#72141
06/07/2002 9:58 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
OK all you "Wordies" out there .... to entice you in, I am going to try to leave a trail of delicious word questions you cannot resist!
Now here's a nice expression : "In Fine Fettle" ... meaning everything is going well, all tickety-boo (another odd phrase) ...
Where do all these phrases come from?
Fine fettle is an old New Englandism to the best of my knowledge, and tickety-boo is English I think.
Do you know any phrases meaning everything is percolating along just fine that are indigenous to your area?
HAve you heard some odd phrases that you'd like to share?
What are they?
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#72142
06/07/2002 10:40 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Here's worldwidewords.com (Quinion) on "fettle""
The word was most typically used as a verb meaning to put things in order,
tidy up, arrange, or prepare. Here's an example, from Anne Brontë's
Agnes Grey of 1847, in the Yorkshire dialect speech of a servant: "But
next day, afore I'd gotten fettled up - for indeed, Miss, I'd no heart to
sweeping an' fettling, an' washing pots; so I sat me down i' th' muck - who
should come in but Maister Weston!". In northern English it can still have
the sense of making or repairing something. In Australia, a fettler is a
railway maintenance worker, responsible for keeping the line in good
shape. It's also used in some manufacturing trades - in metal casting and
pottery it describes the process of knocking the rough edges off a piece.
But all of these are variants of the basic sense. So the noun refers to
condition, order or shape, and fine fettle means to be in good order or
condition.
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#72143
06/08/2002 12:10 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Again from www.worldwidewords.com, Quinion, his discussion of "tickety boo"
We can't be sure what its origin is. Eric Partridge always contended that
the word was forces' slang, most probably from the Royal Air Force, and
that it dates from the early 1920s or thereabouts (though the Oxford
English Dictionary doesn't find a written example before 1939).
Considering the number of Canadians who flew with the RAF during
World War II, its move to Canada isn't surprising.
The difficult bit is taking the word back any further than the 1920s. It could
combine that's the ticket - with much the same sense - with the childish
phrase peek-a-boo. But some find a link with the British Army in India,
suggesting it comes from the Hindi phrase tikai babu, which is translated
as "it's all right, sir".
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#72144
06/08/2002 1:33 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
OK, now we know about tickey-boo, but what about "toodleoo?" Yesterday I encountered an English couple, engaged them in conversation while we waited for our applintments at the opthalmologist's office, and upon departing, the woman used that departing expression. I've used ti myself, but never have considered its origin. Whaddaya say, Bill? Wow? Others?
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#72145
06/09/2002 6:16 AM
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 33
newbie
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newbie
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 33 |
Wow! How about "peachy keen"?
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#72146
06/09/2002 1:47 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I wish belMarduk were here. I think "toodleoo" might be corruption of French "toute á l'heure" which I think means "soon" So when someone says goodbye ( "á bientôt") the reply might be "toute â l'heure" Toodleoo!
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#72147
06/09/2002 2:25 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
I think "toodleoo" might be corruption of French "toute á l'heure" Oh. I was thinking it was short for "We're all going to the privvy" (Toute á loo) 
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#72148
06/09/2002 3:24 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,071 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,071 Likes: 2 |
You mean it's not an announcement of the impending takeover of all of baseball by a band of brothers? (Tout Alou)
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