Q and A - Your Questions Answered

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Q: Marcus asks about the word 'gallivanting.'

A: This one appears around 1823 as a humorous version of 'gallant'. Used as a verb (from the early 1600s) this meant to behave like a 'gallant' -- especially in the sense of being showy, flashy and irresponsible. The jocular version of this word, 'gallivanting', had much the same meaning 'gadding abvolt in a showy fashion.' 

Q: Dennis suggests that I explain the difference between and acronym and an initialism -- especially for those journalists who seem to be muddled about this.

A: An acronym is a group of initial letters that can be pronounced as a word -- Anzac, Nato, scuba and so on. And group initials that cannot be pronounced as a word (LGBTQI, NRMA, RSVP and so) are called an initialism. They are not acronyms -- don't sound ill-educated by mislabelling them!

Q: Ian asks where 'bell the cat' comes from.

A:  From an Aesop's fable. The mice wanted a bell hung around the neck of their enemy the cat -- so as to always know where it was. But -- who (among the mice) would be brave enough to 'bell the cat' (to creep up and hang the bell around the feline neck)? These days when someone is brave enough to reveal the truth about what's going on (to 'blow the whistle') they are said to have 'belled the cat.' 

Q: Eleanor quotes a sentence from an Alexander McCall Smith novel about a man walking his dog -- “They walked round the path widdershins rather than deasil, which they would do tomorrow “.  And she asks for the meanings of 'widdershins' and 'deasil.'

Q: 'Widdershins' means anticlockwise and 'deasil' means 'clockwise.'  ‘Widdershins’ is recorded in English from 1513, with the original meaning of ‘in the direction opposite to the usual, the wrong way.’ The first part of the word means (roughly) against, and the second part comes from a German source word meaning ‘journey.’ Hence, to go ‘widdershins’ is to go the wrong way. Very early in its life in the English language ‘widdershins’ was used to mean travelling in the opposite direction to the sun. Since the sun goes from east to west, going ‘widdershins’ was going from west to east. But back in those days many times pieces were sun dials—and that extended the meaning of ‘widdershins’ to mean ‘anticlockwise. 'Deasil' is recorded from 1771 and comes from a Gaelic source word (found in both Old Irish and Welsh meaning 'righthandwise, turned toward the right,' that is 'clockwise.'

Q: Peter asks for the origins and the meaning of 'London to a brick.'

A:  It means a bet at very long odds. It is an Australian coinage from 1909 (from the Hobart Mercury of that year). If I bet you the whole of London against your one brick then I'm very sure of the certainty, of the odds, of my bet!  It was for a long time associated with legendary race caller Ken Howard, but it was not Ken's original coinage -- it predates him by some decades.

Q: Pam writes: "I was thinking about Anthony Albanese and the expression ‘mealy mouthed’ came to mind. Wondering about its origin. Congratulations on your segment with Peta Credlin which is always fun."

A: It means 'not outspoken' or 'afraid to clearly say what one thinks.' It comes from the notion of not speaking clearly at all -- as if one had a mouth full of powdery, floury meal (finely ground grain).

Q: Ray asks for the origin and meaning of 'boondoggle' which he finds quite puzzling.

A:  It means useless or pointless activity. It appears to come from the Old West in the USA when ranch hands with down time on their hands would, rather than being completely idle, fashion decorative items out of leather. These small items were called 'boondoggles' (for no reason that anyone has yet been able to discover). The word only appeared in print in 1935 (in The New York Times) but there it was said to go back to 'pioneering times' and to have originally meant something like 'gadgets' which fits in with the idle time in the bunkhouse story. 

Q: Aileen writes that since Pauline Hanson's appearance at the National Press Club there has been much confusion of the meaning of the words 'race.' 'ethnicity' and 'culture.'

A: Aileen is probably right about the confusion. 'Race' is purely biological--it identifies who a person is descended from. And individuals matter much more than who their great-grandparents might have been, 'race' is the least significant characteristic of anyone. 'Ethnicity' is geographical and social -- it means membership of a national or regional grouping. 'Culture' refers to growing up -- the customs and values in which a person grows up (is 'cultivated'). I fear some people deliberately muddle these in order to confuse the debate, and fling abuse at One Nation.

