Your comments and questions:

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Q: Julie asks: 'What is the meaning of "a grass widow"?'

A:  The usual meaning given in British dictionaries is of a woman whose husband is temporarily away, say on business. This sense is known in other English-speaking communities such as Australia. It has long been used in the USA in the rather different sense of “a woman who is separated, divorced, or lives apart from her husband."  It’s slang from the British Raj for wives sent away during the hot summer to the cooler (and greener) hill stations while their husbands remained on duty in the plains.  

Q: Gerald asks: ' Where did phrase "hands down" originate?'

A: It is used to mean something that is done easily, with little or no effort. It is recorded from 1853 and comes from horse racing. When a jockey wins a race easily, he is not urging on the horse but is crossing the finish line with his 'hands down.'

Q: Kay has coined the expression "portal amnesia" to name that experience of walking through a door and then asking yourself 'Why did I come here?'

A: A brilliant coinage! Well done!

Q:  Carol asks: 'Where did the saying " your name is mud" originate from?'

A: There's a common and widely believed myth -- and then there's the truth. The myth is that it came from the name of Dr Samuel Mudd, who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln’s assassin, and who was subsequently convicted as a conspirator. That certainly is what happened. But it can't be the source of the expression 'your name is mud' because the dates don't fit. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, but 'you name is mud' is recorded as early as 1823.  It’s not from the family name Mudd but from the wet sticky earth stuff.   Mud has long meant the lowest or worst part of something, the dregs. 

Q: Elaine writes: "Could you tell me what 'filibuster' means? I heard it in a discussion about U.S politics on Sky."

A: The word 'filibuster' came into English around 1590 from a Dutch source word meaning 'freebooter' (that is, a pirate). It came into American political language around 1850 meaning 'someone who obstructs progress in a legislative assembly. The most common form of obstruction is to speak at enormous length to exhaust the time limit to vote on a bill.  Both houses of the Australian parliament have strictly enforced rules on how long members may speak, but this is not the case in America, where House members or Senators have been known to stay on the feet speaking all night to 'run down the clock' on a bill they oppose.

Q: Will asks: 'Where and how did the word "sandwich: come from?'

A: Named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718–1792), who once spent twenty-four hours at the gaming-table playing cards without any other refreshment than some slices of cold beef between slices of bread -- supplied when he asked his servant for some food he could hold in one hand. 

Q: Pamela writes: 'I'm a huge fan of women's cricket and one commentator in particular, Mel Jones, often uses the term "early doors". Where did it originate?'

A: From the theatre, meaning early entry into the theatre -- originally paying a premium price for early admission (to avoid the later crush). Recorded from 1877. How it is being used by cricket commentators I don't know. Are they using to mean someone who is dismissed early in an innings?

Q: Phil asks: 'Where does the word "yonks" come from? As in -- I have lived here for yonks.'

A:  It comes from the earlier expression ‘donkey’s years’ (meaning a long time) – and that was a joke expression: because donkey’s ears are long, then donkey’s years must be long. This was then cut down – with ‘y’ taken from ‘years’ and the ‘onk’ taken from donkey to give us ‘yonks.’  

Q: Margaret asks: 'What is the origin of the phrase to ‘clock it ‘? 

A:  As far as I can work out, to 'clock it' means to notice something or to pay attention to something. This probably comes from the fact that your face can be called your ‘clock’ (or your ‘dial’) – since clocks have faces (with numbers and hands) then the wording can be reversed to say that your face is your ‘clock.’ And if you turn your face towards something – you notice it, you become aware of it.  

Q:  Hi Kel, just wondering where riff raff came from? John

A:  It goes all the way back to the 1400s, but the Oxford says 'of uncertain origin' -- possibly a clipped version of 'riff and raff' which meant everything, even the sweepings of rubbish, and 'riff raff' has from the beginning meant the lowest social class. 

Q: Stephen writes: 'Melania Trump used the word "deboarding". When did we start to use this in lieu of disembark? Is it new "new age" word or just lazy English and poor use of grammar?'

A: Sorry, 'deboarding' is in the dictionary--the big one, the Oxford English Dictionary. It is an American coinage from around 1960. It is not a euphonious word, but after 85 years I think we must accept that it belongs. It means, of course, 'getting off' (a plane, train, or ship). And perhaps we should remember that Melania Trump speaks five languages: Slovene, Serbian, English, French, and German.  Which is (probably) four more than you and me!

Q: Another of our (many) Johns writes to ask about 'duffer' and 'drongo.'

