ahoy (W3)

"ahoy": 1751, from "a" + "hoy", a nautical call used in hauling. The original form of the greeting seems to have been "ho, the ship ahoy!".

Hello hello! Ahoy ahoy!

2008 September 30: Planets Ahoy

Limericks on "ahoy"

ahoy

"Ahoi" "Ruf, mit dem ein Schiff oder ein Boot angerufen wird" Godel 1902; vgl. Gerstacker, Flußpiraten S. 379 "Boot ahoi!" schrie da plotzlich der gebundene Steuermann. Laverrenz, Auf der Back S. 49 Plötzlich erscholl vom Steuerbord Fallreep her der Ruf des Postens: "Boot Ahoi!". Moderne Nachahmung des seit dem 18. Jahrh, bezeugten engl. "ahoy".

ahoy | ahoy hoy | ahoy there | Ahoy-hoy

ahoy

Ahoy!
...
William Langland was the first person known to have used it ("hoy"), in his poem Piers Plowman in the fourteenth century. Down the years it was used when driving pigs or cattle, or when you wanted to attract a person’s attention. Its successor is today’s uncouth shout of "oy!" In particular — and this is where the maritime connection really does appear — sailors used "hoy!" when hailing another ship. "Ahoy" was a development of this that added force to the cry:
...

"ahoy-hoy"

Interjection - A greeting.

Origin: From "ahoy".

In the 1870s, Scottish-born inventor Alexander Graham Bell did much development for the newly-invented telephone. Bell's preferred salutation, "ahoy-hoy" was derived from the nautical term "Ahoy" which in its turn is derived from Dutch "hoi" meaning "hi".
...

"land-ahoy": Interjection, (nautical) Interjection shouted by the ship's watch to inform the crew that land has been spotted.

Hello hello! Ahoy ahoy iPhone!

blow the gaff
gaff
gaffe
Lagaffe
Gaston Lagaffe
Gaffelsegel
Gabel (W3)

blow the gaff

Limericks on "blow the gaff"

...
"Gaffe" is probably related to "gab" (= "Geschwätz") meaning loud, senseless talk or gossip. Thus by the early 19th century the expression "to blow the gaff" meant "to let out a secret", "to reveal a plot". That would, obviously, be an embarrassing mistake, so you can see how it could develop into "gaffe" meaning "public or social mistake".
...

Blow the gaff

Blow the gaff

copper bottomed
copper-bottomed (W3)

copper-bottomed

Limericks on "copper-bottomed"

Copper-bottomed

Copper-bottomed
...
The fixing of copper bottoms began in 1761 and later became general.
...

"copper-bottomed": having a bottom of copper or sheathed with copper

copper-bottomed

footloose and fancy free (W3)

Limericks on "footloose and fancy free"

Footloose and fancy free

gadget (W3)

• dt. "Apparatur" = engl. "gadgetry"
• dt. "Geräte" = engl. "gadgets"

30/12/2005 - Le gadget de l’année ? - France

Verbs for Turning On - Off Our Gadgets

By Kenneth Beare

Today we live, work, eat and breath surrounded by electrical devices such as TVs, blenders, all kinds of different lights, computers, and more. Any electrical devices, also known as "gadgets", need to be turned on and off. Some devices such as music players and lights can also be adjusted. Here is a guide to the proper verbs used to express how we turn on and off our electrical devices. You can also learn more about related vocabulary with this top 200 information technology vocabulary list.
...

inspector gadget

GADGET, subst. masc.

Étymol. et Hist. 1955 (Ch. Bruneau in Le Figaro litt., in Chroniques lang., I, 130 ds Quem. DDL t. 4); 1962 des gadgets de luxe (L'Express, no598, 44, ibid.). Angl. "gadget" « id. » attesté dep. 1886 (ds NED Suppl.) en usage dep. prob. 1870; d'orig. incertaine, peut-être à rapprocher du fr. "gâchette"*.

Gadget

Analog Gadgets

Inspektor Gadget

"gadget" (n.) 1886, "gadjet" (but said by OED corespondents to date from 1850s), sailors' slang word for any small mechanical thing or part of a ship for which they lacked, or forgot, a name; perhaps from French "gâchette" "catch-piece of a mechanism" (15c.), diminutive of "gâche" "staple of a lock". OED says derivation from "gauge" is "improbable".

Gadget and the Gadgetinis (CDN 2003-2004) | Gadget Boy (USA 1998-1999)

Inspektor Gadget (CDN/USA 1983-1986)

Gadgets

The antedating of gadget (below) is in the context of glassmaking. The OED has, of gadget: "Origin obscure. First known in use among seafaring men...." But the more I read (I should know more about glassmaking, as my grandfather was a glassworker), the more it seems plausible that the word gadget arose in glassmaking. The gadget was a spring clip attached to an iron rod, a pontil. The gadget, by holding the base of a glass, eliminated the pontil mark that resulted when it was detached.

The OED also states: "The possibility of connection with French engager to engage (one thing with another) has also been suggested; compare dialect French gagée tool, instrument." The possible origin from French engager, I suggest, has been strengthened.

Stephen Goranson

\_______o/ Inspecteur Gadget

Your search for "gadget" returned 803 results:

gadget story (n.)

Definition: a story where the primary focus is on inventions or the process of inventing.
...

