World Wide Words -- 08 May 04
Michael Quinion
TheEditor at WORLDWIDEWORDS.ORG
Fri May 7 16:56:00 UTC 2004
WORLD WIDE WORDS ISSUE 391 Saturday 8 May 2004
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Editor: Michael Quinion, Thornbury, Bristol, UK ISSN 1470-1448
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Contents
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1. Feedback, notes and comments.
2. Turns of Phrase: Brain fingerprinting.
3. Weird Words: Contumely.
4. Noted this week.
5. Q&A: Cry all the way to the bank.
6. Sic!
7. Q&A: Gingerly.
A. Subscription commands.
B. Useful URLs.
1. Feedback, notes and comments
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RADIO BROADCAST You can hear me talking about magic words in the
current edition of the BBC Radio 4 programme Word of Mouth. This
was broadcast yesterday (Friday) but is repeated on Sunday at 20.30
BST (GMT + 1 hour). If this time is not convenient, or you're based
outside the UK, the BBC Web site allows you to listen online any
time from now to next Friday. See http://quinion.com?B94M and look
for Word of Mouth.
2. Turns of Phrase: Brain fingerprinting
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This term has received publicity recently through its use as a plot
device in Peter May's thriller Chinese Whispers, published earlier
this year to a general thumbs-down by the critics. However, the
technique is a real one that has been investigated by the FBI in
the hope that it will prove a more accurate alternative to lie-
detector (polygraph) tests. The system is said to exploit a signal
in the brain that responds to a stimulus with special significance
to the individual concerned - such as the memory of a place or a
person's face. While monitoring the signal using scalp electrodes,
the suspect is shown photographs of a weapon, a person or a crime
scene. The electrical signal is said to respond positively if the
suspect has guilty knowledge, even if no questions are asked and he
stays silent. Sceptics point out that memories change over time and
that as yet there's no evidence that all people respond similarly
in such situations, nor whether good self-control or psychological
denial might prevent the signals appearing.
>>> From New Scientist, 24 Apr. 2004: The CCLE [Center for
Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, California] has no problem with brain
fingerprinting so long as it's voluntary ... Our concern is that
law enforcement agents will seek to use it coercively. Such
compelled use ought to be forbidden, because it would pierce one of
the most private and intimate human spheres: our own memory.
>>> From the Observer, 25 Apr. 2004: Unlike discredited lie-
detecting techniques, which measure changes in breathing, heart
rate and other variables to determine if suspects are trying to
deceive their interrogators, brain fingerprinting is designed to
discover if specific information is stored in a person's brain.
3. Weird Words: Contumely
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Insolent or insulting language or treatment.
Most of us first came across this word in Hamlet's soliloquy, "Th'
oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely", and were puzzled by
it, as it's hardly a word in common use. I would have laid bets
that it's now obsolete, except that a search found this sentence
from an issue of a British newspaper, the Daily Mail, of November
last year: "Yet it is hard to see how the monarchy may be delivered
from contempt and contumely until the immediate crisis is faced
down."
The word came into English from Old French "contumelie", which in
turn derives from Latin "contumelia". That seems most likely to be
a combination of "con-", with, plus "tumere", to swell. The link is
that the swelling up was with misplaced or ill-judged pride,
leading to arrogant behaviour.
There's no agreement about how to pronounce "contumely". Some
people say it as three syllables, /'kQntju:mli/ (CON-tume-lee),
some as four, /'kQntju:mIli/ (CON-tu-me-li); most stress it on the
first syllable, but some prefer the second, especially when they
say it as four syllables (/kQn'tju:mIli/, con-TUME-uh-li). That's
not really a problem for most of us, since we're hardly likely to
want to say it unless we're playing Hamlet.
4. Noted this week
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SPIM Subscribers will know the struggles I have holding back the
incoming tidal wave of spam, or unsolicited commercial e-mail as it
is formally known. The spammers are ingenious people, as are those
affected by the stuff, who are inventive in creating words for new
variations on the type. One such that has appeared recently is
"spim" (or "spIM"), which is unwanted advertising sent via instant
messaging systems. The nature of IM is such that spim tends to come
from people you already know (those already on your buddy list),
which makes it even more of an annoyance, especially since it pops
up on your computer without warning.
SNAM Another spam-related term, spotted last week by David Means,
is "snam", which is mail generated by one's membership of a social-
networking system (hence "social-networking spam" or "snam"). The
word is explained in Fast Company magazine: "The first step in
joining one of the social-networking services is inviting everyone
you know to be part of it. That generates an initial wave of snam
as everyone in your address book receives an impersonal message
asking them to create an account and fess up to being associated
with you. The second wave of snam consists of the resulting
requests: Would you pass this message along to someone you know? Is
your department hiring? Are you unhappy with your current ad agency
and willing to meet with us?" (for the full article, see
http://quinion.com?D27G ). Of snam, Mr Means comments wisely that
"I'm not sure if Internet users are interested in differentiating
the types of spam they receive, so I don't believe the word will
catch on, except possibly among the people who engage in social
networking via e-mail." Much the same goes for spim, I suspect.