A: 'Dongo' is easy -- it just means 'bird brain'. The 'drongo' was a bird found on Madagascar. 'Duffer' is a softer word (often applied to small children). From the late 1800s a foolish person was a 'duffer'. This seems to come from the Australian word for a cattle rustler (as they were known in the Old West) -- here they were called 'cattle duffers.' This comes from an older English word family -- 'dud' and 'dudder' meaning false -- because cattle duffers altered brands to sell their stolen cattle. 

Q: Aileen writes: '"Larrikin" is a word that seems to be peculiarly Australian and just so descriptive. I wonder where it came from? I also don’t think we hear it very much anymore.  Are we losing our Australian quality of "larrikinism"?'

A: 'Larrikin' is an old word for a young bloke who stirs up a bit of trouble; a hundred years ago it meant a young hoodlum, a gang member. The Oxford English Dictionary says that larrikin is “chiefly Australian”. It’s recorded from 1868, and in those days it meant the violent members of the 19thcentury equivalent of bikie gangs. But over the years the term softened, so that by 1898 Edward E. Morris (in his Austral Dictionary) could say that it was often used to mean “a playful youngster”.There is a bunch of urban myths surrounding the origins of larrikin. One claims it comes from “larking” (as in “larking about”) as pronounced by an Irish-born policeman giving evidence in a Melbourne magistrate’s court. But as the Oxford English Dictionary notes: no trace of the incident has been found in the local papers of the time. So, that one’s a myth. Then there’s suggestion that it comes from the common male name “Larry” – the “kin” part being either a diminutive (referring to a “little Larry”) or a claim of kinship (“Larry’s kin”). Again there’s no evidence to support this notion. However, there is at least some evidence to support the idea that larrikin is another of those English dialect words that survived in Australia after it died out in its homeland. The English Dialect Dictionary records larrikin as a Warwickshire and Worcestershire word meaning “a mischievous or frolicsome youth”.

Q: Doug asks about the expression 'currency lads' that he came across in an article about the early years of Sydney town.

A: 'Currency lad' is recorded from 1822 and referred people born in the colony. (The expression 'currency lass' was also quickly coined.) Governor Lachlan Macquarie decided the colony needed its own currency -- so he imported 40,000 Spanish dollars and had a hole cut in the middle to double the number of available coins. The 'holey dollar' was worth five shillings and the 'dump' (the bit cut out of the middle) was worth one and threepence. Locals were derided as not being of 'sterling' quality (not coming from Britain), but a just being 'local currency.' (The word 'sterling' meant English money as opposed to foreign currency.)

Q: Jack writes: 'I have found myself wanting to use the word “snark” recently. Where does the word come from?  

A: It means being irritable or grumbling (the adjectival form is 'snarky'). It's recorded only from 1989. But it seems to be a variation on a much older word 'snork' -- a Germanic word which the Oxford describes as being 'An imitative or expressive formation.' In other words, the very sound of the word 'snork' captured the grumbling, mumbling sound of irritable people. 

Q:   John asks, ‘where does the expression “cut to the chase” come from?’

A:   From Hollywood. I think it goes all the way back to the era of silent movies. It was supposed to be the director's decision if a storyline was getting dull: 'cut to the chase.' 

Q: Gillian asks for the origin of the quaint old expression ‘bless your little cotton socks.’

A:   This is found in Britain and Australia and unknown in America. It’s recorded from 1905, and began to die out around the 1950s. The original full versions was ‘bless your little heart and cotton socks’—clearly coined as a jocular way to express affection for a small child, especially a child who deserved a reward. That’s the simple truth. But not satisfied with that the myth makers have been at it again, claiming it refers to George Cotton, Bishop of Calcutta in the 19th century who (supposedly) encouraged British women to knit socks for poor Indian children. In fact, he may have done. But since he was Bishop of Calcutta in 1858 and the expression did not appear until 1905, attributing it to him is sheer nonsense.

Q: Margaret writes, 'I am interested to know why money is called “dough”. '

A:   This started as American slang in the mid-1800s. It is simply because bread is the most basic food necessity for even the poorest in the western world. (In the east it's rice.) You need money for bread, or you starve, hence money is called 'dough.' And in the common saying 'bread is the staff of life' -- an expression which comes from a couple of references in the Old Testament part of the Bible.

Q: John asks about the word ‘noisome’? Does it (he asks) have anything to do with ‘noise’?