Gaston: Gadgets

Gadget

Gadget, Fad

• gadget antedated to 1868 Stephen Goranson
• gadget antedated to 1868 Stephen Goranson

• "gadget" antedated (?) to 1884 Stephen Goranson
• "gadget" antedated (?) to 1884 victor steinbok
• "gadget" antedated (?) to 1884 Garson O'Toole

Gadget

Gadget

gadget

gadget | gadget fatigue

gadget

gadgeteer

gadget

gadgeteer

gadgetry

Inspektor Gadget Zeichentrick Comedy 80er

"gadget": The penis - See "penis" for synonyms.

"gadgets": The testicles - See "penis" for synonyms.

gadget

Inspector Gadget

gadget

L'origine du gadget

...
Etymologie

Die Herkunft des Wortes "gadget" ist umstritten, sie lässt sich jedoch bis ins 19. Jahrhundert zurückverfolgen. Laut dem Oxford English Dictionary existiert seit den 1850er Jahren ein anekdotischer Hinweis für die Verwendung des Wortes "gadget" für ein technisches Gerät, an dessen Namen man sich nicht erinnern kann. Der älteste schriftlich überlieferte Hinweis stammt aus dem Jahre 1886, erschienen in Robert Browns Buch Spunyarn and Spindrift, A sailor boy’s log of a voyage out and home in a China tea-clipper, wo Matrosen zitiert werden, die ihre Ausrüstung meinen. Nach dem britischen Etymologen Michael Quinion nannten Briten im späten 19. Jahrhundert Dinge Gadgets, wenn ihnen kein treffenderer Begriff einfiel, vergleichbar dem deutschen "Dingens" oder dem schlesischen "Wihajster" (abgeleitet von "Wie heißt er?"). Ihm zufolge sei eine Entlehnung aus anderen Sprachen wahrscheinlich, etwa aus dem französischen Dialektbegriff "gagée" für Werkzeug. Das Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language vermutet den Ursprung im französischen "gâchette", der Bezeichnung für den "Schnapphahn eines Schlosses, Riegels oder Waffenschlosses". Eine weitere Theorie besagt, dass der Begriff von der französischen Firma "Gaget, Gauthier & Cie", die für das Treiben der Konstruktion der Freiheitsstatue verantwortlich war, geprägt wurde, als diese ein kleines Modell der Statue anfertigte und es nach ihrem Unternehmen nannte.
...

Gadget

A term of endearment used by algebraic topologists when talking about their favorite power tools such as Abelian groups, bundles, homology groups, homotopy groups, K-theory, Morse theory, obstructions, stable homotopy theory, vector spaces, etc. Gadgets are sometimes also called algebraic gadgets

Gadget

gadget porn

Gadget
...
The origin is rather obscure, but a plausible suggestion is that it comes from French "gâchette", a lock mechanism, or from the French dialect word "gagée" for a tool.
...

Alkoholiker-Gadget | Gadget-Cyborg-Arbeitsmensch | Gadget-Cyborg-Arbeitsmensch | Gadget-Freak | Gaming-Gadget | In-Gadget | Kleidung-Gadget | Kommunikationsgadget | Lifestyle-Gadget | Technik-Gadget

• gadget
• gadget (computer definition)
• gadget allergies (computer definition)
• gadget blogs (computer definition)
• gadgetbahn
• gadgetbahnen
• gadgeteer
• Gadgeteer (computer definition)
• gadgeteers
• gadgetless
• gadgetries
• gadgetry
• gadgets
• gadgety
• .NET Gadgeteer (computer definition)
• nongadget

gadget

gadgetbahn

Inspektor Gadget

hmscarysfort.co.uk
Naval Slang

Alpha

A's & A's Alterations and additions
AB Dab (see Dabtoe) Stokers term for a Seaman (an AB whose main job was to dab paint on things).
Adqual Additional qualifications
...

key (W3)

"key" (n.2) "low island", 1690s, from Spanish "cayo" "shoal", "reef", from Taino "cayo" "small island"; spelling influenced by Middle English "key" "wharf" (c. 1300), from Old French "kai" "sand bank" (see "quay").

...
2. Etymology: Spanish "cayo", "shoal", "rock"; from Arawak.
...

"Quay" is pronounced "kee" and means "shoreline artificially built up with stone (or later, cement) to facilitate loading and unloading of cargo from ships".
...
The modern words "quay", "cay" and "key" (as in the "Florida Keys"), frz. "quai", span. "cayo" all derive ultimately from the same source: the root "*kagh-" = "to catch", "to seize" with the further meaning of "barrier", referring to the same "reef", "shoal" notion as the Spanish "cayo".

know the ropes (W3)

To Know the Ropes

know the ropes

Know the ropes
...
The first citation comes in Richard H. Dana Jr's Two years before the mast, 1840:

"The captain, who had been on the coast before and 'knew the ropes,' took the steering oar"
...
There are also early citations that come from the theatre. J. Timon, in Opera Goer, 1850 includes this:

"The belle of two weeks standing, who has 'learned the ropes'."
...

Know the ropes

English in a Minute: Know the Ropes

Published 02/14/2015

This idiom probably comes from sailing. But what does it mean? Find out here!

Know the ropes

Lee (W3)

"lee" (n.) Old English "hleo" "shelter", "cover", "defense", "protection", from Proto-Germanic "*khlewaz" (cognates: Old Norse "hle", Danish "læ", Old Saxon "hleo", Dutch "lij" "lee", "shelter"). No known cognates outside Germanic; original sense uncertain and might have been "warm" (compare German "lau" "tepid", Old Norse "hly" "shelter", "warmth"), which might link it to PIE "*kele-" (1) "warm". Nautical sense "that part of the hemisphere to which the wind is directed" (c. 1400) is from the notion of the side of the ship opposite that which receives the wind as the sheltered side. As an adjective, 1510s, from the noun.

