What exactly is a "petard"? | FOSSIL WORDS

Discover the fascinating world of "fossil words" with Rob and Jess on Words Unravelled! 🌍📚 In this episode, our hosts delve into the history and evolution of words that have stood the test of time but are no longer in common use.
❓What is a "petard" and how can you be "hoist" by yours?
❓What does the shrift in "give short shrift" mean?
❓Who were the first people to "run amok"?
Learn about their origins, meanings, and the intriguing stories behind these linguistic relics.
👂LISTEN: podfollow.com/...
or search for "Words Unravelled" wherever you get your podcasts.
==LINKS==
Rob's KZbin channel: / robwords
Jess' Useless Etymology blog: uselessetymolo...
Rob on X: x.com/robwordsyt
Jess on TikTok: tiktok.com/@jesszafarris
#etymology #fossilwords #wordfacts

[@michaelmanning5379]

When my daughter was 3 we entered a store so I picked her up. After a few minutes of browsing she said "Daddy . . . put me down." I asked why. "So that I can run amok."

[@loisdungey3528]

😂

[@WordsUnravelled]

This kid is going places. Lots of places, all at once. - Jess

[@JennyEliz_IstheShiz]

Cue Sarah Sanderson: "Amok, amok, amok!" 🧙🏼‍♀️

[@stevetournay6103]

Oh the brutal frankness of kids...😂

[@Reziac]

Best daughter ever. :D

[@michaelhernandez410]

"Pigment of the imagination" became widespread in America because of a TV show hosted by Clerow 'Flip' Wilson, a brilliant African American comedian. He told a joke about mistaken identity and the punchline, since he was Black, was : "that wasn't me- it must have been a pigment of your imagination".

[@michaelmanning5379]

I usually say "pigment of imagination". I'll often use "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it" from Robert Aspirin's "Another Fine Myth".

[@tracy3812]

@@michaelhernandez410 “Geraldine!!”

[@seanmalloy7249]

Some time ago, I picked up a humorous parody of the phrase as "a pigment of your emasculation".

[@KJYKJY1985]

I've never heard "pigment of the imagination" nor did I think figment was a fossil word. This is really surprising to me.

[@stevemcdonald1033]

When comedian Pat Paulsen was running his mock campaign for president in 1968, he referred to a statement by the republican candidate, Richard Nixon, as being a "frigment of his imagination", which garnered a huge laugh from the audience.

[@gwjchris]

Fun word fact I learned from a church sexton. To ring a bell is to swing the bell and to toll a bell is to swing the clapper. The former is done for all kinds of reasons, but tolling is for funerals or to announce a death in general. "For whom the bell tolls" sums it up quite well I think.

[@corralescoyote]

Excellent comment! Makes perfect sense, as I think about it. ✌️

[@usvalve]

This would require two separate ropes, and the bell could not be rung while a rope was attached to the clapper. Bells can also be chimed or made to sound by external clock hammers.

[@DD-qq8sn]

So the tolling of a bell generates a knell, and the ringing of a bell doesn't? I like it.

[@BogeyTheBear]

@@DD-qq8snA ringing bell makes a peal.

[@inisipisTV]

I remember Dorothy Sayers detective novel " The five tailors" - 9 toll for the death of a man, 6 for the death of a woman and 3 for a child, Then followed by telling the number of years of the age of the deceased. Using the bells Is the old way of announce something.

[@Chris_the_Muso]

I'm 60, and have been an avid reader since I was seven years old, so I'm _heartily_ familiar with almost all the terms discussed here. One of my favourite fossil words is "ado" as in "much ado about nothing". Ado is from old Norse and meaning busy, implying frenetic activity. Modern dictionaries give the meaning of "ado" as trouble or difficulty, however this is the modern interpretation not the Norse meaning. The real definition of the phase should be "frantic activity for a pointless reason", not "trouble for no reason".

[@Dranok1]

@Chrisamic Now I want to know the derivation of "to-do" which is clearly related! O, what a to-do, quite a rumpus there was...

[@crossleydd42]

@@Chris_the_Muso I have always thought of it meaning a great deal of fuss!

