The devil to pay

Impending trouble or other bad consequences following from one's actions.

People seem to love ascribing nautical origins to phrases. Here's a good case in point. The 'devil' is a seam between the planking of a wooden ship. Admiral William Henry Smyth defined the term in The Sailor's Word-book: An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, 1865:

Devil - The seam which margins the waterways on a ship's hull. 'Paying' is the sailor's name for caulking or plugging the seam between planking with rope and tar etc. 'Paying the devil' must have been a commonplace activity for shipbuilders and sailors at sea. This meaning of 'paying' is recorded as early as 1610, in S. Jourdain's Discovery of Barmudas:

Some wax we found cast up by the Sea... served the turne to pay the seames of the pinnis Sir George Sommers built, for which hee had neither pitch nor tarre.

Many sources give the full expression used by seafarers as "there's the devil to pay and only half a bucket of pitch", or "there's the devil to pay and no pitch hot". Nautical origin; case closed? Well, no.

The phrase doesn't originate from the name of the ship's seam, as is sometimes supposed. It is the name 'devil' in this context which comes from the phrase 'the Devil to pay', rather than the other way about. The other meaning of paying the Devil alludes to Faustian pacts in which hapless individuals pay for their wishes or misdeeds by forfeiting their soul. This allusion, and the everyday usage meaning 'I am in trouble now, I will have to pay for this later', date from the 18th century. For example, Thomas Brown's Letters From the Dead to the Living, 1707: Don't you know damnation pays every man's scores... we knew we should have the Devil to pay one time or other, and now you see like honest men we have pawn'd our Souls for the whole Reckoning.

This quotation predates the earliest recorded usage of 'devil' to mean the seam of a ship (Smyth's Sailor's Workbook, 1865) by more than a century. Given the known nautical meaning of 'paying' a seam and the well-established phrase 'the Devil to pay', sailors probably adopted the phrase in reference to the unpleasant task of seam caulking.

George Lemon put forward his understanding of how the phrase was coined in English Etymology, 1783. Lemon explains that, when sailors were ready to start caulking seams before the tar was melted, they used the phrase 'here's the Devil to pay and no pitch hot'. As Lemon put it: "Here's the black gentleman come to pitch the vessel's sides and you have not so much as made the pitch kettle hot enough to employ him."

Whether we accept Lemon's version or prefer the 'pact with the Devil' derivation, it is clear that the devil in the phrase was originally a reference to Satan, not the seam of a ship.

Ménage à trois

Ménage à trois is the French term describing a relationship or domestic arrangement in which three people, often a married couple and another lover, share a sexual relationship, although the relationship might or might not involve all three persons having sexual relations with each other.[1] The French phrase literally translates as "household of three".

It is also used to refer to an arrangement where three people share sexual relations, and this has become the predominant definition. Some also use it to describe any sex act involving three people, otherwise known as a threesome. Ménage à trois, two women with one man, has become more common, perhaps due to its presentation in porn films.

There are ménage à trois arrangements involving two men and one woman, and these are also becoming more common. Sometimes ménage à trois is called Hot Wives, referring to a married woman who has sex with men other than her spouse, with the husband's consent. In most cases the husbands take a vicarious pleasure in their wives' enjoyment, or enjoy watching, hearing, or knowing about their wives' adventures. Husbands may also take part by engaging in threesomes, or arranging dates for their wives.

Ten Things About "Heel"

1. To furnish with a heel or heels: To repair or replace the heels, as for shoes.

2. To heel: Arm (a gamecock) with gaffs.

3. To press or strike with the heel: heel a horse.

4. To follow at one's heels: The dog won't heel

5. Out on the heel
a. Having one's shoe heels worn down.
b. Shabby; rundown; poor.

6. Lay by the heels: To put in fetters or shackles; imprison.

7. On/upon the heels of
a. Directly behind.
b. Immediately following.

8. Out at the heel/heels
a. Having holes in one's socks or shoes.
b. Rundown; shabby; seedy.

9. Take to (one's) heels: To run away; flee.

10. To heel
a. Close behind: The hound followed his master to heel.
b. Under discipline or control: The army swiftly brought the rebels to heel.

av·oir·du·pois [àvvər də póyz]

noun

1. measurements. Same as avoirdupois weight
2. somebody's weight: the amount that somebody weighs (humorous)

[14th century. < Old French aveir de peis "goods of weight"]
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Strait and Narrow

A conventional and law-abiding course.