2006-05: lee 2002-12:

make do and mend (W3)

parachute spinnaker (W3)

noun Nautical: a very large spinnaker used on a racing yacht.

Der Spinnaker oder kurz Spi ist ein besonders großes, bauchig geschnittenes Vorsegel aus leichtem Tuch, das vor dem Wind und auf Raumschotskurs zur Vergrößerung der Segelfläche eingesetzt wird.
...

parachute spinnaker

Quai (W3)

"quai" (n.) 1870, "public path beside a waterway", from French "quai" (12c., see "quay"). Often short for "Quai d'Orsay", the street on the south bank of the Seine in Paris, since mid-19c. site of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and hence sometimes used metonymically for it (1922).

"Quay" is pronounced "kee" and means "shoreline artificially built up with stone (or later, cement) to facilitate loading and unloading of cargo from ships".
...
The modern words "quay", "cay" and "key" (as in the "Florida Keys"), frz. "quai", span. "cayo" all derive ultimately from the same source: the root "*kagh-" = "to catch", "to seize" with the further meaning of "barrier", referring to the same "reef", "shoal" notion as the Spanish "cayo".

shiver my timbers (W3)

Shiver my timbers

Issue 65 Spotlight holiday words: Words to the Wise: shiver me timbers

...
It's also possible that "my timbers" was invented, for it first appears in a song: "My timbers! what lingo he’d coil and belay."
...
The phrase shiver my timbers was purportedly adopted later by cricket to refer to the scattering of wickets.
...

...
I’ve now found another example from the same year (1835), in a story in the Huron Reflector of 15 September: “Shiver my timbers if I do!” said he bluntly.
...

spick and span (W3)

"spick-and-span", Adjective

Meaning: 1. "Brand new". 2. "Absolutely clean", "spotless".

Notes: Since Americans see the household cleaning products sold under the brand name "Spic and Span" more often than the actual phrase, the spelling "spic-and-span" is generally accepted as a legitimate alternative to the original "spick-and-span". As always, we prefer the original.
...
Word History: Today's complex word is, believe it or not, a shortening of an earlier phrase, "spick-and-span new". "Spick" is a variant of "spike", while "span" once meant "chip". The term comes from the ship-building trade at a time when ships were built of wood. A ship was "spike and chip new" if you could still find the occasional unused "spike" and left-over "chips" lying around. "Spanking new" might be a variant of "span new", a phrase that came along about the same time as "spike and span".

spick-and-span

an idiom meaning "as clean and spotless as if brand new", is Standard with or without hyphens and with the first word spelled either "spic or spick".

"Spick and Span New"

"Quite and entirely new". A "spic" is a "spike" or "nail", and a "span" is a "chip". So that "a spick and span new ship" is "one in which every nail and chip is new". Halliwell mentions "span new". According to Dr. Johnson, the phrase was first applied to cloth just taken off the "spannans" or "stretchers". (Dutch, "spikspelderniew".)

...
WORD ORIGIN FOR "SPICK-AND-SPAN"

C17: shortened from "spick-and-span-new", from obsolete "spick" "spike", "nail" + "span-new"

OTHER IDIOMS AND PHRASES WITH SPICK-AND-SPAN

"spick and span"

"Neat and clean", as in When Ruth has finished cleaning, the whole house is "spick and span". This term combines two nouns that are now obsolete, "spick" = "a nail" or "spike", and "span" = "a wooden chip". In the 1500s a sailing ship was considered "spick and span" when every "spike and chip" was "brand-new". The transfer to the current sense took place in the mid-1800s.

"spick-and-span" (adj.), also "spic-and-span", 1660s, from "spick-and-span-new" (1570s), literally "new as a recently made spike and chip of wood", from "spick" = "nail" (see "spike" (n.1)) + "span-new" = "very new" (c. 1300), from Old Norse "span-nyr", from "spann" = "chip" (see "spoon" (n.)) + "nyr" = "new". Imitation of Dutch "spiksplinter nieuw" = "spike-splinter new".

...
A: "Spick-and-span" (sometimes "spic-and-span") dates back to the 17th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The first published reference is in "The Diary of Samuel Pepys" (1665): "My Lady Batten walking through the dirty lane with new spicke and span white shoes."

The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology says the expression is a shortening of an older phrase, "spick-and-span new", from about 1580. In the 16th century, this meant as new as a newly made "nail" or "spike" (the "spick") and a "fresh chip of wood" ("span"). The latter part of the phrase was borrowed from the Old Icelandic "spann-nyr" ("new chip").
...

"spick-and-span", "spic-and-span", adjective

• 1 : FRESH, BRAND-NEW
• 2 : spotlessly clean

...

"Spick and span": a suspicious hybrid

BY ANATOLY LIBERMAN - MAY 23RD 2018

Etymology is a peaceful area of study. But read the following: "pick and Span" — these words have been sadly tortured by our etymologists — we shall, therefore, do our best to deliver them from further persecution. Tooke is here more than usually abusive of his predecessors; however, Nemesis, always on the watch, has permitted him to give a lumbering, half Dutch, half German, etymology; of "shining new from the warehouse" — as if such simple colloquial terms were formed in this clumsy round-about way. "Spick-new" is simply "nail-new", and "span-new", "chip–new". Many similar expressions are current in the north of Europe; "fire-new", "spark-new", "splinter–new", also used in Cumberland; High German, "nagelneu", equivalent to the Lower Saxon "spiker–new", and various others. The leading idea is that of something quickly produced or used only once.” [Note: Dutch "spyker", that is, "spijker" means "nail", but its homonym "spijker" exists. It is a dialectal word from the south of the country for "granary in the loft of a house".]

