[boiling the kettle]

[Chris F Waigl]

Quoting "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>:

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> Poster:       "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
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>
> on a plane on my mini-vacation, i came across the following in Ian
> Rankin's _A Question of Blood_ (Little, Brown paper, 2003), p. 250:
>
> -----
> She made herself coffee, taking a mouthful before realizing she
> hadn't boiled the kettle.
> -----
>
> this was (i think) a new usage for me, and probably british.  OED
> Online has:
>
> -----
> 4. a. trans. To cause (a liquid) to bubble with heat (see sense 1);
> to bring to the boiling point: esp. said of food, wholly or partly
> liquid, in the process of cooking; also of the containing vessel.
>
>    c1420 Liber Cocorum 11 Boyle hit and sture lest hit brenne. a1500
> E.E. Misc. (1855) 34 Sume byllyd mettayl. 1692 Lond. Gaz. No. 2800/4
> The Copper boyls betwixt 15 and 16 Hogsheads at a time. 1831 CARLYLE
> Sart. Res. II. ix, As kind housewives..were boiling their husbands'
> kettles.
> -----
>
> the last of these is the usage i came across.  but ca. 175 years
> ago.  i'd guess from rankin's usage that it's still current, at least
> in scotland (where rankin sets his books).  but what do i know?

I remember both of the women from Yorkshire I know using it in normal
conversation (I know Yorkshire != Scotland), and discussing it with one.
She said that she would avoid using it at her job in the City of London.
So I assumed it's one of these socially stigmatized but very common
expressions.

----
This can cause a bit of a problem if, having boiled the kettle you want to
refill it immediately.
<http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/small-kitchen-electrical/dualit-kettle-72025/430075/>(a
kettle review)
----
I've boiled the kettle, and dissolved the jelly into the hot water. I've
also broken up the sponge finger biscuits, and put them in the bottom of
the bowl.
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/food/birds-trifle-strawberry/440220/
<a recipe>
----
She switched on the kettle, managed to wait until it had actually boiled
(three minutes of listening for bubbling and the click of cheap
polyurethane springs), unplugged the cord and poured it onto the ice.
[...]
She boiled the kettle again and made a cup of tea with slightly sour milk.
<http://www.richmondreview.co.uk/library/dixon01.html>
_Defrosting_, short story by Mike Dixon
----

Chris Waigl