Q: Johnny asks about the expression 'brainwashing.'

A: The word is recorded from 1950--at first in America--and seems to come from the Korean war (1950-53), where Chinese captors subjected American servicemen to a process designed to 'wash away' their established ideas, and replace them with implanted ideas. The word itself might have begun as an English translation of a Chinese word with the same meaning. So, it was the Chinese who first called what they were doing 'brainwashing.' Nowadays it is certain appealing ideologies (such as the Climate ideology) that seem to 'brainwash' those who are attracted to them. Some, indeed, seem to be not only brainwashed but dry cleaned and pressed!

Q: Suzie writes: " I found myself using ‘sticky beak’ yesterday and thought of you. I know what we mean when we say this – but where on earth did it come from?"

A: This is an Australian coinage, first recorded in Sydney Evening News in October of 1914. And it was a clever Aussie way of referring to someone who sticks their nose (i.e. their 'beak') into other people's affairs. 

Q: Ian asks: "Do you think that there is anyone in the Federal cabinet who is not a snollygoster?"

A: Do you mean to say they are all "shrewd, unprincipled persons, that is -- politicians"? Can that really be true? Surely you can't include that wise man with qualifications in both engineering and economics Chris Bowen?  You shatter all my illusions!

Q:  What is a “blue stocking”? I am understood as the term for a house very clever lady academic.? 

A:   Of, belonging, or relating to a series of assemblies or salons held c1750 by a group of London society ladies, notable for the informal dress worn by the male attendees and for the intellectual conversation engaged in by women and men equally.   The expression came to be used generally in allusion to social assemblies or literary salons hosted by Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Vesey, and Frances Boscawen, among others, which were characterized by social informality and intellectual exchange. The emphasis on the encouragement of female intellectuals in this circle led to the association of the term blue stocking (and its derivatives) specifically with the involvement of women in the intellectual world.  

Q: Craig writes: 'I heard a term the other night that I had not heard in ages. Can you please tell me the origin of "Spitting Chips"?'

A: 'Spitting chips' is Australian in origin, first recorded in 1899 -- when it appeared in an article in the Perth Sunday Times. It meant from the beginning an utterance of anger or annoyance.   But none of the experts can tell me how it came to be coined. What sort of 'chips' is the angry person supposed to be spitting? Any suggestions would be welcome.

Q: Suzanne wants to know about 'crossing the Rubicon.'

A:   'Crossing the Rubicon' means passing a point of no return. In 49 BC Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon river in northern Italy at the head of the 13th Legion. This was taken by the Senate in Rome as a declaration of war (as Caesar intended it to be) -- since Roman law forbade generals leading their troops onto Roman soil.  

Q: Tom asks for the meaning of 'collywobbles.'

A:  It means butterflies in the stomach (or a similar disorder) -- probably from a combination of 'colic' and 'wobbles.'  

Q: Michael complains that 'awe' and 'awesome' and regularly misused these days -- and asks, 'how can we educate the masses'?

A:  That probably can't be done. Any sense of 'awe' seems to have departed from our gross society -- and the use of 'awesome' to mean 'very good' is not so deeply embedded I think we have lost this battle.  'Awe' came into English from a Scandinavian source word in the 12th century with the meaning of 'a feeling of fear or dread, mixed with profound reverence.' 'Awesome' originally meant that which is likely to provoke such feelings. But fear, dread and reverence are missing from our shallow, unthinking, unfeeling 21st century society.

Q: Clive asks about the origin and meaning of "Come Hell or High Water."

A: It seems to have an American origin, from 1868, with the meaning of 'despite difficulty or disaster.' It may have had a maritime origin, but this is unclear.  It first appeared in a Nashville newspaper, and Nashville is located on the Cumberland River (a tributary of the Ohio River, which, in turn, flows into the mighty Mississippi). So, it may come from the era of the big paddle steamers. It undoubtedly caught on and survived because of the alliteration between the two Hs.

Q: Bob writes ' Not sure if it's been asked but where does the saying "Bob's your uncle" come from?'