That was an extract from an article published in The Quarterly Review for September, 1835. All contributions to such periodicals were anonymous. Whoever wrote the piece enjoyed the vitriolic style typical of nineteenth-century British journalism. The remarks, quoted above, are apt, but, curiously, only one "torturer", Horne Tooke, is mentioned by name. Tooke, whose two-volume work on etymology has the English title "The Diversions of Purley", has often appeared in this blog (16 December 2015; 10 May 2017; and 2 August 2017), invariably in a negative context. In the August post, you can see his portrait and Stephen Goranson’s curious comment.

As I keep repeating, English etymology is a branch of linguistics without history. Thousands of lines about the origin of English words have disappeared in a huge black hole. The belligerent contributor to The Quarterly Review may have missed a few reasonable suggestions about the origin of "spick and span". Yet some guesses were indeed wild. In The Gentleman’s Magazine for 1755 (vol. 25, p. 115), an equally learned and equally anonymous correspondent wrote: “Spick and span new… the words want explanation; …which, I presume, are a corruption of the Italian "Spiccata da la Spanna", snatched from the hand…. it is well known that our language abounds with Italicisms, and it is probable the expression before us was coined when the English were as much bigoted to Italian fashions, as they now are to those of the French.”

According to Samuel Johnson, "spanna" meant "to stretch" in Old English (to be sure, such a word could not be an Old English verb!), with "span-new" emerging as "fresh from the stretchers or frames, alluding to cloth, a very old manufacture of the country; and "spick and span" is fresh from the "spike", or tenter, and frames." This explanation made its way into the once immensely popular Dictionary of Phrase and Fable by E. Cobham Brewer (1870). Brewer referred to stretchers and hooks and then added Italian "spicco" = "brightness" for good measure and even Dutch "spyker".

"Span-new" already occurred in Middle English and looks like a calque (translation loan) of Old Icelandic "spán–nýr", literally "new like a chip" (thus, no connection with stretchers!). Several other guesses may be ignored. In any case, "span-new" does not mean "newly spun", as has once been suggested. John Jamieson (1750-1828), the author of a great Scottish dictionary, mentioned "split and span", both of which denote a splinter or chip. Before him, Johan Ihre (1707-1780), a distinguished Swedish philologist, translated Swedish "sping-spang" as "quite new". Jamieson knew Ihre’s works and in the Supplement cited "spang-new". He pointed out the connection between "spingla" = "chip", "splinter" and "spangla" = "thin metal plate". The English phrase would then mean "fire-new". In Cornwall, they said (and perhaps still say) "spack and spang new". By the way, the contributor to The Gentleman’s Magazine also referred to Engl. "fresh from the mint"; "brand-new" springs to mind too.

We have seen an attempt to trace "spick and span" to Italian. A fanciful derivation from Latin turned up as late as 1900: "spick" from "spica" = "an ear of corn" and "span" from "spatium" = "space", "a measure of length" and figuratively "hand". But the phrase, whatever its ultimate origin, must be Germanic. There is nothing similar in Italian, French, or Spanish. Only Germanic analogs are numerous. Such is German "splitter-neu" and "span–nagel–neu". Dutch "(spik)-spinter-nieuw", Swedish "spik och spänn", and Norwegian "spik og spenning". Only the Swedish and Norwegian versions are close to English, but, unexpectedly, they do not reproduce the Old Icelandic "archetype". Dutch "spijk–" is undoubtedly native; hence the hypothesis that Engl. "spick–" experienced the influence of Dutch. By the same token, Swedish and Norwegian might have taken their "spik" from Low German.

But what was so attractive in the Dutch word, and how could it be added to a phrase of rather obviously Scandinavian extraction? We risk returning to Horne Tooke’s warehouse. "Span-new" causes no trouble. Engl. "spoon" is a cognate of Icelandic "spán" = "chip", because the earliest spoons were of course made of wood. "Spick" is the older form of "spike". Something or somebody can be sharp and shining as a new nail. There seems to have been two common North-European idioms, perhaps part of the lingua franca of itinerant workmen: things could be "nail-new" and "spike-new" / "spick-new". Later, a hybrid was formed. Let us also remember "spack" from Cornwall. If "spack and span" ever existed, it would have become "spick and span", because in words of the "ticktack" and "pit-a-pat" type, the first vowel is usually closed and the second open. But a bulky phrase like "spick-span new" had no chance of survival, and "new" was dropped. An excellent Swedish dialectal dictionary mentions "spik spangande ny", and Skeat cited it. Though the history of the English word is partly obscure, alliteration ("sp-" ~ "sp-") must have played a decisive role in it.

Toward International Spelling Congress: London, May 30, 2018
...

...
The origin of this somewhat enigmatic phrase and its close analogs has been discussed for centuries. Some of the early conjectures are curious, even "wild". Horne Tooke (1736-1812), the author of many fanciful derivations, wrote that "spick and span new" means "shining new from the warehouse". He combined a Dutch word with a German one, but it remains unclear what the warehouse has to do with the whole. The Swede Johan Ihre (1707-1780), a learned and reliable scholar, explained the analog of "spick and span" as "a chip just cut". He had a much better idea than the one brought forward by the German etymologist Georg Wachter, even though he looked upon Wachter’s work as his source of inspiration. Wachter traced "span" to a verb meaning "to milk", so that the result was "new as the first milk after calving". (Those who know the German word "Spanferkel" = "sucking pig" will recognize the misleading root.) Ihre, it appears, hit the nail on the head. English philologists also knew the true origin of "spick and span" long ago. The dialectal synonym "spliter–new", Low German "spiker-neu", and Icelandic "spann" = "chip"; "spoon" told the researchers that the English adjective has something to do with "spikes" (or "chips") and "spoons". (Old "spoons" were, naturally, wooden. We too have plastic silverware.)