Origin

'Straight' is a much more frequently used word than 'strait' these days and so the most common question about this phrase concerns the spelling - should it be 'strait and narrow' or 'straight and narrow'? Well, that depends on just how pedantic you want to be. The source of the expression is the Bible, specifically Matthew 7:13/14. The King James' Version gives these verses as:
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

That clearly opts for 'strait' rather than 'straight', as it calls on a now rather archaic meaning of strait, that is, 'a route or channel, so narrow as to make passage difficult'. This is still found in the names of various sea routes, e.g. the Straits of Dover. Such a nautical strait was defined in the 1867 version of Admiral Smyth's Sailor's Word-book as:

"A passage connecting one part of a sea with another."
Smyth also offered the opinion that strait "is often written in the plural, but without competent reason".

The 'confined and restricted' meaning of strait still also lingers on in straitjacket, dire straits, strait-laced and straitened circumstances. All of these are frequently spelled with 'straight' rather than 'strait'. These spellings, although technically incorrect, are now widely accepted and only 'dire straights' comes in for any sustained criticism.

The use of 'straight' is quite understandable, certainly in 'straight and narrow'. After all, it means 'direct and reliable', as in the phrase 'as straight as a die', and the imagery of a direct and unwavering route to salvation would have been attractive to Christian believers in the 17th century, when that version of the spelling first appeared. It was included in an 1827 publication of A Journal of George Fox, Volume 1, which claims to be a facsimile reprint of the 1694 original journal. The earliest definitive documentation that I can find comes from a few years later, in

The Critical Works of Monsieur Rapin, 1706:
"The soul of the common people seems too straight and narrow to be wrought upon by any Part of Eloquence."

This version of the phrase is old enough and close enough in date to the earliest example of 'strait and narrow' that I can find in print as to match it in status. That example is in A Vindication of the Government in Scotland: During the Reign of King Charles II, 1712:

"Strait and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life."

'Straight and narrow' is now the more common spelling and you will be in good company if you opt to use it, even though 'strait and narrow' might be a better choice if you want to get high marks in that English language test.

Gambit

In chess, an opening in which a player seeks by sacrificing a pawn or piece to obtain some advantage.

Any maneuver by which one seeks to gain an advantage.

Oeuvre (Urv)

The works of a writer, painter, or the like, taken as a whole.

Ups-a-daisy

MeaningAn exclamation made when encouraging a child to get up after a fall or when lifting a child into the air. OriginIt is difficult to choose which of the numerous variants of the expression to use as the heading of this piece. As with many words that are said to small children, it is more often a spoken term than one that appears in print and this has led to much inconsistency about how it is spelled. In fact, I can't think of a single term that appears in so many different spellings. For example:UpsidaisyUpsa daesyUpsy-daisyOops-a-daisyOopsy-daisyHoops-a-daisy.