A: Yes, it has been asked before -- is there is not clear and certain answer.  The most common theory is that it comes from an act of political nepotism. The Victorian prime minister, Lord Salisbury (first name Robert) appointed his nephew Arthur Balfour to a succession of posts. Balfour got these jobs because 'Bob was his uncle.' Now Salisbury became prime minister in 1902, and the Oxford does record the expression until 1937. Although Michael Quinion says it might have existed by about 1924 -- but that still a big gap between Arthur Balfour getting those jobs and the expression appearing. Michael concludes that everybody who has looked into the history of the expression has ended up baffled. 

Q: Clark asks for the origin and meaning of 'ham-fisted.'

A: It means 'Having large or clumsy hands' -- meaning hands are large and awkward as a leg of ham on the bone. It first appeared in 1928 when the Daily Mail said it applied to 'pilots who are heavy on controls, or generally clumsy.'

Q: Judith writes: "Don't get your knickers in a knot" I grew up with this saying, but it would not be one the next generation would comprehend.'

A: This is British slang from the mid-20th century. It means, of course, don't metaphorically tie yourself up in knots over something unimportant -- don't get your intimate apparel into a twist. Would the younger generation not understand this? Surely, they would! 

Q: Bob writes: 'Where did "cove" come from? My Dad would say I "don't trust that cove", referring to a sales rep or a person.'

A:  Convict slang. It's found in James Hardy Vaux's dictionary of the "flash language" spoken by convicts. (So ultimately it came from the slang of thieves in England.) They  used it to mean 'the man in charge'. Over time it changed to mean just any man. 

Q: Warwick asks for the origins of the word 'hangover.'

A: It means, of course, the unpleasant after-effects of alcohol. It's an American expression first recorded in 1895. There are some nonsense stories told about this -- e.g. that in certain frontier inns there were ropes that the dead drunk would be draped over until they recovered in the morning. Very inventive, but completely untrue. Before its application to booze 'hangover' existed to describe anything that was 'left over' -- that was a remainder of some sort. That usage comes from earlier in the 1890s. And that's where it comes from.

Q: Tamara asks: ' What does "money for jam" mean & where did it come from?'

A: It means a profitable return from very little effort. There is an alternative version 'money for old rope' with the same meaning. Both come from 1919, and are thought to have begun as military slang. The point is straight forward -- 'jam' (or 'old rope') costs almost nothing, so if you can get a good return for it, you're on to a good thing.  

Q: Jeremy asks if the expression 'ditch the witch' in sexist? He says that has been told that the word can apply to both males and females.

A: This is one where the answer is: up to a point Lord Copper. The word itself is ancient -- going back to the days of Old English. And it was never a nice thing to call anyone, since it was always meant using magic in harmful ways. The Oxford has the following helpful note: 'Witch is not clearly associated with women more than men in early use, but it is employed as a term of abuse or contempt for a woman from the 15th cent. onwards ' In other words, in the 21st century 'witch' is definitely a term of sexist abuse.

Q: Suzie asks for the origin of the expression 'upper crust'?

A: It started in the 1400s as a reference to bread, but over the years it spread to refer to anything that was at the top of something, So the outer mantle of the earth came to be called the 'upper crust', and then it was applied to your head with 'upper crust' being a slang term for the human head. Then in 1823 it was used as s sneering putdown of people who thought they were better than anyone else - who had 'swelled heads.' That ironic implication seems to have gone these days, and 'upper crust' now just means 'upper class.'

Q: Darren writes about the word 'overwhelmed' and its jokey inversion 'underwhelmed' -- and asks what it means to be 'whelmed'?

A: The word 'whelmed' means 'to be engulfed, or to be capsized'. So, it basically means the same as 'being 'overwhelmed' -- which is just a more severe example of the same thing. 

Q: James asks: 'If you have a "train of thought" does mean you have a destination?'

A:  'Train' really refers to a series of things linked together -- so if you have a series of connected, rational thoughts you have a train (regardless of whether you know where you'll end up or not!) 