The binomial was "spick and span"; "new" was added later for emphasis. "Span-new" appeared in English dialects as early as the thirteenth century. Later the phrase was extended, and "spick and span new" appeared: it must have been tempting to add an alliterating near-synonym to the first adjective, even though three-element phrases of this type are all but non-existent. Usually we encounter phrases like "stone-deaf", "stone-broke", and the already cited "stock-still". The source of "spick-new" is Scandinavian. In the pre-Skeat editions of Webster’s dictionary, the following explanation was given: “Quite new; that is, as new as a spike or nail just made, and a chip just split.” Engl. "spick" “spike” existed, but Swedish "spik" means "nail", which returns us to German "funkelnagelneu". Dutch has "spik-splellder-nieuw" and "spik-splinter-nieuw". At one time, Engl. "spelder" "splinter" or "ship" also turned up. Frank Chance says: "Chips and shavings are commonly new, as they are usually burned up as fast as made." But this explanation is hardly needed, for shavings are new by definition, whether burned or not, and, while cutting wood, we see chips flying in every direction; those are also new.

It will be seen that phrases like "brand-new", "nail-new", and "shavings-new" are current all over Germanic. Some must have ben borrowed. Is it possible that at one time they were part of the lingua franca, that is, the professional language of itinerant carpenters, blacksmiths, and other artisans? I suggested a similar idea in connection with the etymology of the English word "ajar", which too has a puzzling number of seemingly superfluous near-homonyms, all meaning the same (see the post for August 22, 2012). Those who have access to my etymological dictionary will find more musings on this subject in the entry "adz(e)".
...

spick and span

"spick and span", idiom, "very clean and tidy"
...
"spick" - an alteration of the word "spike" (a large nail), a slice of bacon, a floret of lavender

"span" - a chip of wood, a measurement, a chain

It takes someone with a broad imagination to guess which combination gives us a phrase that means "clean and spotless". However, there is a common thread among the explanations provided by most etymology authorities:

"Spann-nyr" is Old Norse for a piece of wood recently chopped from a piece of timber. "Nyr" meant "new" and "spann" referred to a "chip". This phrase first appeared in English in the 14th century in the form of "span-new".

"Spick", as in "spike" or "nail", likely derived from an old Dutch expression "spiksplinternieuw", which referred to a newly-built ship with brand new nails and wood.

Thus one can deduce that "spick and span" simply evolved from the combination of two words that describe something in a new condition. The phrase "spick and span new" first appeared in the 16th century and eventually shortened to the current form.

Procter and Gamble, the American household products company, adopted the phrase as a trademark for one of its cleaning products "Spic and Span". Be warned that "spic" is also a negative term in the U.S. for Hispanics (people of Spanish origin).

SYNONYMS: clean, pristine, pure, unblemished, spotless, immaculate, untarnished, impeccable

ANTONYMS: dirty, filthy, grimy, grubby, messy
...

...
The alliteration in the phrase suggests the possibility that that one of the two words alluded to cleanliness and freshness and that the other just followed along. Which one is most associated with the qualities of "spick and span"? The suggestions most frequently made are that "spick" is a variant of "spike" or "nail". In the 16th century nails were made of iron and soon tarnished. It is quite plausible that "new nails" would have become synonymous with "cleanliness". We have the phrase "as neat as a new pin", which has just that meaning. The old Dutch word "spikspeldernieuw" refers to "newly made ships". The OED suggests that this is the origin of "spick", although they offer no reason for that belief and none of the early citations of the phrase refer to shipping. As for "span", "chips of wood" also display the same fresh, sharp-edged qualities and seem to be a plausible source for the use of the word here.
...

...
The spelling "spick and span" is preferred, although in America the cleaning product called "Spic 'n' Span" is probably to blame for the popularity of the "spic" spelling here. The original "spick" spelling reveals that there is no relation between this phrase and the ethnic slur. "Spick and span", in fact, dates back to at least the 16th century when Samuel Pepys (pronounced "peeps", by the way) used it in his famous diary. Prior to that it was "span-new". What exactly does that mean? Well, a "span" was a "wood chip", and such "chips" were used to make "spoons" (yes, "span" and "spoon" are related). Something that was "span-new" was a freshly cut chip or, metaphorically, "anything as new as a freshly cut chip". This term dates from at least 1300 in the metaphorical sense. "Spick" was added in the 16th century, though why is not exactly known - perhaps for the alliterative sense. A "spick" was a "spike" or "nail", and something that was "spick and span" was neat and trim. The "clean" sense appears to have arisen only recently.

There's also the term "brand-span-new" (early 19th century), the "brand" in that referring to something fresh off the anvil or forge. "Spank-span-new" (late 18th century), an intensified form of "span-new", combined with "brand-span-new", gave us "brand-spanking-new".
...

Idiom: "Spick and span"

Meaning: If a room is spick and span, it is very clean and tidy.

Spick and Span Extra

LANGUAGE LOUNGE - A MONTHLY COLUMN FOR WORD LOVERS

"Fiddle-Faddle"! The Delight of Reduplication

January 1, 2014

By Orin Hargraves

Years ago, when the furniture in the Language Lounge was still "spick-and-span", I wrote a column about reduplication. Not a day has passed since then that I did not use, hear, and delight in one or more reduplicative words; they constitute a reliable source of infotainment in English, and no speaker's lexicon can or should be without a ready supply.