A:   Not originally. From the 1500s onwards ‘noisome’ meant a bad smell. If it really ponged it was ‘noisome.’ What makes it confusing is that in ‘noisome’ the first syllable is connected to our word ‘annoy.’ So from the earliest days (1300s) anything that was annoying or troublesome was ‘noisome’. But over the centuries this meaning narrowed down to refer to just one source of annoyance—and annoying smell. And this was the standard meaning from the 1500s until today (and for educated people it still is). But from 1925 it took on the addition meaning ‘an annoying noise’—imposed on it by people who were ignorant of its history and meaning. The secondary meaning was expressed in a 1927 novelty song ‘What Noise Annoys an Oyster?’ The answer, of course, was: a noisy noise annoys an oyster most. 

Q: Harvey asks for the origin of ‘from pillar to post.’

A:   Today it means going from one person or situation to another—sometimes referring to a pointless activity. It comes from the game of real (or royal) tennis (introduced into England by Henry V in the 1400s). It looks to our eyes like a cross between tennis and squash, because it’s played on a tennis sized court with a net, but in a court so the ball also bounces off the walls. If the ball ricocheted all over the place without scoring a point it was said to go ‘from pillar to post’ (or ‘from post to pillar’ which was an early variation). 

Q: Peter writes: ‘just wondering is it correct to call Charlie Kirk an “Activist", or is that too strong a word?

A:   It’s not a good word for Charlie Kirk. ‘Activist’ is used in this sense from about 1917. My judgement is that Charlie Kirk pursued thinking, talking, debating and discussion as a way ahead. It modern usage and activist is often someone who wants to shout down opponents, not engage with them—and that wasn’t Charlie Kirk. Setting fire to Teslas is activism, engaging someone in intelligent discussion is not.

Q: Margaret writes: ‘A fond memory of my year 6 teacher was of her saying "fiddlesticks!" in response to some random nonsense of mine. I just thought it was a rather funny word. Keen to know how this expression came about.’

A:   This usage is recorded from around 1625. It meant an absurdity in the sense of being a nothing. It seems to come from the notion that a violin bow on its own is useless—without the fiddle the fiddlestick is useless. So, ‘fiddlesticks’ means a nonsensical nothing.

Q: Bruce writes about weather reports that talk about ‘a month’s worth of rain’ and asks—are they using ‘worth’ correctly?

A:   The word ‘worth’ came into Old English more than a thousand years ago from a Germanic source meaning ‘a specified monetary or material value.’ Later it came to mean ‘something of importance, usefulness, or desirability’. But rain is always of questionable value, usefulness, or desirability.’ In those weather reports ‘worth’ is being used in a sloppy and redundant fashion. Why can’t they just say ‘A month of rain in three days.’ Using ‘worth’ in that sentence is meaningless padding

Q: John (another John—we have a lot of Johns!) asks for the source of the word ‘haphazard.’

A:   The prefix ‘hap’ is related to the word ‘happens’—meaning that which occurs. We still have this shortened form included in words such as ‘happenstance.’ Of course the ‘hazard’ means, as we know, ‘risk, danger, or jeopardy.’ Put them together—which happened in 1569—and you’re taking on punt on what will happened: will it be dangerous (hazardous) or not?

Q: Cheryl asks why we call someone who is off their rocker, ‘dotty’?

A:   Has had that meaning of being, shall we say, terminally confused (?) since around 1860. But before that it meant anyone who walked with an unsteady gait. That earlier expression seems to have come from the phrase used to describe people walking with the aid of a crutch, which was said to be a case of ‘dot and carry one’—the crutch being the ‘dot’ and the injured leg being the ‘carry one.’ How this old meaning changed to mean just plain bonkers is unclear. But perhaps there was a time when someone with an unsteady walk was thought to have an unsteady mind. 

Q: Carl writes: ‘I was watching football and the commentator said, "she was feeling a little ginger" What did she mean?’

A:   The problem is that ‘feeling a little ginger’ can mean two different things. (1) It can mean feeling ‘spiced up’ and lively—a metaphorical use of the ginger plant that makes meals a bit spicey and lively; (2) but it can also mean feeling cautious and careful—as a contraction of feeling ‘gingerly’. (which comes from a different Anglo-Norman source word and is unrelated to the spicey ginger).

Q: Helen asks, what does the expression ‘social licence’ mean?