[@Sgt__Hawk]

I've heard somewhere that the title is already a double entendre. This interpretation said it was meant to be "Much ado about 'n o-thing" where the o-thing was a common euphemism at that time for the female genitalia. I don't know how much merit this has, but it would be kind of neat.

[@alanwhiplington5504]

I have always understood it in the Norse way. I think that's precisely the way Shakespeare used it.

[@tims8603]

I once used the phrase 'one fell swoop' when talking to an acquaintance. He called me on it as if no one says that anymore. They actually do. Once you notice someone saying it, you hear it more and more.

[@technocynic]

I thought fell swoop would one of the first examples given here

[@edryba4867]

It’s more fun if you say “one swell foop”!

[@tribaltalker1608]

I use "one fell swoop", had no idea it was on an extinction list. Seems like ordinary language to me, although I have heard it being misused more and more.

[@acksawblack]

How can that be at risk? All three of the words are still used regularly in places you would expect. I can only think fell is maybe losing favour due to less people having to cut their own wood now so less people have had to fell a tree themselves. Swoop but surely is a common word

[@livinggreen]

@@tims8603 I eggcorned this for most of my life as 'one foul swoop'.

[@dahemac]

Batten is a narrow strip of wood used to close a gap. Board and batten is a style of exterior finish on a building. Also batten can be the relatively thin strips of wood attached to rafters to support tile or sheet roofing.

[@steveknight878]

Also somewhere in the depths of my memory is an association between 'lath and plaster' and battening.

[@petervanderwaart1138]

Also used to shape a sail

[@thekingofming]

I came here to say the same thing as Dahemac, but assumed someone had already commented this, and so it was

[@saraselmon6642]

Yes, I'm in Australia and batten is a word still in use, predominantly in the building industry, but I think most people have an idea of it.

[@futatorius]

Ships with wooden hulls were built to flex slightly (which is nicer than shattering). Because of that, hatches, doors and similar fittings could not be made to fit tightly in their frames, because if the hull were to flex, they'd get stuck. So to seal up the ship, you needed something to fill the gap between the hatch and the hole it was meant to close. That's what the batten was for. Usually you'd cover the hatch with a tarp, then nail the batten over it to keep it in place.

[@CheeseWyrm]

Another great episode, thanks! Either I'm quite archaic, a profound word-geek, or just plain weird - but I frequently use numerous 'fossil' words in regular speech & writing (probably all 3 conditions, I conjecture!) In my understanding: * to be "froward" is to deviate from the norm or expectation; * "inclement" is NOT an 'unpaired negative'. Radio forecasts refer also to 'clement weather', & in conversation I've heard of agreeable situations/conditions being described as clement; * the 'ult-' in "ulterior" is less a contrasting alternative prefix for 'in-' or 'ex-', but more closely linked to the 'alt-' / 'alter-' in "alternative". So perhaps it's an old mispelling of "alterior", meaning the motive is from an 'alternative' origin.... an other/autre position that's less evident than simply inside or outside; * the 'bast' in Lambast IS from the same root as 'baste' in cooking, which traditionally is to repeatedly 'slap' on some other ingredient (oil, marinade, etc). Also, as Jess pointed out, "Lam" is related to 'beat', but more in the sense of 'walking the beat', or 'beating the boundaries of an area'. So 'Lam' has the sense of an extended walk/run. Hence Lambasting describes an extended slapping, usually with the tongue (ie: words) in the common context; * the "ka" in kaboodle is purely a stylistic addition for alliterative purposes; * another rebracketing similar to "nother' & "druthers" is "tother" or "t'other". I use this often instead of "the other"; * the slow, repeated bellringing during Queen Elizabeth II's long, stately funereal march was a modern example of the "death knell, tolling the dead"; * the "fig-" in figment shares the same root as in 'figurative' & 'figure'; * "in the offing" is related to "on the off chance"

[@gcewing]

There's a video around somewhere titled something like "Can I cook a chicken by slapping it?" Yes, it's as insane as it sounds.

[@allendracabal0819]

You have firmly established your word nerd creds here.

[@steeveletur1983]

My take on ulterior is that it comes from the Latin word ultima, meaning the last one. Ulterior motive means there is a real, final motive for one's action and it's not the one on display

[@quietcat]

Ulterior contrasts with citerior.

