Dear Mr. Lederer: I received an e-message today and am more than curious to know whether any or all of the phrase “histories” truly describes “Life in the 1500s.”
— Dave Cours, Solana Beach
The Greek etymon means “true, original,” and the Greek ending -logia means “science or study.” Thus, etymology is supposed to be the science or study of true and original word meanings. But I have learned that the proud house of etymology is populated by all manner of ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggety beasties miscreated by spook etymologists. I call these spook explanations “Internetymology.”
Bogus etymologies are haunting your computer, in the form of a ubiquitous item titled “Life in the 1500s,” which has been dragging its chains around the Internet for years. The color and romance of the word and phrase explanations in the message are as beguiling as can be:
“Houses had thatched roofs made of thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the pets, including dogs and cats, lived in the roof. When it rained, the animals would sometimes slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying It’s raining cats and dogs.”
Folderol! Piffle! Poppycock! The truth appears to be more mundane. Cats and dogs make a lot of noise when they fight (hence, fighting like cats and dogs), so they have become a metaphor for a noisy rain or thunderstorm.
Now the plot deepens, and our subject turns grave. Hear ye now the most ghoulish and foolish of the spook etymologies that clank throughout “Life in the 1500s”:
“In Old England, one out of 25 coffins was found to have scratch marks on the inside, and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on their wrist and attach it to a bell. Someone would sit out in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. Hence the expression graveyard shift. They would know that someone was saved by the bell or he was a dead ringer.”
Balderdash! Twaddle! Hooey! Codswollop! Despite high marks for ingenuity, these explanations are merely exercises in free association without regard for attribution. In factories that work around the clock, employees report for work at 8 a.m. for the “regular” or “day” shift, at 4 a.m. for the “swing” or “night” shift and at midnight for the “graveyard” shift, lasting until 8 a.m. The name graveyard shift refers to “the ghostlike hour of employment” — and nothing more.
Dead ringers actually originated at the racetrack. To take advantage of the long odds against an inferior horse’s winning a race, unscrupulous gamblers would substitute a horse of superior ability and similar appearance. Nowadays, dead ringer means any close look-alike. Why ringer? Probably because ringer was once a slang term for a counterfeiter who represented brass rings for gold ones at county fairs. And dead here means “absolute, exact,” as in “dead heat” and “you’re dead right.”
Should I even dignify the windy suspiration about saved by the bell with a logical explanation? Oh well, here ’tis, and it’s just what you thought in the first place. Saved by the bell is nothing more than the obvious — a reference to the bell signaling the end of a round of boxing. No matter what condition a fighter is in during a boxing contest, even if he is being counted out, he is saved by the bell and gains a reprieve once that bell rings.
If you believe everything you glean from cyberspace, especially about language, please get in touch with me. I have a bridge, a lovely parcel of swampland and a subprime mortgage I want to sell you.
Please send your questions and comments about language to richard.lederer@utsandiego.com verbivore.com