A:   This expression is found in none of the major dictionaries I searched. But there is an expression found in the business community—some called SLO or ‘Social Licence to Operate.’ This seems to be the belief that companies do on just exist to produce a profit for investors and employment for the staff and products (or services) for customers—but they must also get permission from the communities they are in to operate. This especially means the noisiest elements in those communities. So if the noisiest elements are the climate alarmists, or Aboriginal activists, or the trans community or whoever then they are ones who must be placated in the name of SLO—Social Licence to Operate.

Q: Steve writes: ‘The PM wants companies to “lean in” to his 2035 emissions targets. Where is this confusing expression originate from?’

A:   This expression came from America, and is first recorded in 2001. It is a bit of ‘management jargon’ that means ‘To become fully engaged with something.’ It was popularized by U.S. business executive Sheryl Sandberg's 2013 book called Lean In, in which she encourages women to aspire to leadership in the workplace. But it remains a fairly empty bit of jargon.

Q: Mike wants to know why, if you have a fall, we say you have ‘come a cropper.’

A:   This comes from the days of horse riding—mid 1800s—and is a shorter version of ‘neck and crop’ meaning falling off a horse. In that expression ‘crop’ seems to be a dialect pronunciation of ‘croup’ meaning the back of the horse, so if you’ve fallen off a horse ‘neck and crop’ you’ve fallen off fore and aft. 

Q: Daniel asks how many words are there in the English language?

A:   The short answer is that nobody knows for sure. A standard concise desk dictionary will have around 50,000 headwords – the big ones much more. Webster’s Third New International has around 450,000 headwords and the Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionarycontains more than 615,000 – and the third edition (available online) is expanding all the time. But these two lists don’t entirely overlap – in fact they have less than two thirds of their headwords in common. That means that together, their combined list would exceed three-quarters of a million. And they are not exhaustive. The Global Language Monitor, an Austin, Texas based linguistic consultancy, claimed there are exactly 999,060 words in the language at the moment – and the one million mark should be past this year. 

Q: John responds to my argument that AI is misnamed (it is not “intelligence”) by asking: what about the ‘ghost in the machine’? What is that? And where does it come from?

A:  ‘The ghost in the machine’ is a phrase coined by philosophers (in 1948) who were engaged in something called the “mind/body debate.” The phrase was coined to capture the notion that we have an immaterial mind encased in a material body—in other words, that our mind is something more than electrical impulses in the brain (that’s just the record of the mind’s activity). The human mind is beyond that and is not composed of mere matter. Which is why computers do not (cannot) have minds and therefore can never be intelligent.

Q: Julie writes -- 'Can you please give the correct pronunciation of the word yoghurt. The British pronounce the 'o' as the short vowel. The Australian Oxford Dictionary pronounces the 'o' as the long vowel. Which is correct??'

A:   Actually, the full Oxford also recommends the short vowel -- YOG-uht. And the Oxford goes on to say the long vowel (YOH-guht) belongs only in America. 

Q: Jay asks for the origin of the word 'laconic.'

A:   It comes from ancient Greece and is supposed to be the name of a person -- Laconicus, king of Sparta. There is only a brief account of him in the Roman historian Livy -- and even that is not thought to be reliable. But if he really existed, he must have been a close-mouthed man who said little. The Gary Cooper (or Wayne Bennet) of his day.

Q: Leo asks for the meaning of "scintilla" and from where it is derived? 

A:   'scintilla' means a very small amount of something. It's recorded in English from around 1661. It comes from an identical classical Latin word meaning 'a small spark from a fire.' If you've ever gathered around an open fire, or a campfire, you'll know that there are tiny sparks which fly out -- and they are the source of our English word 'scintilla.' 

Q: Helen asks: 'What is the difference between otiose and nugatory?'

A: 'Otiose' means 'unnecessary' -- serving no useful purpose (often used of repeated words and phrases). 'Nugatory' means 'of little value, trifling, worthless.'

Q: Grace writes: ' I have often heard the expression "neck of the woods" used to describe an area or location. Do you know where that expression comes from?'

A: This started out (around 1637) in America, with the meaning of 'a narrow stretch of woodland' ('narrow' meaning 'neck shaped' -- so it began fairly literally.) Gradually over the years this meaning broadened out until by the early 1800s it meant a neighbourhood, or region, or district.

Q: Virginia writes: 'Kel, we constantly hear politicians referring to "have a conversation" and not "have a discussion or discuss". I always understood there was a subtle difference between conversation and discussion. Am I incorrect in this understanding?'

A: Both came into English from Latin via French around the 13th century. Any difference between them is so small and so subtle as to be insignificant. If anything, 'discussion' was a slightly more legal term, while 'conversation' meant something more informal.

