Your comments and questions:

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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. 

Q: Greg has a puzzle: " I’ve always wondered what the difference is (if any) between the words 'successive' and 'consecutive'.  To me they've always seemed the same." 

A: They clearly have closely related meanings. 'Successive' means 'coming one after another' while 'consecutive' means 'following continuously.'  Perhaps (and this is only a perhaps) 'successive' implied a series of separate items, while 'consecutive' suggest something more continuous and closely related. But I wouldn't want to push it too hard, because the meanings are clearly so close. 

Q: Arthur asks: "Where did phrase 'giddy-up' come from to encourage a horse to move forward?" 

A:  As a command to a horse to start moving 'giddy-up' is recorded from 1867. The Oxford says it began as a regional (or colloquial) pronunciation of 'get up.'

Q: Natasha has a problem: "My youngest daughter, now 14-years-old, often uses 'anyways' rather than anyway. I also hear this word on other social media outlets. Is 'anyways' now an inclusion of the English language?"

A:  'Anyways' is listed in the great Oxford English Dictionary as a colloquial or informal version of 'anyway.'  Although its use can be traced back many centuries to the period of Middle English, it seems that these days it is most common in what the Oxford calls 'regional use' and in the United States. In other words, it is a signal expression -- it signals that the user is poorly educated or illiterate. Hence, when well-educated young people use it, they should be aware of the impression they are creating.  

Q: Elaine asks: 'Where does calling someone a dumbbell come from?'

A:  'Dumbbell' means ' A short bar with a weight at each end, used typically in pairs for exercise or muscle-building.' They are so named because the weights at the ends were thought to resemble bells, but there were 'dumb' -- they made no noise, they did not ring. This meaning comes from 1688. This was transferred to a stupid or foolish person in America around 1918 -- purely because the existing use of the word 'dumb' to mean 'stupid.' 

Q: Frank asks for the correct spelling of the title of the old Russian royal family -- is it with a T (Tzar) or a C (Czar)?

A:  The post-classical Latin version is Czar with a 'C' while the Slavonic (Russian) language version is Tzar (with a 'T'). Both of these (along with German title Kaiser) are local variations on the old Roman Imperial title of Caesar.  

Q: Jason asks: 'Where does the saying, "dead as a door nail" come from and what on earth is a door nail?

A: It's very old --it seems to go as far back as 1350.  But why particularly a doornail, rather than just any old nail? Could it be because of the repetition of sounds, and the much better rhythm of the phrase compared with the version without door? Almost certainly the euphony has caused the phrase to survive longer than the alternatives.  But William and Mary Morris, in The Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, quote a correspondent who points out that it could come from a standard term in carpentry. If you hammer a nail through a piece of timber and then flatten the end over on the inside so it can’t be removed again (a technique called clinching), the nail is said to be dead, because you can’t use it again. Doornails would very probably have been subjected to this treatment to give extra strength. 

Q: Cathy asks: 'How did the phrase "APRIL FOOLS DAY" come about and what is its meaning?'

A:  From the switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar (which took a long time -- started in parts of Europe in the 1500s, but England only got on board in the 1700s). Under the old Julian calendar New Year's Day was April 1. People who continued to celebrate that after the switch to the new calendar were the original 'April Fools.' 

Q: Marlene asks: 'Where did the phrase "A PINCH & A PUNCH 1ST OF THE MONTH" originate and what did it mean?'

A:  There are lots of myths. One says that George Washington began the tradition.  During his presidency Washington was said to meet with Native American tribes on the first day of each month and provide fruit punch with an added pinch of salt. This ultimately became known as 'pinch punch first of the month.' ​ Another myth dates this back to medieval times when witchcraft was a huge concern among people.  Salt was intended to make witches weak, and so the 'pinch' signified the use of salt to weaken the sorceress, while the 'punch' was delivered to banish the witch forever. But the phrase is not recorded before 1909 so both of those are nonsense. The truth is quite prosaic -- it just comes from a childhood playground game or tease. The first day of the month gave a child a licence to pinch and then punch (playfully) another child while reciting this phrase. It goes back in this childhood form to the 1800s and was recorded by those diligent recorders of childhood folklore Iona and Peter Opie.

Q: Judith writes: ' "like getting blood out of a stone"... wondering if you can advise on what are the origins?'

A: This pops up in English occasionally in the 1600s and then quite regularly from the 1700s. It obviously refers to doing the impossible: trying to get common sense out of Chris Bowen is like trying to get blood out of a stone. It seems to come from an even older Italian proverb--which referred to getting blood out of any inanimate object. E.g. 'getting blood out of this wall', or 'getting blood out of a turnip' and so on. 'Getting blood out of a stone' became most common version in English by the 1800s.