[@Dr.Claw_M.A.D.]

It behoves the wordsmith to avoid archaic expressions and clichés.

[@colinwilde7178]

I’m from Manchester England, formerly part of Lancashire and can confirm that fettle is not a fossil word because it is still used in more than one expression. Although it can be used instead of the word make, it is more likely meant as repair or adjust. In foundries, removing the metal on a casting that has leaked from the edge of the mould is called fettling.

[@markpearson3490]

Yep - my Yorkshire engineering apprenticeship involved a lot of fettling - traditionally applied to castings, but widened to cleaning and tidying any fabricated items. Fettler was a job description.

[@garinsutton6808]

In the US that's referred to as "Flashing" and the metal itself is called flash, rather like in plastic modelmaking, again, for a molded (American spelling there) object.

[@flamencoprof]

NZer here. I only learned the word about ten years ago from TV progs about restoring/repurposing things, and I understood it from context to mean repair/adjust/tweak/realign, generally muck about with to make it work.

[@christopherosment6862]

I heard the same

[@richardterriere9947]

In woodworking terms, fettling is used to refer to getting a tool in fine working shape. For example, a plane that needs adjusting and the plane iron sharpened.

[@Voodoomaria]

Akimbo is another word you don't hear that often anymore. It's standing with your hands on your hips, Elbows pointing outward. Now instead of saying "She stood proudly, Arms Akimbo" we just say she stood there with hands on hips. On odd newer words; In Anne Rice's book "The Witching Hour" she described her main character Rowan Mayfair as having a "Grosgrain Voice". I had never heard the term before, and did a little reading, grosgrain is a kind of heavy sewing ribbon made of wool or silk, or both [more modern grosgrain uses nylon]. If you LOOK as Grosgrain, especially the silk variety, it has a prominent tight weave, but it still very smooth Rough and smooth at the same time. If you run it through your fingers you get this lovely smooth deep sound. And so I formed a mental idea of what a grosgrain VOICE would sound like. I felt it would be either similar to the voice of Lauren Bacall, Or a younger Suzanne Pleshette. Now to confirm, I spoke to Ms. Rice through her website, and asked her, and she confirmed the voice timbre she was after was similar to Suzanne Pleshette.

[@Aengus42]

@@Voodoomaria I think "Legs akimbo!" is more common now.

[@Voodoomaria]

@@Aengus42 Yes, but it's a lot harder to place your feet on your hips. 😁 "Legs"Akimbo was also the name of an exotic dancer in a comic book, Captain Klutz I think.

[@Aengus42]

@@Voodoomaria If you you find a girl who can you couldn't pass my number to her could you? 😆

[@gerardtrigo380]

I have heard the term vicarious used my whole life, and I am in my late 70's.

[@durellacell]

But that’s not what the episode is referencing. Yes, vicarious is a word that’s used but it’s almost always used in one context “living vicariously”. Online, people are recently using it outside of that context

[@KJYKJY1985]

It never occurred to me that it was a fossil word either.

[@bordershader]

It's common for sure - but I pronounce it as 'vick', not 'vike'. I'm now trying to establish if one or the other is actually 'correct', or if they're both valid pronunciations, like 'glacier' can be 'glass-ier' or 'glay-cier'. As it comes from the Latin 'vicarius' I'm leaning towards 'vick'.

[@philaphobic]

​@@bordershader Google suggests American English uses "vai" and UK English uses "vuh". I think "vick" would included in the UK style pronunciation and all would be easily understood, and therefore "correct"

[@Aengus42]

@@gerardtrigo380 I use vicarious quite a lot. Those goosebumps & blushing you get watching someone do something embarrassing I call "The goosebumps of vicarious embarrassment!"

[@kallisto9166]

My favourite example is "neck of the woods". A neck used to be a measure of an area of woodland.

[@rubybaby7320]

I research my Swedish roots in the PA MD and VA areas and 'neck' is pretty common just like 'kill'

[@Biomirth]

Still used commonly in geography, particularly the American South. Just look at a map of wild area!

[@BornToPun7541]

I use the phrase "neck of the woods" a lot.