DEPERIMETERISATION While we're on computer jargon, this splendid
example turned up this week in Computer Weekly, though a search
showed it has been around for at least three years. With the growth
of broadband networking, employees and suppliers now need to access
a business's corporate network from outside, which raises huge
security issues. Computer specialists can't any longer just erect
an electronic stockade around a firm's system but have to construct
intelligent gateways that allow authorised access while keeping out
the baddies. This process of selectively breaking down the barriers
is called "deperimeterisation".
5. Q&A
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Q. In Sweden you used to say "cry all the way to the bank" when you
did something bad but, but still you made some money from it as a
consolation. I have noticed that people are now using the English
expression translated to Swedish. What does the English expression
mean? [Eva Gustafsson, Sweden]
A. The English phrase means pretty much what you've said: that you
are making money undeservedly at the expense of others; another
version is "laugh all the way to the bank". It often refers to a
sportsman who loses a match, or to a show-business person who gives
a poor performance, but who still cynically collects a thumping
fee.
The phrase is often credited to that flamboyant and camp American
pianist Liberace, he of the candelabra, extraordinary costumes and
piano-shaped swimming pool. It became a catchphrase for him and he
is often quoted as originating it. The first four examples in the
Oxford English Dictionary all refer to him, of which the first is
from the Daily Mirror of 26 September 1956: "On the occasion in New
York at a concert in Madison Square Garden when he had the greatest
reception of his life and the critics slayed him mercilessly,
Liberace said: 'The take was terrific but the critics killed me. My
brother George cried all the way to the bank.'" Later, he was
quoted as saying "Remember that bank I cried all the way to? I
bought it."
Sadly, for what survives of Liberace's reputation, it looks very
much as though he borrowed an existing expression. It appeared, to
give one example, in the Waterloo Daily Courier of Iowa on 3
September 1946: "Eddie Walker perhaps is the wealthiest fight
manager in the game ... The other night when his man Belloise lost,
Eddie had the miseries ... He felt so terrible, he cried all the
way to the bank!"
6. Sic!
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The British drugstore chain Boots the Chemists sent Alan Turner a
promotional leaflet last week: "Buy two identical products and
we'll give you the cheapest free". How very Zen.
Peggy Smith was searching the Web site of the American bookseller
Powells, and came across this comment about Louise in Love by Mary
Jo Bang (see quinion.com?H92A ): "In this stunning new collection
of poems, Mary Jo Bang jettisons the reader into the dreamlike
world of Louise, a woman in love." Advice from another author:
don't toss your readers overboard.
On 30 April, Arthur Cox saw a notice outside a shop in Latchingdon,
Essex: "Beef mince. Lamb mince. Pet mince." So that's what happened
to Fido!
David Rubin received a message from the parking coordinator at the
UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School about parking permit renewals for
the coming year: "A number of spaces across campus are decreasing
the allotment, so if you request a duel zone, it might be difficult
to get your first choice, but we will do our best." I see it now:
"That space is mine. Pistols at twenty paces!"
7. Q&A
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Q. I was wondering where the term "gingerly" originates. I usually
associate it with the phrase "to step gingerly" meaning to be
careful. Here in Australia, one might have said (in days of yore):
"Your dad's feeling gingerly this morning". So here we have it
indicating a degree of illness (possibly the result of too much of
the good stuff the previous night). Can you shed any light on it?
[Karl Craig, Brisbane]
A. This will surprise you: "gingerly" is thought to come from a
Latin root meaning "well-born". It has nothing to do with the other
sort of root, the tropical spice called ginger (whose name comes,
much distorted, from a Dravidian language of the Indian
subcontinent).
The Latin word was "genitus", which is closely connected to other
words associated with birth and reproduction, such as "genital",
"congenital" and "progenitor". Strictly, "genitus" meant merely
"born" or "begotten" (it's the past participle of the verb
"gignere", to beget) but seems to have implied a person who was
born into a noble or wealthy family. After about 1000 years or so,
this turns into the Old French "gensor", meaning delicate or dainty
(from "gent", noble) and 500 years later still is first recorded in
English in much its modern form.
In its early days in English it was associated specifically with
dancing or walking. If you did these things gingerly you took small
elegant steps. In 1583 a writer referred to such dancers "tripping
like goats, that an egg would not break under their feet". As you
might gather from this, the word was then rather negative in tone,
suggesting a mincing or effeminate way of moving.
Our modern sense, of moving carefully so as not to injure oneself,
cause damage or make a noise, first appears about 1600. I don't
know the Australian sense, but it does neatly express that idea of
requiring cautious movement on a morning after the night before.
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