By way of review: reduplications come in three basic flavors in English, namely:

reduplications narrowly defined, that is, where an identical syllable or pair of syllables is repeated to form a word. This can be called the "yo-yo" type.

rhyming reduplications, in which parts one and two of a word differ only by having a different initial consonant sound (that is to say, in which rhyming words or syllables fuse to form a single term). This can be called the "claptrap" type.

vowel-shift reduplications (my personal favorite), in which identical consonant sounds or clusters festoon two different vowels in successive parts of a word. This is the "flimflam" type.
...

"spick and span" – "neat", "trim", and "smart", as if "quite new"

This term comes from "wood and nails".

A "chip of wood" is called a "spoon", from Old English "spôn" and the ancient root "*spænu-". (Yes, this "spoon" = "woodchip" is the same word as our "spoon" = "eating-utensil"; the eating sense of "spôn" evolved later, in Middle English.)

Many other languages used the same "*spænu-" root for "woodchip". The relevant one is Old Norse, where a "woodchip" was a "spánn" (and that word, by the way, also evolved into mean the eating utensil). A "spann-nyr" was a "new chip", recently cut, fresh from the ax, and this came to mean anything "brand new". English adopted that term from Old Norse, and from the 14th through 19th centuries "span-new" was used as a term meaning "brand new".

So much for the wood; what about nails? A "spike-nail" is a "spick". The Dutch term was similar, and if a ship was brand new they called it "spiksplinternieuw" ("spikes and splinters new"; "new nails and wood"). English, inspired by that lovely Dutch combination, combined "spick" with "span-new" to create "spick-and-span-new". Within less than a century this shortened to "spick and span".

...
..., because "spick and span" actually has a rather interesting history. The phrase was originally "spick and span new", and while we usually use "spick (or "spic") and span" to mean "spotlessly clean" (as they say in the commercials), the original meaning was "brand new". "Spick and span" dates back to the 16th century and was originally used to describe "a brand new ship". The "spick" was a "spike" or "nail", and the "span" came from an Old Norse word, "spannyr", meaning "fresh wood chip". A ship that was "spick and span new" was therefore "new in every nail and piece of wood".

Although both "spick" and "span" had existed in English for hundreds of years, the combination of "spick and span" seems to have been adopted from the Dutch version of "spick and span", "spiksplinternieuw". It's a shame the phrase was translated into English, actually. Wouldn't you like to hear a TV announcer try to sell you "spiksplinternieuw"?

"spick and span"

20 December 2021

First, the phrase "spick and span" is an adjectival phrase meaning "perfectly" or "brand new" or a reference to refurbishing or cleaning that restores something to mint condition. It is not etymologically related to the ethnic slur (cf. "spic"). To the present-day ear, the phrase is idiomatic, seeming to make no literal sense. But the elements "spick and span" go back centuries, surviving, aside from use in some dialects, only in this phrase.

The adjective "span-new" appears in English in the late thirteenth century. It is from the Old Norse "spán-nýr", literally "shaving-new", that is like something newly carved. We see it in the romance Havelok the Dane, which dates to that period. In a plot found in many romances, young Havelok is the long-lost heir to the Danish throne, poverty-stricken and working in a kitchen:
...
The "spick" is added in the sixteenth century; it appears to be a reduplicative emphasis using elements borrowed from Dutch and Flemish "spik", literally a "spike" or "splinter" / "shaving". We see "spick and spanne newe" in a 1579 translation of Plutarch’s Lives, in a passage describing the Macedonian army that is about to be defeated by the Romans:
...
And the modern form of the phrase is in place in the early seventeenth century, when it appears in Ben Jonson’s play The Magnetick Lady, which was first acted in October 1632:
...
So, "spick and span" is something of a linguistic fossil. The individual elements are both archaic, but the idiom remains current.

The product "Spic and Span" was trademarked in the United States in 1926.

There is a persistent etymythology that associates with "spick and span" with ships, but there is no evidence for an origin in maritime jargon.

"span-new", adjective: "Brand-new".

ETYMOLOGY:

From Middle English "spannewe", from Old Norse "spannyr", from "spann" ("chip of wood") + "nyr" ("new"). Ultimately from the Indo-European root "newo-" ("new") that also gave us "new", "neo-", "neon", "novice", "novel", "novelty", "innovate", and "renovate".

The same term appears in the phrase "spick-and-span-new" which was later shortened into "spick-and-span". A "spick" is a "spike"; a "spick-and-span-new" ship referred to a "brand new ship", one that is made up of "new nails and new wood".
...

spoon bow (W3)

"spoon bow", noun, Nautical.

an overhanging bow having a convex, curved stem.

ORIGIN OF "SPOON BOW": First recorded in 1900–05

"spoon bow", noun: an overhanging bow of a ship whose underside is somewhat spoon-shaped

...
One more thing sailing fast down a wave and meeting a counter current is to ask for a broach. A "spoon bow" reduces the risk of broaching.

Further a "spoon bow" increases a boats initial stability as it makes the boat wider in the bow than the wave piercing bow and it’s the beam integrated over the length of the boat that is the initial stability.

Below two illustrations
...
The "spoon bow" of Exlex Minor

spoondrift (W3)

"spoondrift", noun: "spindrift."

