Pull Up Our Socks

[Baker, John]

        William Donaldson, the new Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, talked about the phrase "pull up (our) socks" in a February 28 speech, the relevant portion of which is reproduced below.  The phrase is new to me but apparently has been around for a while.  Donaldson claimed that it derived from a stage practice of pulling up socks to signify a more serious or dramatic tone.  A web page, possibly his source, supports this theory:  http://www.johnny.moped.btinternet.co.uk/origins/p/origins_pulluponessocks.html.

        The OED gives an earliest cite of 1893, with a 1906 cite describing it as the latest expression from the smart set.  This dating does not eliminate the possibility of a stage origin, but it does make an origin in the early English stage seem unlikely.  I presume that the origin is the obvious one, referring to pulling up socks without elastic in order to show a more serious purpose.  However, is there any evidence that there ever was a practice of pulling up socks on stage to show seriousness?  For that matter, is there any accuracy to the claims about ancient Greek drama?

John Baker


>>The bottom line remains that we all have a lot of work left to do. Some of you may have heard me use my mother's words to sum it all up. It was time to pull up my socks, she'd say to me when I maybe hadn't done so well at school, and she was letting me know loud and clear that it was time to get my act together.

Until recently, I didn't realize that there was any historical background to the saying, and to be honest, I doubt that she did either. But after learning of the expression's history, I've come to realize that its use is even more appropriate in this situation.

To give a brief history, the expression comes from a very old theatrical tradition. In ancient Greece, plays were typically performed in pairs - first a comedy and then a tragedy. To signify the change in tone, actors would change from short shoes to boots that would come up to their knees. By the time this tradition made it to England, the actors no longer changed shoes. Instead, they simply pulled up their socks to signal that the stage was set for a serious tone.

And so, now I repeat my mother's expression, "It's time for us all to pull up our socks." To be sure, what happened in the past year as a result of corporate scandals, particularly to small investors, is a tragedy and in no way a comedy, but the stage is now set for the serious pursuit of corporate reform. I look forward to working with each of you to usher in this new era of responsibility.<<