Q: Harvey writes from West Australian about the Native Title Act and asks the meaning of the word 'native.'

A: 'Native' came into English from a Latin source word in the 1400s -- the Latin word is nātīvus  --meaning having your birth or origin in a particular place.  So, the name of the Native Title Act refers to SOME Australian natives, but not to ALL Australian natives. 

Q: Julie writes -- 'Can you please give the correct pronunciation of the word yoghurt. The British pronounce the 'o' as the short vowel. The Oxford Dictionary pronounces the 'o' as the long vowel. Which is correct??'

A: Actually, the Oxford also recommends the short vowel -- YOG-uht. And the Oxford goes on to say the long vowel (YOG-uht) belongs only in America. 

Q:  Margaret writes, 'I am interested to know why money is called “dough”. '

A: This started as American slang in the mid 1800s. It is simply because bread is the most basic food necessity for even the poorest in the western world. (In the east it's rice.) You need money for bread, or you starve, hence money is called 'dough.' And in the common saying 'bread is the staff of life' -- an expression which comes from a couple of references in the Old Testament part of the Bible.

Q:  Mike writes:  'can you please explain the term "Black hole of Calcutta"?

A: It's now used metaphorically but originally it meant the punishment cell at the barracks in Fort William, Calcutta, in which, on 19 June 1756, after the fall of the fort, 64 British and Anglo-Indian soldiers and civilians were confined overnight in crowded conditions, only 21 surviving until the morning -- the rest died.  

Q:  Hi Kel, I just wondered where the expression “break a leg” originates? Obviously, it is intended to wish luck rather than harm but seems a little counterintuitive. Thank you, Aileen, 

A: It started at theatrical slang, recoded from around 1925.  The semantic motivation is unclear; the likeliest explanation is that, according to theatrical superstition, it is considered unlucky to say the words ‘good luck’ to a performer.  

Q: John writes " Hi Kel, in cricket you will often hear the commentators describe the batsman as being out plumb. Where did this word plumb come from?"

A: 'Plumb' has meant 'straight' since about 1424. It comes from the idea of a plumb line being a line that goes straight down. The word 'plumb' comes from the Latin word for lead -- since originally plumb lines were weighed down by a piece of lead. 

Q: Lindsay writes: 'could you provide some info on the saying to be "let off the hook".'

A: "Off the hook" meaning "out of a difficult situation" is American in origin and is recorded from  1864. If you are in a difficult situation you are "caught" hence the image of being 'hooked' -- and if you get out of it you are "off the hook."

Q: Judy asks:  Where did the phrase ‘Albatross around your neck’ originate. And what does it refer to?  

A: From Coleridge's 1798 poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." The mariner brings bad luck on his ship by killing an  albatross. His shipmate's hang the albatross around his neck as a penance. So anything from our past that continues to haunt us is "an albatross around our necks."

'Q: Alvin asks:  Where did “thick as two bricks” originate??  

A: Began by describing a stupid person as being "thick" -- the image being that instead of thinking grey matter their heads we just thick bone all the way through. This goes back to 1857. In the 20th century comparisons started to be made between thick people and other thick things (bricks, short planks, and so on). In 1972 Jethro Tull had an album called "Thick as a Brick." Thick as two bricks is just an extension. 

Q: After my piece about Dagwood Sandwiches, Daniel wrote to ask about the classic American Rueben sandwich. 

A: The Reuben is a grilled sandwich with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and thousand island dressing. It's grilled between slices of rye bread--and is a favourite at New York kosher delicatessens.  One origin story holds that Reuben Kulakofsky (a Lithuanian-born Jewish grocer) in Omaha, Nebraska.  Another account holds that the Reuben's creator was Arnold Reuben (the German-Jewish Delicatessen in New York City).

Q: Gai asks for the origin of "fly on the wall."

A: "Fly on the wall" means an unperceived observer; one who is able to overhear discussions, without being observed or involved. It first appeared in print in 1949, in Nancy Mitford's book Love in a Cold Climate --but presumably it was part of the spoken language long before that. It is not known who coined the metaphor (which is a striking image!) but one linguist claims it is American, and claims to have found a very early appearance of the expression in The Oakland Tribune in California as early as 1921. So far the rest of the lexicographical world has not been persuaded. 

Q:  Aileen writes: 'what is the origin of the expression “to be a guinea pig””? I don’t even know why they are called guinea pigs!!!'