The form in which it is now most commonly spoken and spelled is 'oops-a-daisy'. The first known printed record of any form of the term is in Clough Robinson's The dialect of Leeds and its neighbourhood, 1862:Upsa daesy! a common ejaculation when a child, in play, is assisted in a spring-leap from the ground.This was preceded by 'up-a-daisy', which has its own variations of spelling - 'up-a-dazy', 'up-a-daisey', etc. Jonathan Swift used this in his collection of letters, which was published in 1711 as The Journal to Stella:Come stand away, let me rise... Is there a good fire? - So - up a-dazy.The earlier dialect term 'upaday', which has the same meaning, appears to be the source. The 'daisy' part is a fanciful extension of 'day', perhaps alluding to the child being on the ground amongst the daisies. Of course, the name daisy itself derives from 'day' - the flower, which closes at night and exposes its yellow centre in sunlight, was thought of as the day's eye. Not content with spawning so many forms, ups-a-daisy also has a role in the coining of the word 'lackadaisical'. This first appears in the language in 1768 and can be traced backwards to 'alack-the-day', which dates to at least Shakespeare's usage of it in Romeo and Juliet, 1592:Shee's dead, deceast, shee's dead: alacke the day! In the next century, this mutated to the more familiar form 'lack-a-day', which is found in The Grounds & Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy and Religion, by John Eachard, 1685:'Lack a day! says one of the accomplish'd, in what a lamentable condition I have seen a mortal Clergyman. In the middle of the next century we find 'lack-a-daisy', in Tobias Smollett's The Adventures of Roderick Random 1748:Good lack-a-daisy! the rogue is fled!This is a form of 'lack-a-day' with the ending taken from 'ups-a-daisy'. From 'lack-a-daisy', it isn't a long step, either in time or language, to 'lackadaisical', which is first recorded in Laurence Sterne's A sentimental journey through France and Italy, 1768:Sitting in my black coat, and in my lack-adaysical manner, counting the throbs of it. 'Ups-a-daisy' is clearly also the direct source of 'whoops-a-daisy'. This has a different meaning and is an exclamation made after a stumble or other mistake. It is usually said by the perpetrator of the error and the saying out loud is a public acknowledgement, somewhat like 'mea culpa'. 'Whoops-a-daisy', and the shortened forms 'whoops' and 'oops', are all American in origin. The expression is first recorded, as 'Whoopsie Daisy!', in the New Yorker, in September 1925. In the 1999 film Notting Hill, Hugh Grant's character falls over, saying 'whoops a daisies'. Julia Roberts' character then says:"No one has said 'whoops a daisies' for fifty years and even then it was only little girls with blonde ringlets."Maybe that's true in California, but it's rather surprising that the film's English screenwriter, Richard Curtis, gave her that line in a film set in London. Like many in the UK, I still use the phrase frequently, but, as a large middle-aged man with a small amount of straight brown hair, I don't qualify on any of Roberts' criteria.

Agent Provocateur (ah-jawn-pro-vock-a-tur)

Secret Agent.

An undercover cop might be considered an agent provateur, because he will incite suspected criminals to some illegal acts that will make them liable to punishment.

Latin Phrases...

A priori (eh-pry-or-eye): Knowledge you possess prior to, or without experience.

A posteriori (eh-post-ear-ee-or-eye): Knowledge gained after or through experience.

A fortiori (eh-for-she-or-eye):  All the more so. Moreover.

The Living Daylights

A person's eyes; more recently, the life force or consciousness.

Origin
The release of the 1987 film The Living Daylights, the fifteenth in the James Bond series, reawakened usage of this old phrase. When we refer to someone having the living daylights beaten, scared, or knocked out of them, we just mean that they have been badly beaten or scared, or knocked unconscious. The imagery is of someone being so discomforted as to lose the power of sight. Like similar phrases, for example 'beat the stuffing out of', the phrase is often used with an air of exaggeration and not always meant to be taken literally.

The original 18th century meaning of 'daylights' was quite specific and literal; it meant 'the eyes'. That meaning is now long forgotten and few people are aware of it. The word was occasionally used to denote other items to do with seeing - spectacles, windows etc. (see daylight robbery), but usage of 'daylights' was largely limited to the eyes and to threats to close them by force. The first known citation of the word is one such example; in Henry Fielding's novel Amelia, 1752:

"Good woman! I don't use to be so treated. If the lady says such another word to me, d--n me, I will darken her daylights."

Francis Grose, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1796, reinforces the pugilistic usage:
"Plump his peepers, or daylights; give him a blow in the eyes."