Q: Aileen writes: 'Can you please explain the correct pronunciation of 'negotiate'? In recent years, it seems to have become 'nego-see-ate', but (and I'm showing my age here) it always used to be pronounced 'nego-shee-ate' What has changed? '

A: I think both pronunciations have been with us for some time. If you'd like me to make a ruling, bang down my judge's gavel and pronounce sentence -- I'm quite happy to declare 'nego-SHE-are' as correct, and any deviation from that as wrong. My reason is that the '-tia'- in negotiate' is the same as the '-tia'- in 'partial' and is pronounced the same way.

Q: Clark wants to know the origin of 'raining cats and dogs.'

A:  It was a joke from the late medieval period. Drains (in those days) ran down the middle of streets -- and after a major rain storm the dead bodies of stray cats and dogs would come drifting down the public drains. Hence the joke -- it must have been raining cats and dogs. 

Q: John writes to ask if there is a word for the fear of being thought racist -- not actually racist, he adds (he knows he's not that), but the fear of people thinking that he's racist (perhaps from how they interpret his words)? 

A: I think probably the best word is 'anthropophobia' -- which seems to mean 'fear of other people' / 'fear of society'. (It was coined by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant in 1799.) Since John knows that he's colour blind (that he judges people by the content of their character not the colour of their skin) what he is afraid of is what others think. Which, I believe, is not worth worrying about -- but if it does worry you, then you have 'anthropophobia.' 

Q: Bill asks about the different uses of 'mind' -- as in 'I haven't made up my mind' contrasted with 'mind how you go.'

A:  'Mind' as a noun refers to the rational power that you exercise using what Hercule Poirot called 'the little grey cells' -- it's what you think with. And the verb 'to mind' means 'to think'. So 'mind how you go' means 'think about how you go -- don't do anything thoughtlessly.' The different uses fit together. 

Q: David writes about the word 'fulsome'. His dictionary tells me this is a negative word meaning excessive and insincere, but these days many people (especially politicians) seem to use as a positive expression. He asks me for my ruling on this.

A: 'Fulsome' has a long history -- and was very negative for much of that time: it's first syllable 'full' being read as meaning 'foul.' But -- 'fulsome' is almost certainly a word on the cusp of change (if it hasn't changed already!) 'Fulsome' (regardless of its history or etymology) has been used to mean 'unrestrained, exuberant, effusive, lavish, wholehearted' since around 1922. And that meaning has now (almost certainly) taken over.  

Q: Ian asks: 'What is the difference between talking and speaking?'

A: I'm scratching my head trying to come up with an answer to that. They are almost exact synonyms -- but not quite. 'Speaking' means 'uttering words' while 'talking' means 'engaging in conversation.' So, it looks as though 'talking' is more reciprocal than 'speaking.' Mind you, we don't always get that right. In our conversations, our so called 'listening' component can often consist of a period of silence while we think what we are going to say next!

Q:  Don asks, 'What is the difference between "Closed Up" and "Closed Down"?'

A:   Interestingly there is no difference -- they are exact synonyms. This is because of the imprecise nature of 'up' and 'down'. This vagueness can be seen if you try to work out the difference between 'uptown' and 'downtown.' Anywhere except on the side of a hill, they make no sense.   Officially 'closed up' means 'brought to an end' while 'closed down' means 'shifted to a closed position.' Which makes my point!

Q: Sue asks: 'could someone explain what "intergenerational equity" is and where the term came from?'

A:  It seems to date back to 1964 -- when it was coined by sociologists.  'Intergenerational equity' is a one division that comes under the wider name of DEI -- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The aim of DEI is to identify a group as being 'disadvantaged' and then give that group special rights under the law to overcome their perceived disadvantage. It's based on the Marxist analysis of society into just two groups: (1) the Oppressors, and (2) the Oppressed. 'Intergenerational equity' identifies people based only on age -- concluding that those below a certain age are Oppressed, and their Oppressors are people older than them. The standard Marxist response is to legally disadvantage the Oppressors (older people) in order to relieve the disadvantage of the Oppressed (younger people). If this strikes you as a load of codswallop, that's because that's what it is.

Q: Clearly in a grim mood, Johnny asks for the origin of 'gallows' -- the implement from which convicted killers were 'hanged from the neck until they were dead.'

