We will have to go into hock to buy a house.
What is the origin of the idiom?
2 Answers
The origin of the word is Dutch. The origin of the phrase is American.
Per the OED, the noun hock means:
Etymology: a. Dutch hok hutch, hovel, prison, (slang) credit, debt.
- a. Phr. in (occas. the) hock: (a). in the act (of gambling); (b). in prison; (c). in pawn; (d). in debt. So occas. out of hock.
- b. attrib. and Comb., as hock-game (see quot. 1859); hock-shop, a pawnshop.
There is also an associated verb hock, which means pawn.
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That's odd, because the Dutch word hok actually doesn't mean that at all. It can be shed, shack, kennel, coop, closet, cabin, booth, sty, cot. Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 20:39
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@MrLister Hutch or hovel doesn’t seem too far from cabin or shack, no? I don’t know if the “(slang) credit, debt” is meant to be Dutch slang from some previous era, though.– tchrist ♦Commented Aug 14, 2014 at 22:49
I have found this explanation.
IN HOCK Meaning: Broke; have all of your belongings in a pawn shop Origin: Comes from the Old West. In a common gambling card game called “faro,” “the last card [to be played] was called the hocketty card. It was said to be in hocketty or in hock. When a player bet on a card that ended up in hock he was himself in hock, at risk of losing his bets.” (From The Whole Ball of Wax, by Laurence Urdang).
Pthen you owePsome money. The origin is Dutch, as @tchrist points out below.