The 'eyes' meaning of the word was going out of use even in the 19th century, hence the emergence then of 'knocking or beating the daylights out of someone'. The phrase is intended to indicate a severe beating, but perhaps not literally that severe. The lack of appreciation of the 'eyes' meaning led to the later 'beat the living daylight' variant. When referring to eyes, 'daylights' makes sense, whereas the singular 'daylight' doesn't, unless the intent is to punch only one eye that is.

The first usage of 'beating the daylights out' that I can find is in Augustus Peirce's poem The Rebelliad, 1842:
The people used to turn about,And knock the rulers' daylights out

By the time that the intensifier 'living' was added, the phrase had lost all association with eyes. The earliest known version of that form was printed in several US newspapers in the 1890s, for example, The Decatur Morning Review, September 1890:

"'I'm not going to be insulted by a miserable rabbit', and he started to club the living daylights out of the beast with his gun."

The 20th century version of the phrase is the American 'punch someone's lights out'. The precursor to this form of the phrase was a widely syndicated newspaper report of the 1956 fight between Sugar Ray Robinson and Carl (Bobo) Olson:

"Robinson's knockout punch turned out the lights for Bobo in the second round."

Hubris (hue-briss)

An overwening confidence. Arrogance.

It was pure hubris to think that Titanic was unsinkable, and her sinking, to many was like a Greek tragedy, a punishment from the gods.

Promethean (pro-mee-thee-an)

According to Greek myth, as punishment for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mortal humans, Prometheus was bound to the side of a mountain, where he was attacked daily by fierce bird that feasted upon his liver. At night his wounds healed; the next day he was attacked anew. Because of his extraordinary boldness in stealing divine fire, the word "promethean" has come to mean creative, boldly original.

Incendiary (in-'sen-dE-"er-E)

Middle English, from Latin incendiarius, from incendium conflagration, from incendere1 a : a person who commits arson : ARSONIST b : an incendiary agent (as a bomb)2 : a person who excites factions, quarrels, or sedition : AGITATOR

Turncoat

As the dominions of the duke of Saxony were bounded in part by France, one of the early dukes hit upon the device of a coat blue one side, and white the other. When he wished to be thought in the French interest he wore the white outside; otherwise the outside colour was blue. Whence a Saxon was nicknamed Emmanuel Turncoat. (Scots' Magazine, October, 1747.)

Wiseacre (wīz’ā’ker)

Although the word “acre” in “wiseacre” makes it appear that the term refers to a unit of measurement, "wiseacre" is actually used contemptuously to mean a wise guy or a smart aleck. The term comes from the Dutch “wijssegger” which means soothsayer. Since soothsayers were considered learned, it was logical to call them “wise,” which is what “wij” means. The word “acre” is a mispronunciation of the Durch “segger,” sayer. There is a famous story in which the word was used in its present sense. In response to the bragging landowner, English playwright Ben Jonson is said to have replied, “What care we for your dirt and clods? Where you have an acre of land, I have ten acres of wit.” The chastened landowner is reported to have muttered: “He’s a Mr. Wiseacre.”

Ad nauseam (add-naw-zee-am)

To nausea.
To a sickening or excessive degree.

There’s nothing more uninspiring than a minister who drones on ad nauseam about hellfire and brimstone.

Longest English Word

At 45 letters, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, which refers to a lung disease, is often considered the longest word in English.

Nepenthe (ni pen’thē)

According to Greek legend, when Paris kidnapped Helen and took her to Troy, he wanted her to forget her previous life. In Homer’s version of the tale, Paris gave Helen a drug thought to cause loss of memory. The drug was called “nepenthes.” The word has come down to us with its meaning intact: anything inducing a pleasurable sensation of forgetfulness.

Ad hominem (add-ham-in-em)

To the man.
When an opponent attacks you personally instead of attacking your ideas.

The following joke that circulated during the 1996 Presidential campaign was an ad hominem attack:

If Bill Clinton's building a bridge to the next century, let's hope Ted Kennedy's not driving across it.