[Ads-l] From Kibosh to wild havers

[Mark Mandel]

So invite him.

On Wed, Dec 12, 2018, 10:59 AM Andy Bach <afbach at gmail.com wrote:

> By Anatoly Liberman
> For many years I have been studying not only the derivation and history of
> words but also the origin of idioms. No Indo-European forms there, no
> incompatible vowels, not consonant shifts, but the problems are equally
> tough. Sometimes it suffices to discover the source of an enigmatic word,
> in order to understand the phrase. Thus, once we find out what kibosh
> means, we can decipher the phrase to put the kibosh on. As we have seen, a
> whole book was needed to approach the truth. Or what is dander in getting
> one’s dander up? No less enigmatic than kibosh and dander is Jack Robinson.
> Something happens before you can say Jack Robinson. Who was this gentleman,
> and how did he become a unit of speed or an ideal of brevity? Or why do we
> say to go to hell in a handbasket? Every word is clear, but the whole makes
> little sense.
>
> The origin of the idiom to sow one’s wild oats has bothered me since my
> student days.
> ...
>
> https://blog.oup.com/2018/12/sowing-etymological-oats/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=oupblog
>
> You'd think he'd be on this list.
>
> --
>
> a
>
> Andy Bach,
> afbach at gmail.com
> 608 658-1890 cell
> 608 261-5738 wk
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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