[@MarkWarbington]

Regarding "tarnation", there is an interesting anecdote about the HBO series "Deadwood" and their use of profanity (averaging 1.56 f-words per minute according to Wikipedia). This caused some controversy when it first aired because cursing during the old West cowboy days (late 1800s) was mostly blaspheming and not the George Carlin "7 words" that we think of today. The producers considered period-correct swearing for the show but it made all of the characters sound like Yosemite Sam. Therefore, the swearing in Deadwood is anachronistic but a deliberate artistic choice.

[@kencory2476]

When it comes back is it reintarnation?

[@sleekweasel]

That's very sad and timid - imagine how much decorative archaic swearing would have been revived! We could have been taken back to Shakespearian creative insults instead of the lacklustre monosyllables of today.

[@SupernalOne]

"tarnal" is "eternal" but in an early American dialect

[@brenthargreaves7085]

​@@sleekweaselu dont say fuck much do you? it certainly isn't just q syllable

[@rubybaby7320]

I thought it was an incredibly unimaginative choice.

[@dennismcdermot647]

I would love to see an episode explaining why we have strict rules for adjective order. Why is “three big black dogs” correct, but “black big three dogs” just sounds weird? I don’t think we were ever taught the rules, but every native speaker seems to know them. And are there other grammatical rules like this, that we all just seem to know implicitly?

[@steveknight878]

I have often pondered this. Weird, isn't it? Why is it large round red balloon, rather than a different order?

[@frankhooper7871]

Search KZbin for Tom Scott - he did a video on this

[@janesweetman9890]

This fascinates me too. There is apparently an agreed order: Opinion Size Age Shape Colour Origin Material Purpose .... before the noun. We're never taught this, but native English speakers find that any other sequence sounds odd. I'd love this to be explored.

[@chickadeeacres3864]

That’s a good question, because I was trying to learn German and their grammar doesn’t feel natural nor logical . Sentences are so backwards at times.

[@steveknight878]

@@janesweetman9890 Is this true in other languages? I expect it is - and if so, it is even more curious.

[@Quince828]

Maybe I’m getting old but I still use a number of these words and phrases and I hope they never leave our everyday parlance.

[@Khangel]

Parlance 😊

[@Svensk7119]

@Quince828 Parlance. Well said! In utter, complete, and entire agreement am I, and may English, my belovéd tongue, never lose these examples of logos. The loss of diction is the loss of eloquence, and soon, we would need a translation for Moby Dick! I am also agéd an amount, so I know what a petard is.

[@durellacell]

Language change is normal get over it. If you can’t get with that you’re not watching this podcast correctly

[@Svensk7119]

@@durellacell How can one watch a show incorrectly?

[@durellacell]

@@Svensk7119 linguistics describes language, including language change. If you’re watching a linguistics podcast, you have to understand that language changes. If you’re refuting that for the purposes of language purity/conservitism, you’re not interacting with the media correctly.

[@theseustoo]

The 'offing' is actually a maritime term which refers to the stretch of water between the harbour and the horizon. This is why it is used to mean the 'near future', because a boat seen in the 'offing' would be docking very soon.

[@Biomirth]

That's a cool one. Do you know why it was called that?

[@theseustoo]

@@Biomirth Sorry, no idea... perhaps because it was just off-shore, I suppose.

[@yapvoonyee1778]

When I was in Indonesia they told me that Amok was a Malay/Indonesian word and they were quite proud of the fact.

[@TheClintonio]

Jess is just virtue signalling here. Anytime non-Europeans have any negative connotations in European contexts it's "problematic or a little bit racist". It's ridiculous as the word is what, 500 years removed from the original events that caused it to eventually be adopted into English? Personally I find it really cool that a Malay word found its way into English and the origin story is fascinating. Calling it "problematic or a little bit racist" is gatekeeping language and racist in that standard progressive virtue signalling way.

[@crossleydd42]

Amok is actually a shortened version of the Indonesian word, not the whole word.

[@gabitamiravideos]

@@TheClintonioAh yes… “virtue signaling”: a phrase that often means “the expression of being considerate of others welfare or feelings, something that I don’t want to do because reasons, so if another person does it’s probably out of hypocrisy.” You could have shown your curiosity or bafflement at why would someone feel offended by something. Instead, you chose to belittle the intention of not offending. Or maybe it’s you way to virtue signal that you don’t indulge in virtue signaling, unlike “them”. (Edited for typos and clarity).