ORIGIN OF "SPOONDRIFT"

1760–70; "spoon", variant of obsolete "spoom" (of a ship) = "to run or scud before the wind" + "drift"

"spoondrift", noun, Nautical, a showery sprinkling of sea-water or fine spray swept from the tops of the waves by the violence of the wind in a tempest, and driven along before it, covering the surface of the sea; scud. Sometimes called "spindrift".

"spoondrift", noun Alternative form of "spindrift".

"spoondrift", noun spray blown up from the surface of the sea

Etymologies: [Obsolete "spoon" = "to run before the wind" + "drift".]

with flying colours (W3)

"with flying collars" see "colors (colours)" » "collars"

through with flying colors

with flying colors

With flying colours

With flying colours (colors)

pass with flying colors - succeed at easily

Yacht (W3)

• dt. "Segelsport" = engl. "yachting"
• dt. "Yachten" = engl. "yachts"

The Journey to Greenland • 360° Panorama

We have been preparing for this expedition during a year and a half. This is how far in advance you have to book one of the few ice class yachts that dare reaching the remote corners of ice-filled Greenland fjords. We were planning to explore the biggest and one of the most hard-to reach fjords - Scoresby Sund.
...

Table of contents

• 1 Early English Yachts
• 2 First Alteration in Type
• 3 The First Great Era of Yacht Racing
• 4 The Plank-on-edge
• 5 Plank-on-edge Type abandoned
• 6 Revival of Yacht-Racing under Length and Sail Area Rule
• 7 The Second Great Era in Yachting
• 8 Fin and Bulb Keels. Downfall of Length and Sail Area Rule.
• 9 The First Linear Rating Rule
• 10 The Second Linear Rating Rule
• 11 Class Racing, Handicapping and Cruiser Racing
• 12 Yachts Built under the Second Linear Rating Rule
• 13 International Rules Introduced

yacht

Golden Gate Park Model Yacht Club
San Francisco, California
Home to one of the world's largest collections of model yachts
Unique Collections
23 Jul 2010

San Francisco, California
Obscura Society SF: Wine, Cheese and Tiny Boats at the SF Model Yacht Clubhouse

The Iolaire Disaster: The Bell & Engine Plate from the HM Yacht Iolaire which sank early on January 1st, 1919.

Fairground Steam Yachts

This very popular fairground amusement was steam powered and was particularly appreciated by young and old alike in the early days of the 20th century being a step up on the traditional swing boats which one had to power oneself. This is an original made by Savages of Kings Lynn Norfolk. Bought at auction in 2003 and still in use.

Tow Rope from Endeavour I: The tow rope from the amazing yacht that everyone assumed had been lost at sea.

• ice yachting (sport)
• International Rule (yachting)
• International Yacht Racing Union

"yacht" (n.) 1550s, "yeaghe" "a light, fast-sailing ship", from Norwegian "jaght" or early Dutch "jaght", both from Middle Low German "jacht", shortened form of "jachtschip" "fast pirate ship", literally "ship for chasing", from "jacht" "chase", from "jagen" "to chase", "hunt", from Old High German "jagon", from Proto-Germanic "*yago-", from PIE root "*yek-" (2) "to hunt" (cognates: Hittite "ekt-" "hunting net"). Related: "Yachting"; "yachtsman".

Yacht-Club

Boating and Yachting

Primary Title: Shipping in a Calm at Flushing with a States General Yacht Firing a Salute
Maker Name: Jan van de Cappelle [Dutch, 1626 - 1679]
Type: Paintings
Medium: Oil on oak panel
Date: 1649
Source: J. Paul Getty Museum

• Finley, Martha, 1828-1909: Elsie Yachting with the Raymonds (English) (as Author)
• Forestier, A. (Amédée), 1854-1930: Mrs. Cliff's Yacht (English) (as Illustrator)
• Freeman, Lewis R. (Lewis Ransome), 1878-1960: In the Track of the Trades - The Account of a Fourteen Thousand Mile Yachting Cruise to the Hawaiis, Marquesas, Societies, Samoas and Fijis (English) (as Author)

• Kingston, William Henry Giles, 1814-1880: A Yacht Voyage Round England (English) (as Author)

• Optic, Oliver, 1822-1897: Down South; or, Yacht Adventure in Florida (English) (as Author)
• Optic, Oliver, 1822-1897: Up the River; or, Yachting on the Mississippi (English) (as Author)
• Optic, Oliver, 1822-1897: The Yacht Club; or, The Young Boat-Builder (English) (as Author)

• Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing), 1820-1898: The Cruise of the Elena; Or, Yachting in the Hebrides (English) (as Author)
• Ross, William A.: A Yacht Voyage to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, 2nd edition (English) (as Author)

• Sanderson, Margaret Love: The Camp Fire Girls on a Yacht (English) (as Author)
• Seth-Smith, C.E.: Yachting Vol. 1 (English) (as Author)
• Smith, Ruel Perley, 1869-1937: The Rival Campers Afloat; or, The Prize Yacht Viking (English) (as Author)
• Stables, Gordon, 1840-1910: The Cruise of the Land-Yacht "Wanderer"; or, Thirteen Hundred Miles in my Caravan (English) (as Author)
• Stephens, C. A. (Charles Asbury), 1844-1931: Left on Labrador or, The cruise of the Schooner-yacht 'Curlew.' as Recorded by 'Wash.' (English) (as Author)
• Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894: In the South Seas - Being an Account of Experiences and Observations in the Marquesas, Paumotus and Gilbert Islands in the Course of Two Cruises on the Yacht "Casco" (1888) and the Schooner "Equator" (1889) (English) (as Author)
• Stockton, Frank Richard, 1834-1902: Mrs. Cliff's Yacht (English) (as Author)
• Stratemeyer, Edward, 1862-1930: The Rover Boys in Southern Waters; or, The Deserted Steam Yacht (English) (as Author)
• Stratemeyer, Edward, 1862-1930: The Rover Boys on Treasure Isle; or, The Strange Cruise of the Steam Yacht (English) (as Author)
• Stratemeyer, Edward, 1862-1930: The Rover Boys on Treasure Isle; Or, The Strange Cruise of the Steam Yacht (English) (as Author)
• Sullivan, Edward: Yachting Vol. 1 (English) (as Author)