A: This goes back to the days when the Anglo Saxons spoke Old English. In its earliest form the source word that gives us 'gallows' probably meant a pole. And as an apparatus for inflicting the punishment of death it has always been in the plural because it consisted of two uprights and a crosspiece from which the condemned man was hanged. 

Q: Graeme asks about the often-heard buzzword 'leverage'

A: The word goes back to the 1700s and means having a lever that can move an object. These days it is most often used figuratively. So, the ability to influence political decisions can be called 'leverage' -- often implying that the person doing this has a figurative 'lever' (some power, or knowledge, or supplies) that meant they cannot be ignored. For example. the unions fund the Labor Party, and that gives the unions 'leverage' over the ALP -- their funding is their lever. It is having such power. If a businessman invests in a favourite government enterprise, that gives that businessman a lever -- leverage to influence the government.

Q: Andrew writes to say he is intrigued by the expression 'cocky's joy.'

A: An Aussie expression, recorded from 1901 -- I always thought it meant golden syrup, but on doing some research I find it originally meant either golden syrup or treacle or jam. The cockies were poor farmers (cockatoo farmers) or farm workers. The expression 'cocky famer' goes back to 1870 and to selectors on small properties -- whose grain crops were often attacked by large flocks of cockatoos. And with a field filled with these birds it looked as though the farmer was growing, not grain but birds--hence 'cockatoo farmers.'

Q: Stephen writes to say he cringes when he hears the expression 'Give it up for..." (instead of just asking for a round of applause or asking us to 'show our appreciation). He wants to know where this 'give it up for...' nonsense came from?

A: From America, first recorded in 1990. The verb 'to give' is more than a thousand years old and means to hand over something as a gift, a present. Perhaps this odd expression was born as a variation on the earlier phrases 'give a hand to...' or 'put your hands together for...' But I agree with Stephen that calling on the audience for an act of surrender (just give up folks!) is a bit of disproportionate American hyperbolic verbal embroidery and should be avoided. 

Q: John asks if there is anything I can say from a linguistic point of view about Dr Anna Cody's expression 'potential pregnancy' -- applied to people who (lacking a womb) can never be 'potentially pregnant'?

A: The word 'potential' came into English from classical Latin in the 14th century with the meaning of 'possible.' And that's the meaning it still has today. Dr Anna Cody is a lawyer, and the former Dean of Law at Western Sydney University. Lawyers are trained to use words with great care. That means never using a word meaning 'possible' for something that is impossible. If I may use unparliamentary language -- surely to claim that the impossible (a person without a uterus becoming pregnant) is possible is lying?  To pretend anything else is to attack the English language and say that words don't mean what they mean. Equally, surely the utterances of any senior bureaucrat who has such disregard for language, simply can never be trusted?

Q: Len says that the misuse of "less" and "fewer" is driving him nuts! Can I explain what is correct please?

A: The standard rule says that 'fewer' goes with plural nouns and 'less' with singular nouns (including collective nouns singular). So, when the football caller says 'there are less fans here this week' he should have said 'fewer' because 'fans' is a plural noun. My friend the late Clive Robertson was always threatening to take a thick, black pen to supermarkets and change all the signs saying, '12 items or less' -- crossing out 'less' and replacing it with 'fewer.' In conversation we are more relaxed, and people who misapply 'less' or 'fewer' in a chat over coffee are allowed to get away with it. But on the media, and in writing, we should be careful.

Q: John asks: ' where did the term " cock and bull story " come from?'

A: The story is that there were once two inns on the High Street of Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire -- The Cock and The Bull. The two inns were the staging posts for rival coach lines, whose passengers were regarded by the locals as sources of news. Unfortunately, the story goes, travellers were inclined to embroider or invent outlandish stories to entertain themselves and confuse the locals.  Hence there were competing stories from The Cock and The Bull. Eventually all outlandish stories were labelled with the names of both inns as 'cock and bull' stories. 

Q: Aileen wants to know about (1) 'banger' -- this, she says, was once a slang word for a sausage or for an old car but is now being used to mean anything very good. (2) 'eating humble pie', and (3) 'When in Rome do as the Romans do.'