A: The "guinea' part comes from the country called "Guinea" on the west coast of Africa. But despite this name, guinea pigs are not native to Guinea. They are small rodents from the Andean region of South America.  When the name was first applied (from about 1664) their origin was unknown -- except that they came from some distant foreign shore. So, the 'guinea' part may have started as a guess. As for the 'pig' part, thin e Oxford says, 'Perhaps the animal was thought to resemble the young of the Guinea Hog.' And because guinea pigs have been used by scientists for experiments so often, people can be called 'guinea pigs' if something new is being tried out on them,

Q: Lindsay wants to know why "Fido" is often used (or used to be used) as a dog's name. It's an odd word -- so where does it come from?

A: "Fido" probably comes from the Latin word for "trust." Our dogs trust us implicitly, and, equally farmers will tell you that working dogs are utterly trustworthy. So, I am assuming a Latin scholar in generations past thought that adapting the Latin word for trust into a dog's name was appropriate. The Latin word is fiducia. 

Q: Peter asks where "jaunty" comes from and what (exactly) it means?

A: What's interesting here is how the meaning of the word has changed over the years. Now we use 'jaunty' to mean "happy and confident" -- but when it first came into English (from a French source word) in the 1600s it meant "a well-bred gentleman." (Which is what the French source word also meant.) Why did it change? Perhaps we decided that the sign of a well-bred gentleman was that he was happy and confident? Or perhaps we just ran out of well-bred gentlemen but liked the word and wanted to keep it? Either is possible.

Q: Carol asks -- how did the name of a weapon, namely a 'battle-axe' come to be applied to (some) old ladies?

A: The name of the weapon goes back to the 1300s. And, clearly, an axe used in a battle is fearsome weapon. The slang usage arose in America -- where it's first recorded in 1896. Why did that happen? It appears that some old ladies struck fear into the hearts of others (mostly their sons-in-law) -- hence they were given the name of the most fearsome weapon from the medieval world.

Q: David writes to complain about the common mispronunciation of the 8th letter of the alphabet. He is annoyed by people who called it 'HAITCH' and wants my comment.

A: David is correct, and all the HAITCH people are wrong. There is no aspirant in the name of the letter. The only correct pronunciation is 'AITCH' -- spelled A-I-T-C-H. And under that spelling it is listed in all the major dictionaries. No dictionary recognises the ugly 'HAITCH" pronunciation. 

Q: Sue asks: "Please advise the correct pronunciation of E-N-V-O-Y: is it en-voy or on-voy? 

A: It came into English in the 1600s from a French word meaning 'messenger.' The Oxford accepts both pronunciations -- but it lists first (and therefore prefers) EN-voy. The alternative (ON-voy) obviously preserves the original French pronunciation, but, since we are speaking English I agree with the Oxford, and we should go with EN-voy.

Q: Tiffy says she heard the word 'tomfoolery' used at the Logies, and asks where it comes from?

A:  It goes back to the 1500s when a stupid or foolish person was called a 'Tom Fool' (as if it were a proper name). Behaving in that manner is 'tomfoolery.'  

Q: Jay asks for the origin of the word 'laconic.'

A: It comes from ancient Greece and is supposed to be the name of a person -- Laconicus, king of Sparta. There is only a brief account of him in the Roman historian Livy -- and even that is not thought to be reliable. But if he really existed, he must have been a close-mouthed man who said little. The Gary Cooper of his day.

Q:  Leo asks for the meaning of   "scintilla" and from where it is derived? 

A: 'scintilla' means a very small amount of something. It's recorded in English from around 1661. It comes from an identical classical Latin word meaning 'a small spark from a fire.' If you've ever gathered around an open fire, or a campfire, you'll know that there are tiny sparks which fly out -- and they are the source of our English word 'scintilla.' 

Q:   Gordon writes: “In Texas, the Republican governor is re-drawing electoral boundaries, and the Democrats are accusing him of creating a ‘gerrymander’—where did that strange word come from?”

A:  Redrawing electoral boundaries is called ‘redistricting’ in America, because Congressional seats are called ‘districts’ rather than electorates (as we would). ‘Gerrymander’ means distorting these electoral boundaries to favour one party over another. This word was coined by the editor of a Massachusetts newspaper (the Columbian Centinel) in 1812. New boundaries are drawn by the Governor of Massachusetts, Eldridge Gerry .One new district was so oddly shaped that it looked like a salamander, but the editor said that since it was created by Eldridge Gerry it must be a ‘gerrymander.’ His joke caught on, and his word became part of the language.