Q: Adrienne asks, "where does the term ‘dressed to the nines’ originate?"

A:  It's a corruption of 'dressed to thine eyes' (that is, all the way up to the top). As the word 'thine' died in common used, the 'N' sound was detached from the end of 'thine' and attached to the start of 'eyes' turning it into 'nines.' I know it sounds odd, but this sort of thing has happened over the years in the English language.  

Q: Ian asks, 'From where did the term ‘cut the mustard’ originate? As far as I know, mustard is a paste that is never cut.'

A: But the paste is made from mustard plants.  Some time ago I came across a report from an American newspaper (from the late 1800s) that complained there were not a enough workers who were 'tall enough to cut the mustard' -- suggesting very tall mustard plants. And that may be the source of the expression.  

Q: John asks why the word 'hike' is being used these days instead of 'increase'. Interest rate hikes, petrol price hikes and the rest of it. Should 'hike' be restricted to large moves, he asks.

A: Looking at the history of the word 'hike', it seems to apply to a forced move. It started in the early 1800s to mean a vigorous and laborious march. But by the late 1800s it was being used to mean 'to convey forcibly or laboriously.' So, in interest rate and petrol prices increases become 'hikes' when they are forcibly imposed by circumstances.

Q: Standing at a petrol pump fill his car and watching all those numbers tick over, Bruce wondered:  how did the word "gasoline" become "petrol"?

A:  'Gasoline' is recorded from the 1860s. The word may have been influence by the earlier expression 'gas oil' which seems to have been an early name for lighting oil burned in lamps. 

'Petrol' is, of course, an abbreviation of 'petroleum' -- and the word 'petroleum' is a thousand years older than 'gasoline.' 'Petroleum' from the Latin word for rock and the Latin word for oil -- so an oily fluid that came from rock, or from between rocks, was petroleum. 

So, once again the Americans are wrong! 'Petrol' is a much more accurate word for this stuff than 'gas.'

Q: Greg and Kerry (who say they never miss 'Credlin' and love the 'Words Matter' segment) write: 'We were wondering where the expressions "Food for thought" and "Gut feeling" might have originated from?'

A: 'Food for thought' goes back to 1648 and means 'Something warranting discussion or consideration' (Oxford) -- in other words, something worthy of mental 'digestion.'

'Gut feeling' only goes back to 1927 and was coined to refer to an instinctive emotional reaction as opposed to a considered thought (based on the old folklore that your feelings come out of your digestive machinery. rather from the affective part of your brain -- namely, from the amygdala, a tightly packed group of cells within the centre of the brain that controls our emotions.)

Q: On the subject of the letter Z Helen writes: 'Maybe Noah Webster used that pronunciation very late in his life to help Charles Bradlee with his final rhyme? The English alphabet song "A,B,C,D,E,F,G" was first copyrighted in 1835 by Boston music publisher Charles Bradlee.'

A: There is no evidence that Bradlee intended Z to be pronounced as 'zee.' He certainly didn't need it for the rhyme in the last line -- 'now I know my ABC, next time won't you sing with me.' The 'c' provided the rhyme with 'me' so the song could be sung with Z as 'zed' not 'zee' and probably was in the earliest days.

Q: Sandra asks why there is a silent "T" in 'often'?

A:  'Often' goes back to the 1300s. It came from the even earlier Old English word 'oft' -- in which the T was always pronounced. Slowly, over the centuries the T in 'often' ceased to be pronounced because of a process linguists call elision; which means the omission of a letter (or sometimes a whole syllable) in the pronunciation of a word. This usually happens in order to make the word quicker or easier to say. Today both pronunciations exist -- but the version without the T sound is considered correct. 

Q: John asks for the origin of 'open slather'.

A: 'Open slather' means free to operate without restrictions. This is an Australian invention, coined in 1919. The source word 'slather' comes a century earlier -- from America in 1809. It originally meant 'slip' or 'slide.' And it came to mean 'slop' or 'splash.'  'Slather' is probably more-or-less onomatopoeic word. The Aussie term 'open slather' probably means having a licence to slop. splash, slip and slide all over the place.

Q:  John asks for the origin of "rort"?

A: "Rort" is Australian slang, first recorded from 1926 -- although the verb form "rorting" is recorded from 1919. It means a fraudulent or dishonest trick or dodge. Its origin is uncertain. Some experts think it might be a variation on the earlier word 'roarty' which in turn was a variation of 'roary' meaning very loud and boisterous. But that doesn't explain the shift in meaning. But it's much more likely to come from 'wrought' with a "W" (W-R-O-U-G-H-T) which means 'to shape' --and shaping the truth to fit his tale is what a man selling a dodgy product does, making it a 'rort.'