A: (1) 'Banger' meaning sausages came from the First World War -- the sausages served in the trenches were very poor quality, often contained a lot of water, and frequently exploded when cooked; the old car use obviously comes from the rattling noises old cars make; and the 'very good' meaning is recorded from 2020: when it originally meant an awesome pop song (probably from the driving rhythm). (2) 'Eating humble pie' -- was originally 'umble' pie (no 'H') and the 'umbles' were the inner organs of the deer; pie made from this offal was suitable only for servants and peasants.  (3) 'When in Rome' means 'when in an unfamiliar environment, adopt the behaviour of those around you' -- recorded in English from 1475, but there was even earlier a Latin version of this saying, so this is clearly a very ancient proverb. And given the power of the Roman Empire it was probably good advice for visitors to Rome from the remote parts of the Empire. 

Q: Gary asks why a negative is sometimes expressed by putting 'un-' in front of a word (as in 'unnecessary'), and sometimes by using the prefix 'in-' (as in 'inexpressible'). How come English has two forms of the negative?'

A:  The two negations come from different sources: "un-" from Germanic and "in-" from Latin. That makes this is a very good question, because it points to the fact that English comes from the mixing of two different main source languages. English is a mixture of Germanic words from the Old English spoken by the Anglo-Saxons, and the Latinate language that arrived with the Norman Conquest. So, next time a school child complains about English spelling, or irregular verbs, tell them to blame William the Conqueror who could have learnt the Old English of the inhabitants of the British Isles, but instead imposed his own highly Latinate Norman French. 

Q: Lin writes about going down to the sea in boats: 'Three words interest me, "dinghy", for a small boat. The other words are "painter", for the dinghy’s mooring line and "sheet" for the rope that holds the sails. Odd use of words?'

A: "Dinghy" came into English in 1782, during British rule in India. It comes from a Hindi name for a small boat used on inland and coastal waterways. "Painter" seems to have come into English in the 1400s as the name for a rope attached to the bow of a boat. It came from a French source word that meant ' a rope that hangs or suspends.' The other, more familiar word 'painter' (someone who paints) comes from a different source word (from Latin). Originally a 'sheet' was the rope fastening the corner of a square sail. It comes from a very old Anglo-Saxon word that originally meant 'a corner.' Our current meaning of 'sheet' probably comes from the fact that our sheets have four corners -- while in maritime lingo it named the rope that tied the corner. 

Q: Ray asks: 'where did the saying " your goose is cooked" originate from?'

A: It means you've been defeated, and the game is over for you. It is said to come from Jan Hus -- a Czech theologian, university official and philosopher, and a leader of the protestant reformation in Bohemia. He was burned at the stake by his Catholic opponents. And since his name -- 'Hus' -- is Czech for 'goose, it is claimed that his execution was the source of the expression. The problem is that the expression does not appear until a long time after his fiery death, so it may just be a myth. However, there is no other suggestion as to the possible source of what is (otherwise) a strange and inexplicable phrase -- so I think we have to stick to the Jan Hus account as the source. 

Q: Phillip asks why journalists are currently using the word 'populist' to label One Nation.

A: Taken literally 'populist' just means 'of the people.' But I had a conversation with Paul Kelly about this recently, and Paul explained that journalists are using 'populist' to mean a 'grievance' party -- a party which expresses the grievances that the ordinary people have with the way they are being governed.  And I can see the validity in using the word in that way.

Q: Michael asks: 'Where does the term beyond the black stump originate?'

A: It is an Australian coinage. 'Beyond the black stump' is recorded from 1895 meaning the remote outback, the limits of civilisation. But before that 'black stump' was used to mean a fire blackened tree stump that was used as a marker by early surveyors. That earlier usage goes back to 1831. 

Q: Clark asks for the origins of 'Elbow Grease' 'Skin of your teeth' 'Arm & a Leg'.

A: 'Elbow grease' is the metaphorical 'oil' that polishes furniture--hard rubbing with your arms (i.e. elbows) --recorded from 1672.  The 'skin of your teeth' means your lips (a very close shave might come close to slicing off your lips).  It comes from the Bible (Job 19:20) where it is used in exactly that way. 'And arm and a leg' was coined in 1924 in America to mean a large sum of money. 