Q: Rodney asks: " What is the origin of 'blue murder'?"

A: This goes back to the early 1800s to describe a cry or scream of alarm or terror.  Using colours as metaphors for emotion is probably as old as human language: white with rage, green with jealousy, seeing red, and tickled pink. Connecting 'blue' with 'murder' is a way of suggesting a howl of anger and anguish. The Oxford suggests this connection may have been suggested by the French word morbleu which means 'by thunder' -- also a cry or exclamation.

Q:  Margaret asks: "What is the history of Umpire vs Referee."

A: 'Umpire' is very old (1400s) and comes from a French source word meaning "without equal, surpassing all others." In English it was very quickly adopted to mean "one whose decision is final." "Referee" is later, and it means "one to whom disputes are referred." So, although they come from slightly different backgrounds both these words came to mean "An official who supervises a game or match in order to ensure that the rules are adhered to."   In most sports the referee is present on the field of play and intervenes in the game as necessary. However, in certain sports (such as tennis and cricket) this function is performed by an umpire or umpires, while the referee is an off-field official who may arbitrate on specific issues if they arise. 

Q: Bruce asks: 'Where did the saying "It's not over until the fat lady sings" come from and what is its meaning?' 

A: It means: there's more to come. It seems to come from the Southern States of America from about 1976. There were two original variations on this, which give the two possible sources -- (1) "The Opera ain't over till the fat lady sings (creating the image of the fat soprano who has to sing a final aria before the curtain comes down); and (2) "Church ain't over till the fat lady sings" (where the picture is of the fat lady in the church choir who gets to sing a sola part). Either of those sources could be correct. And no one seems to know which!

Q: Neil asks:  'Can you please explain what “common sense” means? It appears that no-one knows! '

A:  'Common sense' means 'how things are' -- that's a simple, clear, straight-forward three-word definition of 'common sense' for you -- 'how things are.' Too many people (including too many politicians) seem these days to live in a little bubble of the fairy tales they choose to believe; such people pay no attention to 'how things are' -- and thus display no common sense. 

Q: Noel wants to know whether the media is using 'decimated' correctly, when a commentor calls on Hamas to be 'decimated' and means 'totally destroyed?

A: The answer is both yes and no. 'Yes' because the original meaning of 'decimated' was 'to reduce by a tenth.' It goes back to the days of the Roman Empire when a commanding officer would discipline a troop of soldiers by lining them up and then going along the line and killing every tenth man. Obviously, in the original meaning, a place that was 'decimated' still left 90% standing. But the experts tell me that this is a word on the cusp of change -- if not already changed! People have been using (or misusing) it to mean total destruction for so long, that that the 'total wipeout' meaning has now largely taken over. And given that this is how English works (the meaning of a word is its use in the language) we may have to accept that we've lost this one!

Q: Richard asks about the word 'mandarin' -- he wants to know of the fruit and the ancient Chinese ruler should be spelled differently (because they pronounced differently)?

A: No, the two mandarins are spelled in exactly the same way -- 'mandarin' is the name of BOTH a high official in Chinese imperial governments AND one of the major languages spoken in China (the other is Cantonese). That usage goes back to the 1500s. The fruit was originally called a 'mandarin orange' and sometimes a 'China orange'. So, it was the Chinese word that gave its name to the fruit. This labelling seems to have begun in Portugal, and to have been borrowed from there by English, in the 1700s. The Oxford says the pronunciation of both should be man-duh-RIN. I wonder if our pronunciation of man-duh-REEN is more recent? Or even if it is peculiar to Australia? 

Q: In the light of Donald Trump's claim that Baraj Obama may have committed treason, Charlotte writes to ask for the origin of the word 'treason.'

A: 'Treason' goes back to the 12th century and came into English from an Anglo Normann and Old French word. Behind that source word is a very similar classical Latin word meaning 'to deliver up' or 'to betray' -- and that's still the core concept of 'treason.'

Q: Adam asks: "When did we start saying ‘over the top’ and how did it come to mean excessive?"

A: The phrase 'over the top is used to mean "Beyond reasonable or acceptable limits" from 1935. However, it may have developed from an earlier First World War expression, where 'over the top' meant it meant 'over the top of the trench and into battle.'  Which ordinary soldiers may well have regarded as excessive and unnecessary.

Q: Connie asks for the origin of the expression "Before you can say Jack Robinson".

