"Ax(e) to grind" redux

[Wilson Gray]

On Jul 30, 2005, at 10:05 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "Ax(e) to grind" redux
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>
>>>> But, seriously, folks, how does this story relate to the meaning of
>>>> have "an ax(e) to grind"? I've always considered this phrase to be
>>>> another way of saying "a bone to pick" or "a personal interest in."
>>>> Have I simply been mistaken in this belief?
>>>
>>> I think the idiom must have shifted its sense somewhere along the
>>> line,
>>> probably under the influence of "a bone to pick".
>>>
>>>
>>> --Ben Zimmer
>>>
>>
>> That certainly sounds reasonable. Remember when "uptight" was "up
>> tight" and also had a positive meaning that was once more widespread
>> than the negative one?
>>
> Uptight, outta sight.  Yeah, rings a bell...
>
> L
>

It was "Fingertips, part deux," by Little Stevie Wonder: "Everything is
all right, up tight and outta sight."

I'm pretty sure that I know the etymology of "up tight," which explains
how it happened that the phrase was originally had both positive and
negative connotations.

-Wilson