I’m on an investigative journey for a friend of mine. Does anyone have any information on the very first or earliest use of the phrase “rolling stone” in language usage, either in English or any other language? I’d like to present this tidbit, if it exists, as a birthday gift to my friend in the near future. I figured if anyone on earth would know this, it would most definitely be someone on this bulletin board! Any assistance anyone can give will be most appreciated. Thank you very much!
Welcome, Irene
All I know is the obvious, I’m afraid – it comes from a proverb whose roots are probably lost in the mists of time – namely:
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
What this means is clearly that a moving body forms no attachments, and whether this is A Good Thang or A Bad Thang depends on your point of view!
You’ll find equivalents of the saying in other languages too, including at least two to my knowledge – there are probably others.
Spanish:
Piedra movediza no cría moho
and Dutch:
Een rollende steen vergaart geen mos
sysiphses(ok,i know, i have trouble enough with english) but since he was condemned to rolling stones up (and having them roll down on their own) i am thinking that "rolling stone" expression are pretty old.
"a rolling stone gathers no moss" has equivalent phrases in classical Greek and Latin. Similar wording is found in various languages from at least the 15th C. A literal 'rolling-stone' and a figurative usage thereof (a rambler, wanderer; a good-for-nothing) are attested (only later) in 1611 in Cosgrave's "A dictionarie of the French and English tongues".
edit: parenthetical added
Proverb. a rolling stone gathers no moss and variants: a person who does not settle in one place will not accumulate wealth, status, friends, etc., or (alternatively, and now freq.) responsibilities and commitments. Hence, with allusion to the proverb, moss is occasionally used to denote money.
Any person who would give another person an explanation of a phrase as a birthday present is our kind of person. I hope you'll look around and decide to stay and play.
Irene: Ken at
http://www.wordwizard.com/ loves to look up stuff like that
