king-pin Part I

[Victor Steinbok]

I had to split this into two parts, as ADS-L considered the post too long.

I have not done sufficient research on this one. This is just a quick
note, based on an interesting find in connection with another item of
interest. Any corrections and actual research on the subject is, of
course, welcome.

Oddly enough, "kingpin", as in "mafia kingpin" or "drug kingpin" or
similar, is not in OED--if you think it is, bear with me for a moment.
But it's actually more complex than that. The two meanings covered are,
1. obsolete, and 2. supposedly identical to king-bolt, but used mostly
figuratively. That makes little sense to me. I can understand the
connection to the king-bolt--it's a minor mechanical difference between
the two descriptions. But this by no means suggests that the figurative
meaning was derived from this particular usage.

> †1. The tallest (central) pin in the game of kayles.
> 1801 J. Strutt /Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod/ iii. vii. 239 One of them ...
> is taller than the rest, and this, I presume, was the king-pin.
>
> 2. = king-bolt n. Hence /fig./, that which holds together any complex
> system or arrangement; also, the most important or outstanding person
> in a party, organization, etc.
> 1867 /Harper's Weekly/ 14 Sept. 590/2 His best position was as a
> batter. He was a 'King-pin' there.
> 1895 /Libr. Jrnl. (U.S.) / June 202 Mr. Vinton ... believed cataloging
> to be the king-pin of the library system.
> 1898 R. Kipling /Fleet in Being/ vi. 76 The newer generation ... know
> that he is the king-pin of their system.
> 1914 /Chambers's Jrnl./ Jan. 62/1 The cars are mounted on bogie
> trucks, the connection being by means of a central or 'king-pin'.
> 1915 C. J. Dennis /Songs Sentimental Bloke/ 102 But 'struth! 'E is
> king-pin! The 'ead serang!
> 1926 K. S. Prichard /Working Bullocks/ (1956) 206 'My!' Mary Ann
> gasped incredulously, 'and you was the king pin last week.'
> 1957 J. Waten /Shares in Murder/ 99 Then he must be the biggest fence
> of the lot. The kingpin. The daddy of all fences.
> 1957 /Economist/ 5 Oct. 22/1 The balloting for the seven seats filled
> by the constituency parties revealed that, with the kingpin removed,
> the former Bevanite machine is showing signs of disintegration.
> 1958 /Engineering/ 28 Feb. 265/3 Another remarkable feature of the
> design is a front suspension which uses telescopic dampers as the king
> pins and steering swivels.
> 1970 /Daily Tel./ 30 Oct. 2/6 The owner of three shops was the kingpin
> behind a wholesale shoplifting plot.
> 1971 M. Tak /Truck Talk/ 96 /Kingpin/, the bolt on the underside of
> the front of a trailer that fits into the tractor's fifth wheel to
> couple the tractor and the trailer together.

King-bolt? Actually, this sounds a lot like the figurative meaning of
linchpin--and that one is in dire need of an update.

> A pin passed through the end of an axle-tree to keep the wheel in its
> place.
> 1376-7 /Compotus Roll Hyde Manor/ (MS Deeds Westmr. Abbey) , In ij
> camellis ferri vocatis lynspins emptis pro carectis iiijd.
> 1627 J. Smith /Sea Gram./ xiv. 65 The pins at the ends of the Axeltree
> is called Linch pins.
> 1682 in /Early Rec. Providence, Rhode Island/ (1894) VI. 93 Jn ye
> Parlor 3 Cart boxes, i lince pinn & a washer 00–01–00.
> 1696 E. Phillips /New World of Words/ (ed. 5) , /Lins-pin/. See
> /Linch-pin/.
> 1766 H. Brooke /Fool of Quality/ II. xi. 166 One of the linch-pins
> that kept the wheel on the axletree.
> 1780 W. Cowper /Progress of Error/ 441 If the rogue ... Left out his
> linchpin, or forgot his tar.
> 1847 J. O. Halliwell /Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words/ I, /Link-pins/.
> Linch-pins are called also /link-pins/ and /lin-pins/ in the provinces.
> 1857 T. Hughes /Tom Brown's School Days/ i. vi. 137 There was the good
> old custom of taking the lynch-pins out of the farmers and bagmen's
> gigs at the fairs.
> 1860 R. W. Emerson /Considerations/ in /Conduct of Life/ 226 But who
> dares draw out the linchpin from the waggon-wheel?

Never mind that there is no figurative examples for linchpin--I'm sure
this will be corrected in the update, whenever that happens. But
shouldn't that particular meaning of "king-pin" be linked to "linch-pin"?

> A main or large bolt in a mechanical structure.
> a. An iron rod in a roof, used instead of a king-post.
> b. A vertical bolt passing through the axle of a carriage or railway
> car, and forming a pivot on which the axle swings in taking curves.
> c. A bolt from which the cage of a mining shaft is suspended.
> 1825 'J. Nicholson' /Operative Mechanic/ 563 Constructed with one
> king-bolt in the middle.
> 1874 E. H. Knight /Pract. Dict. Mech./ 839/2 The king-bolt is the
> center of oscillation, and the fifth-wheel forms an extended support
> to prevent the careening of the carriage-bed.
> 1882 /Rep. Precious Metals/ (U.S. Bureau of Mint) 591 As soon as these
> arms become engaged and fixed in the guides, the whole weight of the
> cage is transferred to the king-bolt by which it is suspended.
> 1888 C. F. Mitchell /Building Constr./ i. ix. (1889) 129 Feet of King
> or Queen Bolts. These may pass through cast-iron sockets which are
> indented into the tie-beam.

 From the state in which we find this article, it seems this is a rather
peripheral term. Why would "king-pin" be linked to this article? Which
was the more common term? I don't know the history of carriage design,
but the pivot that allowed the entire axle to pivot on turns seems to be
a fairly recent development, whereas "linchpin" is a much older one.

Now, as for figurative meanings, as we currently stand, "linchpin" is
someone or something that an organization, operation or project depends
on heavily--it's a person or a thing without whom (or which) the whole
thing would fall apart. That seems remarkably like the usage of
"king-pin" in OED examples. But, on top of it, the examples appear to be
reversed, with the supposedly figurative meaning preceding the first
mention of "king-pin" in the mechanical sense in 1914--and even then, it
is in quotation marks.

In contrast, "kingpin" today is not just the most important part of an
organization, but rather the person at its head, in charge, usually with
negative connotations (think, Scarface--and not necessarily the most
important one; the person in charge often can be replaced without a
miss). The earliest of these on that list is from 1957 (possibly the
1926 quote as well, but I don't know the context there).

Perhaps I am wrong, but I don't believe these two "figurative" meanings
are equivalent. It's like the difference between a workhorse and a lead
horse--both are horses, but not the same kind.

-->

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org