background-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;font-family:Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:12pt;line-height:15pt;margin-left:0px;margin-bottom:6px;"><b
style="margin-right:12px;color:#008000;">Copyright.</b> <em>World
Wide Words</em> is copyright © Michael Quinion 2014. All rights
reserved. You may reproduce this newsletter in whole or part in
free newsletters, newsgroups or mailing lists online provided that
you include the copyright notice above and give the website
address. Reproduction of substantial parts of items in printed
publications or websites requires permission from the editor
beforehand.</p>
<title>World Wide Words Newsletter 928</title>
</body>
</html>