[@YakovGreiff]

My experience too.

[@hollerinwoman]

@@TheClintonio I agree. Relax everyone.

[@De_Guatemala]

"Skeuomorphism" by Jess stepped it up a level.

[@hadz8671]

The 'save' icon looking like a floppy disk is my favourite example.

[@BoycottKentucky]

@@hadz8671 How about when people play Charades and they mime to show the category is movie.

[@philbudne2095]

I seem to recall that at some point Apple issued an edict that skeuomorphism was to be eschewed in apps (avoiding wood grain, and shading on buttons)

[@bencodykirk]

@@philbudne2095 Reminds me of Instagram's original logo.

[@queenannsrevenge100]

@@hadz8671- another one I’ve seen in some chat programs - a voice call or chat is often represented by an icon in the shape of a pre-2000’s telephone handset.

[@sydhenderson6753]

Let us not forget the pre-World War I entertainer Le Pétomane (the 'fart maniac') who was apparently quite impressive and popular. He's also the reason the Governor in "Blazing Saddles" is named William J. Le Petomane.

[@indeedgrasshopper]

I always wondered if that was a reference to something!

[@rubybaby7320]

I'd never heard that! Thanks

[@SamLowryDZ-015]

And the subject of a CH4 drama in the 80s played by Leonard Rossiter

[@alveolate]

why didn't they do dotard as well?

[@severianmonk7394]

Off point, but there is an old French Canadian sweet known as pets de nonne, nuns' farts, which are actually quite good and encapsulate an entire cultural attitude which no longer appears.

[@ChelleLlewes]

For nearly eight decades, I have always spelled (and pronounced) that one word as, "lambaste." In fact, I'm surprised to see that you consider any of these words as old, odd, or strange because I find them all so very familiar. Like old friends. And I still use them regularly.

[@user-zq5dy6qr4n]

Still in general use in Ireland, with the long 'a', to rhyme with waste.

[@azuarc]

I am noticeably younger than you and have the same experience.

[@burlapknapsack]

These words aren't especially old, odd, or strange. They're just firmly attached to set phrases and/or usages. Any change to the phrasing and it's more likely that today's speakers would use a different word that still has full morphological, phrasal, and/or contextual freedom. So while there are synonyms with more life in them, any of these fossil words might still be used daily in their specific and limited ways.

[@douglasclerk2764]

Agreed.

[@ChelleLlewes]

I looked up the etymology. It first appeared in print in 1637 in regards to a dispute between gentlemen: "Stand off a while and see how Ile (sic) lambaste him." However, even the OED doesn't know its origin.

[@elliwoollard3174]

Someone may have mentioned this already, but 'tenterhooks' is another good fossil word, referring to the 'tenters' on which fabric was hung out to stretch and dry. If you look at old maps of London (and no doubt elsewhere), they're full of references to 'tenter grounds', where fabric was made.

[@1lightheaded]

I have heard tenterhooks as tenderhooks .Well that clears that up .

[@EricaGamet]

@@1lightheaded I thought it was tenderhooks for years... I assumed it had something to do with hanging meat (like at a butcher's) and that somehow tenderized it. I obviously know nothing about how meat works! 🤣

[@garryd7748]

I’ve just realised that I’m a little bit obsessed with Rob and Jess. Love this podcast series, and the interaction between the two of them.

[@WayneKitching]

I really missed them during their well-deserved break!

[@BoycottKentucky]

I realized the same thing but I spell it correctly when I realize it. ;- )

[@garryd7748]

@@BoycottKentucky Took me a while to work out what you were trying to say…. I’m not sure if you were trying to be funny or if you were just being a jerk, but please never again correct a non-American for not using the American spelling. ‘Realise’ is the correct spelling here in Australia.

[@garryd7748]

@@BoycottKentucky hehehe…. You caught me first thing in the morning before coffee. Grumpy Garry came to play today. 😁

[@BoycottKentucky]

@@garryd7748 All good, mate! 🙂

[@alansimonis8283]

Funnily, I associate "Amok" with a culture bound syndrome that causes sudden bursts of violent behavior... on Star Trek. The episode where we first learn about the Vulcan mating practice of Pon Farr (during which Spock is compelled to fight Kirk to the death) is called "Amok Time." Also, one of the best WB cartoons is "Duck Amuck," in which Daffy is put through a series of zany circumstances by an unseen animator...