• Cowes Castle, Isle of Wight, UK Edited 71%
• The America's Cup and Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK Edited 68%
• The Clipper Yacht Race Edited 24%
• 'The Riddle of the Sands' by Robert Erskine Childers Edited 17%
• Osborne House, Isle of Wight, UK Edited 16%
• Isle of Wight Shipwrecks: Between the Wars Edited 16%
• The America's Cup Edited 9%
• Cannes, France Edited 7%
• Yahtzee - The Game Edited 5%
• Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson - The Years of Fame and Glory Edited 5%
• The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 Edited 4%
• Tasmania, Australia Edited 4%
• The Isle of Wight's Floating Bridge Edited 4%
• Calshot Castle, Hampshire, UK Edited 4%
• Linda McCartney Edited 4%
• Some Great Castles of England Edited 4%
• A Potted History of Bovril Edited 4%
• Dame Ellen MacArthur - Yachtswoman Edited 4%
• Mersea Island, Essex, UK Edited 4%
• Walking the Isle of Wight Coastal Path: Part 5 - The Needles to Cowes Edited 3%
• Scientology Edited 3%
• Syros - a Greek Island Edited 3%
• The Isle of Wight's Round the Island Cycle Route Edited 3%
• Diana, Princess of Wales Edited 3%
• Vanderbilt's Folly - Origins of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Edited 3%
• The Potomac River - A Trickle Through History Edited 3%

countryachtig | yachting

Borrowed Words in English
...
"Dutch": An Indo-European language spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium: "boss", "cookie", "lottery", "yacht", ...

Yachts

YACHTS, POWER & SAIL
ABEKING & RASMUSSEN ~ AMELS HOLLAND ~ BROWARD MARINE ~ CHRISTENSEN YACHTS ~ CATALINA YACHTS ~ FAIRLINE ~ GRANDBANKS ~ HAKVOORT SHIPYARDS ~ HATTERAS ~ J BOATS ~ LEAR ELECTRIC BOATS ~ LÜRSSEN ~ MOONEN SHIPYARDS ~ NEPTUNUS YACHTS ~ NIMBUS ~ PALMER JOHNSON ~ SABRE ~ SAGA ~ STOREBRO ~ TARRAB YACHTS ~ WESTBAY

We found 38 dictionaries with English definitions that include the word yacht:
...

For the holidays, utilize fast yachts

yacht club

yachtsman

yachtswoman

The Yachts

Redneck Yacht Club - by Craig Morgan

"YACHT" ou "YAC", (Marine.) [Marine] unknown (Page 17:662)
...

"Yachttimer": Unter einem "Yachttimer" versteht man eine Sportuhr mit verschiedenen Features, die für den Segelliebhaber unentbehrlich sind. Dazu gehört unter anderem ein integrierter "Yacht Countdown", der auf einem Zeitraum bis zu 10 Minuten einzustellen ist. Ein Signallaut gibt Auskunft über die verbleibende Zeit bis zum Rennstart. Natürlich verfügt ein Yachttimer über eine Wasserdichtigkeit von 10 bar, um eine reibungslose Funktion auch bei Regen zu garantieren.

• "yacht": an expensive vessel propelled by sail or power
• "yacht chair": a light folding armchair for outdoor use
• "yacht club": club that promotes and supports yachting and boating
• "yachting": water travel for pleasure
• "yachting cap": a cap with a flat circular top and a visor
• "yacht race": a race between crews of people in yachts
• "yachtsman": a person who owns or sails a yacht
• "yachtswoman": a person who owns or sails a yacht

"Yacht" from Dutch "jacht", short for "jachtschip" (literally "hunting ship")

• ice-yacht
• ice-yachting
• ice-yachts
• land-yacht
• land-yachts
• maxi-yacht
• maxi-yachts
• megayacht
• megayachts
• miniyacht
• miniyachts
• superyacht
• superyachts
• yacht
• yacht club
• yachtboard
• yachted
• yachter
• yachters
• yachtful
• yachtie
• yachtier
• yachties
• yachtiest
• yachting
• yachtings
• yachtless
• yachtlike
• yachtman
• yachts
• yachtsfolk
• yachtsman
• yachtsmanship
• yachtsmanships
• yachtsmen
• yachtspeople
• yachtsperson
• yachtspersons
• yachtswoman
• yachtswomen
• yachty

Ashley, Clifford W.
Ashley Book of Knots

The Ashley Book of Knots takes us back to a time when knots saved lives and put dinner on the table. Whether out at sea or in a pioneer cabin, knots were a part of daily life, one that is nearly lost today. But in this attractive, well-organized archive of more than 3,900 different knots - presented through 7,000 illustrations - the art of knot tying lives on, both as a historical reference and a reservoir of handy knowledge.
...
Ashley also tells a lot of tales and lets us know what life was like when he lived, as he collected the information to put together his book.
...
What's more, mathematicians use this book as a fundamental reference. Just about any twist in space was named here, so Ashley has become the catalog. When a mathematician refers to "Ashley #128", the structure has been specified completely.
...