Q: John and Julie (in separate emails) ask: ' where does the phrase " it doesn't cut the mustard " come from?'

A: From America, first recorded in 1884, originally alluding to the difficulty of cutting tall mustard plants during harvest. In 1884 the San Francisco Daily Examiner reported: "It is difficult to find men tall enough to see to cut mustard."

Q: Gordon writes that since "lie' has been banned as unparliamentary language -- would it be possible to use the word "dissemble"?

A: A good word, and a good choice Gordon. 'Dissemble' came into English in the mid 1500s, possibly from and Old French source word -- and its core meaning is 'to conceal.' Since the main thrust of this most recent budget is to conceal the extent to which is increases taxation and slows down the economy, I suspect that 'dissemble' is a word that might get past the Speaker in the Houses and still make the point. 

Q: Greg writes: ' I always thought that a cult had to be in the positive, i.e. the belief in an ideology or person. I was recently accused of being in the "Cult of climate change denial". Can both the positive or negative beliefs be "cults"?'

A: 'Cult' came into English in 1613 from classical Latin via Middle French. 'Cult' means 'worship'--so it is possible to label as a 'cult' anything that causes a person to worship (submit to) an ideology. The climate ideology is based on two notions: (1) climate change will be catastrophic and cause extinctions; and (2) the global climate can be controlled by politicians. Both beliefs are denied by those who reject the climate ideology. On that basis I think that "climate catastrophism' is a cult, while its opposition is not.

Q: Kerri writes:  'I’m curious as to where the phrase “touch wood” comes from.'

A: It's a fairly modern expression -- recorded only since 1898. But it appears to embody a very old superstition.  Some writers have pointed to pre-Christian rituals involving the spirits of sacred trees such as the oak, ash, holly or hawthorn. There is, I’m told, an old Irish belief that you should knock on wood to let the little people know that you are thanking them for a bit of good luck. There’s also a belief that the knocking sound prevents the Devil from hearing your unwise comments. Others have sought a meaning in which the wood symbolises the timber of the cross, but this may be a Christianisation of an older ritual. It wasn’t always wood that was lucky: in older days, iron was also thought to have magical properties, and to touch iron was an equivalent preventative against ill-fortune. 

Q: From Paul: ' Would you please explain to us mere mortals the meaning, etc., of the word "gubernatorial". Of course I have seen it before, but it turned up in a Sky News article today about Whoopi Goldberg and some politician and it makes no sense to me. To me it sounds like an ingredient in an American word salad! '

A: 'Gubernatorial' comes from the Latin word  gubernātor. This literally meant 'helmsman, navigator' and is the source of our word 'governor.' Since the 1700s 'gubernatorial' has been used by Americans to label anything to do with a state governor.

Q: Suzie writes: 'Here is a controversial one for you Kel: "Indigenous." I know there is a ‘popular’ new manipulation of the previous definition -- so where do we stand on this word?'

A: The dictionaries have decided there are two different words at play here. The "indigenous" without the uppercase 'I' means the same as it has always done: 'born or originating in a particular place.' But since the late 20th century dictionaries have treated 'Indigenous' with an uppercase 'I' as meaning 'descendants of the earliest inhabitants. This is unhelpful, because 90% of English is spoken, only 10% is written, and you can't hear an uppercase 'I' in spoken language. It would (in my view) be better to decide that ancestry doesn't matter and to abandon the attempt at forming a second definition. 

Q: From Malcolm: 'It is well accepted that we use railway for train tracks and the Americans use railroad so when did the expression of "getting railroaded" come into our vocabulary versus just in the American. Somehow "getting railwayed" doesn't sound quite right.'

A: The verb 'to railroad' meaning 'to rush or coerce' is (of course) an American coinage, recorded from 1850. It may have arisen there because their rail system was built by private enterprise which very aggressively pursued the purchase of land for their ever-increasing rail system. Their behaviour may have triggered the American expression, while we saw nothing of the same sort here with our government-built railways.

Q: Julie asks: 'Where does “Arthur or Martha” come from please.?'