Q: Tas writes: 'Anzac Day is over, but it made me wonder where "digger" comes from?'

A: 'Digger' begins not with the Anzacs but in the gold rush. It's recorded from 1849 meaning a miner on the Australian goldfields. It was transferred to mean a private Anzac soldier in the First World War -- recorded with that sense from 1916. This transfer possibly happened because of trench warfare, which required a great deal of digging of trenches. Later it was transferred to civilians as a form of address -- because of the friendliness and mateship the word always implied.

Q: Beverly wants to know about 'cooking the books'.

A:  'Cook the books' is first recorded in 1850 -- in a London newspaper (The Morning Chronicle) in January of that year. From the beginning it has meant what it still means today -- fraudulently changing account books to make them more pleasing. It comes from the image of turning inedible raw food into a palatable and attractive meal. A lump of raw potato is unappealing, but once it is roasted and smothered in butter it is much more pleasing to the eye and the palate. Cooking makes all the difference. And making a similar difference with the accounts is not honest, but it achieves similar results.  

ON THE TASK OF UNSCRAMBLING THOSE CONFUSED SENTENCES -- HERE ARE SOME SUGGESYTIONS:

Dennis: 'The Duke spent the weekend at his country house, shooting.'

Suzie tackled the word salad of the professor, and unscrambled it like this: 'Nothing makes the linguistics of the English language more difficult to untangle, than the use of words, uncommon to most in the normal vernacular, therefore rendering the reader unable to ascertain the true meaning being expressed by word, written language, thought or deed – in a world full of the myriad of differing languages.'

David translated the professor in these words: 'This way of writing uses very short, simple parts and often leaves out words like “and” or “because.” It just puts ideas one after another, like a list, to build meaning.'

Stephen points out that this professor would never say “Don't use a big word when a small one will do”. Instead, this professor would say: “Never use a large, long word when a singularly unloquacious and diminutive linguistic expression will satisfactorily accomplish the contemporary necessity” Very clever Stephen

Q: Raymond writes: 'Derring-do -- this word popped up in a sentence when I was reading an article about James Bond. I would love to hear you talk about derring-do on Credlin. I think she will love this word!'

A: It goes back to the era of Middle English and was used by Chaucer. Despite its spelling it is related to the verb 'to dare' and in Middle English it meant 'daring to do' and described a quality in a person. Like many other antiquated expressions, it should have died out -- but it was revived by Sir Walter Scott in his historical novels ('Ivanhoe' and others), when he deliberately used these archaisms to give his dialogue the ring of authenticity. Then other novelists, such as Bulwer-Lytton, picked it up and it became part of the living language again. 

Q: Aileen writes: 'A relatively recent addition to our language is the expression Trump Derangement Syndrome. In my ignorance I thought that was critics referring to people who 100% agree with Mr Trump. Now I realise it refers to those who vehemently disagree with him no matter what he says. I’m not sure this is a useful addition to our language. ‘Your thoughts please.'

A:   The origin of the term is traced to Charles Krauthammer, a conservative political columnist, commentator, and psychiatrist, who coined the phrase 'Bush Derangement Syndrome' in 2003 during the presidency of George W. Bush. That "syndrome" was defined by Krauthammer as "the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency—nay—the very existence of George W. Bush" The first use of the adaption to 'Trump derangement syndrome' appears to have been by Esther Goldberg in an August 2015 writing in The American Spectator. I think this is a useful term to describe, for example, that seems to give preference to statements by the terrorist government of Iran over statements coming from the White House. There is certainly some odd behaviour that needs a label here--and this is possibly the best label for it. 

Q: Daryl writes: "I used a phrase today and then stopped to wonder where it came from and how it came about. The phrase was "Throw your hat in the ring." Look forward to hearing from you."

A: It comes from 19th century boxing. A young man could challenge a champion by throwing his hat into the boxing ring. This was regarded as a more reliable way of putting oneself forward than just shouting over the hubbub of the crowd. It's recorded from 1805. 

Q: Peter wants the origin of "duffer."

A: This started life as British thieves' slang -- and came to Australia with the convicts. In the flash language it meant someone who sells trashy goods as being valuable under false pretences. So, a kind of con man. Later anything that was stolen could be called 'duff' goods, and cattle stealing in Australia was called cattle 'duffing.' An unproductive gold field was called a 'duffer rush.' Much later (in the 20th century) in ways that inexplicable 'duffer' became an affectionate expression for small children (especially when they were being a bit foolish). How that last shift happened unclear.  

Q: Paul wants to know where the word 'galoot' comes from.