A: It's recorded from 1763, so it's quite old. The Oxford assures me there never was one particular person named Jack Robinson on whom this was based. Instead, they say, it was just a combination of the most common male Christian name ('John' or 'Jack') with a very common surname 'Robinson'. The meaning seems to have been 'Before you can say the name, such-and-such is over.' 

Q:  Tiffy asks:  "is the phrase shiny as a new pin or as clean as a new pin and where did that phrase come from?"

A: The Oxford records 'clean as a new pin' but not 'shiny as a new pin.' The 'clean as...' version dates as far back as 1769 and means " cleanliness, smartness, or tidiness" (Oxford). It simply refers to the cleanliness of a shiny new pin just out of its packet. There is a third version of this saying: "as neat as a new pin." 

Q: John asks: ' who was it who came up with the term "idiot box" to describe television?'

A: It first appeared in 1957 in the Pennsylvania Daily Record, which quotes author David Chandler as having coined the expression 'idiot box' for the TV set --- mind you, that was long before the coming of 24 news channels (a productive and informative use of the medium.) 

Q: Tony asks why 'fore' is shouted as a warning in golf.

A: The word is first recorded, with this meaning, in 1878. It is a contraction of the word 'before' and as a shouted warning is aa contraction of the phrase 'watch out before.'

Q: Len wants to know the origin of 'mad as a cut snake.'

A: It means 'very angry' or 'crazy' or 'eccentric.' It is definitely an Australasian coinage, which first appeared in print in 1900 in the Queensland Times. It pictures a farmer hoeing in a paddock when a snake crawls out of the grass. The farmer, naturally, uses his hoe to chop the snake in half. Both halves then writhe and wriggle furiously -- giving an illustration of what 'mad as a cut snake' means.

Q: Aileen asks: 'Where did the phrase ‘Rack and ruin’ originate?'

A:  The idiom “rack and ruin” is a popular expression used to describe something that has been destroyed or ruined beyond repair. It is often used to refer to buildings, structures, or even people who have fallen into disrepair due to neglect or abandonment.  The origins of this phrase can be traced back to medieval times when torture devices called racks were commonly used in prisons. The rack was a device that stretched a person’s body until their bones began to break, causing immense pain and suffering. Over time, the term “rack” came to be associated with destruction and ruin. 

Q: Steven asks about the pronunciation of 'route.' We say 'root' while the Americans (mostly) say 'rowt'. Why is this?

A: There was a period (a long period) in American English when there was great sensitivity to using a word that might be considered even slightly improper. The American habit of saying 'in back of' comes from this period -- because people feared that saying 'behind' might be thought slightly rude or improper. From the same period came an aversion to saying 'root' because of its possible improper implications. Despite this bowdlerization, the song is still called 'Route 66.'

Q: John asks for the origin of 'the writing is on the wall.'

A: It means the predicted and likely outcome is already clear. It comes from the story of Belshazzar's feast (in the great city ancient city of Babylon) in the book of Daniel in the Bible. In the middle of the feast a disembodied hand appears and writes a mysterious message on the wall. Only the Hebrew prophet Daniel can interpret the message, which warns the mighty ruler: 'You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.' Belshazzar's fall from power came shortly afterwards. 

Q: Mark asks about the expression 'speaking to truth to power'. He asks if it has any real meaning, of if it just a way of journalists aggrandizing their trade.

A: In 1955 the American Society of Friends (otherwise known as the Quakers) published a book called Speaking Truth to Power: a Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence. That book appears to be the origin of the expression. The Quakers seem to have coined the phrase to describe the approach of Mahatma Ghandi to political dissent. Their phrase was then taken up by others as a way of naming a tactic of non-violent protest. Mind you, activist Noam Chomsky has dismissed the notion, saying that power already knows the truth, and is busy suppressing it.

Q: Dale says he has heard the word 'oversighting' used, and asks if this is wrong? Should it be 'overseeing'?

A: Sorry Dale, but 'oversighting' is a real word. From 1885 it has meant exactly the same as 'overseeing' (that is 'supervising.')

Q: Betty writes: 'The two words…. jumper and sweater… Is there a difference in accepted usage? Is Jumper related to leaping? Is Sweater related to perspiration?'

A: 'Jumper' is recorded from 1853 meaning 'a loose outer jacket reaching to the hips.' Earlier (from the 1650s) there was kind of short coat for mean called a 'jump' -- and this name was borrowed from a French word for a similar garment. The French word was juppe, and this was just adopted and anglicized. 'Sweater' comes from 1882 and originally meant 'a woollen vest or jersey worn... in order to reduce one's weight (by causing sweating during exercise).'