A: It just means being in a state of confusion. And it appears to come from us. This is an Australian coinage that first appeared in print in the Sydney Truth newspaper in 1948. It turned up in a sports report that said: 'Players were all over the place like Brown's cows and most didn't know whether they were Arthur or Martha.' Its combination with another cliche of disorganisation ('Brown's cows') shows that all it means is a state of general confusion. And it is most likely this phrase was part of the spoken language from some time before it was picked up by a sports journalist and appeared in print. It is another example of Aussie verbal inventiveness. 

Q:  From Graeme: 'Hi Kel, in your experience what should be the plural of the following expressions: Governor General, Body corporate, Welcome to country, I ask simply because what I've been hearing in the media is wrong. To me the plurals should be Governors General, bodies corporate and welcomes to country.  Anything else is pure laziness or ignorance. Your thoughts?'

A: Perfectly correct, any other pluralisation is illiterate. There are some such constructions in which the incorrect plural has been used for so long as to become standard. The classic example is 'trade unions; where the correct plural would be 'trades union.' But that battle has been lost. So, let's fight the battle to keep the others on this list correctly used. 

Q:  Anita asks, "could you tell me where the word 'codswallop' comes from?"

A: 'Codswallop' means ' Nonsense, rubbish, drivel'. The experts at the Oxford think they have nailed it down. They write: "Popularized in this sense, which they may have coined, by writers Alan Simpson (1929–2017) and Ray Galton (1930–2018), who used it as a euphemism for a stronger expression (e.g. cobblers, bollocks) in the British comedy series Hancock's Half Hour and Citizen James in the late 1950s and early 1960s, chiefly in dialogue delivered by actor Sid James." The word did exist before they popularized it. In an interview Alan Simpson said: "In the thirties, I was about seven or eight and my uncle used to use it as a proper noun, he used to call me codswallop." It's recorded as a mild putdown from around 1928, but it appears to have been given its current meaning by Simpson and Galton.

Q: Angela asks: " What does the word 'intergenerational' mean when the treasurer uses this term in press conferences?"

A:  The word 'intergenerational' just means 'between generations.' It's quite a recent coinage -- only goes back to 1964. I suspect that Treasurer Jim Chalmers uses the expression to shift blame from himself and his government on to someone else. His suggestion to younger generations is "If you can't afford a home don't blame us. It's not because of the flood of migrants we allowed into the country -- far more than the country can house. No, you should blame older Australians because they are better off than you are, so it must be their fault." Perhaps I have oversimplified his reasoning, but it does to appear to run along those lines.  

Q: John asks, 'where did that quintessential Aussie phrase fair dinkum come from?'

A:   'Dinkum' came to Australia from a British dialect word meaning 'work'. So 'fair dinkum' started off meaning a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. And it has developed from that modest beginning. 

Q: Kerry asks: 'What does the saying “pakapoo ticket” mean and where did it come from?'

A:  It comes from an Anglicized version of the name of a Chinese gambling game played on the gold fields. This involved a slip of paper covered in Chinese characters. Since such writing was incomprehensible any work that was incomprehensible, or just messy, could be said to 'look like a pakapoo ticket' (which my teachers often said about my workbooks in school!). 

Q: Pamela writes: 'Wondering about the expression “pipsqueak” ...'

A: Recorded from the first years of the 20th century 'pipsqueak' meant an 'insignificant person or thing; a youngster.' I think it comes from the fact that at about that time both 'pip' and 'squeak' were being used for any high-pitched sound -- and, thus, implied the high-pitched voice of an annoying (or insignificant) child.

Q: Jane writes: ' Nip it in the bud? Can you tell me where this comes from and what it means?'

A: To nip something in the bud means to stop it in its early stages -- before it gets going. If a small child behaves badly, you stop that bad behaviour at once before it becomes a habit -- you nip it in the bud.  The expression comes from horticulture.  "Nip it in the bud" originates from a gardening practice of pinching off plant buds to prevent growth of unwanted flowers or weeds., first recorded in the late 16th century. The earliest version was 'nip it in the bloom' which is recorded from 1595, while the version we are familiar, nip it in the bud, is common from the 1600s onwards.