Another anecdote

My father was a fine sportsman. His main sports were soccer, (British) baseball and swimming. I never saw him play soccer but I did see him play baseball on the winning side in a final in 1965. I also remember watching him swimming once. It was at Maindee swimming baths in Newport and the annual Girlings swimming Gala (which we all pronounced Gayler) again some time around 1965. I can see my dad now in his green bathers lining up for the obstacle race. He was 6' 2" and had perfected an amazing racing dive so when they were started he went straight into the lead and I was sure he would win. But my mother knew better and tried to prepare me. One of the obstacles was to bite through balloons and she knew that with his false dentures (which he had from the age of 21) he wouldn't be able to go on as fast as the younger men. And so it proved. He came in third and won a set of three decorated chalice style beer glasses, which we had for years and almost never used.
(By 1965 my dad was 36).

Humorous English Etymologies 15 Deadline

Deadline (n.)

Here it is black humour. To  “meet a deadline” has its roots in 19th century warfare and is surprisingly literal in its origins. Most etymologists agree that the word “deadline” first appeared during the American Civil War (1861-1865). According to Christine Ammer, deadline was coined at the hellish Andersonville, GA prison camp, and first appeared in writing in the report of Confederate Inspector-General, Colonel D.T. Chandler, on July 5, 1864. In describing the horrific conditions, he famously wrote:

"The Federal prisoners of war are confined within a stockade 15 feet high, of roughly hewn pine logs, about 8 inches in diameter, inserted 5 feet into the ground, enclosing, including the recent extension, an area of 540 by 260 yards. A railing around the inside of the stockade, and about 20 feet from it, constitutes the “deadline,” beyond which the prisoners are not allowed to pass . . . [as a large portion is] at present unfit for occupation . . . [this] gives somewhat less than 6 square feet to each prisoner ...."

Having said that, the context of a due date probably originated in journalism, perhaps from an earlier usage in printing, representing a guideline marked on a plate for a printing press (inside which all content should appear). According to the OED, early usage refers simply to lines that do not move, such as one used in angling; the American usage indicated probably came later.

Humorous English Etymologies 14 Bigwig

Bigwig (n.)

Simple this one, from 1731, it just puts together big and wig, in reference to the imposing wigs formerly worn by men of rank or authority.

In more detail - The term bigwig originated in the 17th century, when the short lived fad of wig-wearing (1) was at its peak. It became fashionable for people to shave their heads (2) and replace their hair with wigs; in this way they could sport a style they might not be able to naturally grow. It was seen as a triumph of man’s ingenuity over nature. However hair to make up these wigs was quite rare and expensive. Hair was sold by the strand and it was not uncommon for the lower classes to be seen wearing wigs consisting of only several strands of hair. The rich folk on the other hand were able to purchase large wigs made up of thousands of strands of hair and very soon the term ‘bigwig’ became associated with the very wealthy. This fad faded away as quickly as it had come with the advent of the top hat, however it lives on in the large ceremonial wigs seen in the British courts.

Incongruously

Because I love words so much I can sometimes remember where I first came across a word. As a teenager I was a big fan of T Rex. In May 1972, aged 13 or 14, I bought a music magazine called Cream because it contained a long article about my favourite group (and a free poster I now recall having found the cover on the Internet). It was by someone called Charles Shaar Murray, a name that would have meant nothing to me at the time. The one thing that struck me about the article's style was that he was trying to be objective, something I was not really used to. You can find the article here I believe, including the bit where he says that Cosmic Dancer is "a fine song, spoilt by incongruously heavy-handed drumming by Legend". He has a point but I still find it hard to accept. (The comment about "Visconti's saccharine string writing" was lost on me then and now).

Humorous English Etymologies 13 Nipper

Nipper (n.)

One of the meanings of nipper (others include a crab's claw or a pair of pliers) is a young person (usually a boy). A cousin of mine always used to refer to his younger brother as "ow' nip'". People argue about the etymology of nipper. Most suggest that it goes back to the sixteenth century use of the verb nip to mean arrest, leading to the idea of speed, a young person being nippy or quick about the place and hence a nipper. Others go for a nautical origin. At one time young boys were employed by the navy to weave together anchor cables. Because the cable of larger vessels were often too thick to go round the capstan thinner, messenger lines would be attached. The process of fastening the cables was known as nipping, hence nippers. Humour is thus being employed in either case. Alan Titchmarsh has a book called When I was a nipper.

Humorous English Etymologies 12 Magazine

Magazine (n,)

In the 1580s it meant "a place for storing goods, especially military ammunition," and was taken from the Middle French magasin "warehouse, depot, store" (15c.), from the Italian magazzino, from Arabic makhazin, plural of makhzan "storehouse" (cf Spanish almacén "warehouse, magazine"), from khazana "to store up." The original sense is now almost forgotten although the use of the word for a small ammunition chamber fitted toa  gun continues. The regular meaning "periodical journal" dates from the publication of the "Gentleman's Magazine," in 1731, which was so called from earlier use of the word for a printed list of military stores and information, or in a figurative sense, from the publication being a "storehouse" of information. Perhaps the idea of it packing an explosive punch is in there too.

Change impossible by nature

 

"It is our nature to do evil. We have no more prospect of changing that nature by ourselves than a man with black skin has of turning it white or a leopard has of exchanging its spots for tiger stripes."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 82

New birth more than a beggar finding bread

 

"Sometimes Christians describe becoming a Christian using the figure of a beggar finding bread. This is fine as far as it goes, but the biblical picture is closer to that of a dead man being brought to life. The change needed is less like a veterinary surgeon sewing up a wound in the paw of some poor creature and more like the total transformation involved when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 79

Humorous English Etymologies 11 Sarcophagus

Sarcophagus (n.)

A box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. c. 1600, "type of stone used for coffins," from Latin sarcophagus, from Greek sarkophagos. The word also came to refer to a particular kind of limestone that was thought to decompose the flesh of corpses interred within. Literally the word means "flesh-eating," perhaps in reference to the supposed action of this type of limestone (quarried near Assos in Troas, hence the Latin lapis Assius) in quickly decomposing the body. From sarx (genitive sarkos) "flesh" + phagein "to eat". The "stone" sense was the earliest in English; meaning "stone coffin, often with inscriptions or decorative carvings" is recorded from 1705. It is not entirely clear whether the Romans truly believed that limestone from the region around Troy would dissolve flesh. That assertion came from Roman scholar Pliny the Elder (but he also reported such phenomena as dog-headed people and elephants who wrote Greek). It is more likely that was again a little joke.

Humorous English Etymologies 10 Plonk

Plonk (n.)

Plonk is a non-specific and often derogatory term used primarily in British and Australian English for wine. It is believed to come from Australian slang, in reference to blanc (the French word for "white"), before it became naturalised in Britain. Despite the reference to the colour white, the term is not limited to white wine, and can as easily indicate a red wine or rosé. In this context, the phrase has even spawned the title of a novel which evokes the perceived tackiness of the 1980s. The word is perhaps influenced by another meaning of plonk - the sound as of something being set down heavily, in this case a glass bottle. The latter word is perhaps influenced by the onomatopoeic plunk. The idea that the sound of a cork coming out of a wine bottle has played its part too cannot be discounted.