A:  The image is usually of a man who is worthless, uneducated, simple-minded or stupid.  It seems to go back to about 1808 in the English language.  Its source is obscure, though it has been suggested it may be from the Dutch word gelubt for a eunuch, or a corruption of Dutch genoot, a companion.  But this is uncertain. It's also possible that it comes from an old Scottish word 'loot' which was a variation on 'lout.' Any of those sources are possible.

Q: Carolyn writes: 'One phrase that really gets on my nerves these days is "hetero-normative." What is the point of it? Can you explain how this terminology came about? Was it by some trying to sound 'intellectual' but failing miserably?'

A: American social theorist Michael David Warner popularised the term 'Hetero-normative' in 1991. It was intended to be critical of the common view that gender is binary -- just males and females -- and critical of classical family structure. Of course, heterosexuality IS normal. If it wasn't the human race would have died out long ago --since only heterosexuality can breed new human beings. 'Herero-normativity' was coined by people who use the English language abnormally!

Q: John asks where 'nitty-gritty' comes from.

A: First the myth: there is a claim that this is a racist expression because 'nitty-gritty' originally (they say) referred the human waste that had to be cleared from the lower levels of slave ships when they docked. Completely untrue. A piece of total fiction. For a start the expression is not recorded until 1940 -- far too late to have any connection whatsoever with slavery. The truth is that the English language just likes and remembers expressions that contain rhyming reduplication. Originally getting down to the 'nitty-gritty' was getting down into the 'grit' -- the basics, the practical details. And this word 'gritty' was turned into a memorable rhyming reduplication.  

Q: Pamela wants to know where the phrase 'cook up a storm' comes from?

A: This is American in origin and began as a literal statement. It appears in an Indiana daily newspaper in 1924 referring to a wave of hot air was that literally causing (cooking up) a storm. In the American mid-west, a heat wave could literally 'cook up a storm.' Only in the late 1950s did it begin to be used in a figurative or metaphorical sense. In 1959 it appeared in in an Illinois newspaper referring to 'a boy who gets mad about little things and won't explain why he's cooked up a storm.' 

Q: Suzie asks for the origin of 'the upper crust' -- how, she asks, did the association with bread occur?

A: First the myth: it is said (erroneously) to come from the way bead was once baked, with the loaf on the hot ashes of the fire, leaving the bottom crust over baked and the upper crust perfect, which was then reserved for the master of the house and his wife. That is not the source of the expression. What happened was the expression started (in the 1400s) as being literal then over time became very broad. Before it was ever applied to people (which didn't happen until about 1823) it was used geologically for the upper layer of the earth, then as a slang term for a hat, then as a slang word for your head, and only after that was it applied to people -- by which time the 'crust' part was probably being ignored and the focus was on the word 'upper' -- hence its application to the upper class of society.

Q: James asks: 'Hi Kel, where did the phrase " to throw the baby out with the bath water " come from? Thanks.'

A: This appears in English only around 1840. But that was just the year it was first translated into English. It comes from an old German proverb dating back to at least 1512. That year it appeared in a book of German proverbs entitled Appeal to Fools. It has always meant was it still means today -- throwing out the essentials with the inessentials. 

Q:  John asks: 'Where does the phrase “Over the Moon” come originate?'

A:  The origin must be the nursery rhyme Hey, Diddle Diddle in which the cow jumped over the moon. We know that’s right because earlier writers used a fuller version. For example, “Ready to jump over the moon for delight” appeared in Thomas Chandler Haliburton’s The Clockmaker in 1840. 

Q: John writes: 'Now for a curly one, what about the word Islam? It seems a strange word.'

A: 'Islam' is an Arabic word meaning 'submission.' It seems to have come into English via Turkish around 1603. The word 'Muslim' comes from the same Arabic source word and means 'one who submits.' Classical Islam divides the world into two spheres -- the house of Islam and the House of War: meaning all those who submit and all those who don't and who need to be conquered into submission.

Q: Garry writes: ' Just heard an American Reporter say, "on the Fritz". My reloes in South Australia called processed meat Fritz and we say the machine is on the Fritz. Where did it come from?'

A: The earliest slang meaning for 'fritz' was a German soldier (recorded from 1883 and used in both World Wars). Here is Australia the meat called 'fritz' was so called because its original name was German sausage. It had lots of other names around Australia, some of them inexplicable -- such as: devon, polony, Strasburg, wheel meat, luncheon sausage and a dozen others. I list them all in my book about Australian regionalisms called Word Map. As for 'fritz' meaning broken--this appears to be American in origin recorded from 1908 when 'to fritz out' meant to go bung. Even the great slang lexicographer Jonathan Green can't explain why. My suggestion is that this first appeared at the beginning of the electrical age--with the earliest electric light bulbs for instance--and 'fritz' resembled the fizzing noise that anything electrical makes when it dies and goes out.