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Questions about the history and trends of the English language.
9
votes
What is the origin of the phrase, "Put two and two together?"
The earliest uses I can find are 1816 and 1820 and include the four.
Here's Charles Taylor in 1816, in Facts and evidences on the subject of Baptism in three additional letters:
How slightly do s …
6
votes
Accepted
When was “Uh huh” invented? is “Uh huh” a formal English?
The OED has it from a 1924 Dialect Notes:
Uh-húh, yes.
But as a part of speech, it will have been used much before that and will be hard to find in print, although I did find an 1858 in the White Cl …
2
votes
What is “Who are ya?” and whence it came?
"Who are ya?" is a rhetorical question asking the other, lowly team to justify their presence at a match or level they don't deserve to play at. It's a mark of lack of repect to the other team. Yes, i …
1
vote
Any idea of the origin of using the term 'gucci' for parts?
The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2008) says:
Gucci adjective stylish, especially cleverly so. From the high-profile fashion brand UK, 1995
Searching Goog …
2
votes
Where does the phrase "cool your jets" come from?
The OED says the phrase "cool your jets", meaning to calm down or become less agitated, is originally US and the first quoted in a newspaper:
1973 Daily Tribune (Wisconsin Rapids) 29 Jan. 1/1 …
9
votes
Accepted
What is the earliest recorded pun in the English language?
(Ecclesiastical History, Book II, Chapter 1), and already by the end of the period the incompetent and hapless King Æþelræd ("Noble Counsel") had acquired the nickname Unræd ("Bad Counsel") - whence the … Bede completed the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (in English: * Ecclesiastical History of the English People*) by around 731. …
8
votes
The history of "softcore"
Hardcore
There are three definitions in the OED that show the progression of hardcore.
First, hard-core is the rough bits of stuff used as building foundations, with a quote from 1851:
The phrase ‘ha …
3
votes
Etymology of the "Chicago Seven" construction
1879...
Checking Wikipedia's Quantified groups of defendants, the oldest is the Blue Eyed Six from 1879, but they were coincidentally all blue-eyed. Here's a contemporary newspaper report.
1931?
Th …
20
votes
Where did the "unavailable" meaning of "Out of Pocket" come from?
The Oxford English Dictionary says out of pocket meaning "out of reach, absent, unavailable" dates back to the US of the early 20th century:
1908 ‘O. Henry’ Buried Treasure in Ainslee's July 69/ …
15
votes
Accepted
Did 'fornication' ever mean vaulting?
Yes, fornication once did mean arching or vaulting in English. The OED has it dating from 1703 in Richard Neve's The city and countrey purchaser, and builder's dictionary: or, The compleat builder's g …
3
votes
Accepted
History of the phrase "olden days"
According to Google's Books Ngram Viewer, the phrase was coined some time around 1800 and peaked around 1930:
The oldest reference I could find for "olden days" is the 1805 Tobias: a poem : in thre …
12
votes
Accepted
When was "antimatter" first used?
1898, Arthur Schuster
Schuster is credited with coining the concept of "antimatter" in two letters to Nature in 1898. He hypothesized antiatoms, and whole antimatter solar systems, which would yield …
14
votes
Accepted
Are curly braces ever used in normal text? If not, why were they created?
For example, this 2011 edition of The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday has in a "Note on the Published Text":
Crookes, as editor, inculated into the text of Faraday's words short descriptions …
8
votes
Accepted
Origin of the word "Bluechip"
The dictionary
In gambling and poker, a blue-coloured counter represents a large amount of money. This meaning goes back to at least 1873, according to the OED:
1873 J. D. McCabe Behind Scenes in W …
45
votes
1
answer
7k
views
In old books, why is the first word of the next page printed at the bottom of this page?
In old books from the 16th to 18th centuries, the first word from the next page is often printed right justified on its own, at the end of the current page. It's not in every book of this period, but …