[@megb9700]

You made my heart sing with Star Trek. I loved the episodes when Spock “looses his cool.”

[@SupernalOne]

I think "amok" is Malaysian - people have psychotic breaks and start knifing or otherwise attacking other people - it's part of the culture, maybe from seriously strict rules of behavior under which the people labor

[@lztx]

There's also a band called 666 that has a song called Amokk

[@KJYKJY1985]

I was honestly expecting them to mention that episode of Star Trek in this discussion.

[@adreabrooks11]

That Star Trek episode will remain in my mind for eternity, thanks to the description of it that I read many years ago, in TV Guide Magazine: Star Trek episode (X): Amok Time. Spock succumbs to a powerful mating urge and nearly kills Captain Kirk. It made for a... rather unexpected mental image. 🖖😆

[@jamesleatherwood5125]

"32 white horses on a red hill, first they champ, then they stamp, then they stand still"

[@philroberts7238]

'Champ' and 'chomp', 'stamp' and 'stomp' are both pairs of words with broadly similar meanings; 'clamp' and 'clomp' not so much.

[@jamesleatherwood5125]

@@philroberts7238 knowing the english language, clamp and clomp were prolly just more victims of the Great Vowel Shift and DO INDEED bear relation. But Maybe the Dy-wordic Duo here will let us know! :)

[@waltthomas-s2d]

32 teeth a-chewing. Riddle in "The Hobbitt" by J R R Tolkien.

[@jamesleatherwood5125]

@@waltthomas-s2d yesh!

[@marymactavish]

I remember that from when I was little.

[@royjohansen3730]

Another brilliant video. I could watch your conversations for hours; thank you, Rob and Jess!

[@MichaelGoldstein-jb4ti]

Loved this... watched it all the way. Batten, however, is s technical nautical term referring to an old-fashioned locking system on a sailing ship or boat: a bar used to keep a hatch (door) closed in heavy seas. So, figuratively, "Batten down the hatches" means to prepare for a storm. It is in a sense a fossil, since modern boats don't use battens anymore... but if you happen to be on an old sailboat or sailing ship that hasn't been updated, you might literally receive a command to "batten down the hatches".... When I was a child in the 1960's, we went sailing once with a family friend had purchased an old, 42' wooden sailboat (built in the 1920s perhaps?), and it had a hatch with battens....

[@mquietsch6736]

Ah, this is enlightening. I encountered a shortened version of the phrase for the first time in one of Terry Pratchett's discworld novels: "The guilds are all battening down" was something captain Vimes said at one point. Not being a native speaker I wasn't able to imagine what he meant. Now I know. The guilds were preparing for trouble... because of something that had happened. Possibly the invention of the "gonne".

[@sparky6086]

A "batten" is also something used in an attic crawlspace to hold insulation in place, just as it might be something that holds a cargo door or cover in place or locked down on a boat or ship.

[@gregorywildie37]

Vicarious is also a legal term used to describe trauma suffered by virtue of dealing with other people's trauma

[@gchecosse]

It's more: being liable for the actions of your employees even for doing things you told them not to do.

[@jonathanlewis453]

Vicarious liability means any situation in which one person picks up the tab for the conduct of another and it is usually founded on some sort of legal relationship. In common parlance vicarious pleasure means one person takes satisfaction from the experience of another. It does not seem to be founded on a connection.

[@jonathanlewis453]

Come to think of it agency could produce a similar outcome to vicarious liability. I do not know whether agency generates VL or ranks alongside it.

[@BryTee]

Years ago I'd "eggcorned" the phrase "death knell" as "death nail" - thinking it was related with coffin nails

[@peatfitzpatrick4998]

Using eggcorn as a verb? I like it!

[@dannygreen64]

I literally thought death nail was correct 😮

[@CaritasGothKaraoke]

Why would it be remarkable to use “eggcorn” as a verb? “Corn” and “egg” are both of them both nouns and verbs. You can corn beef, and you can egg houses.

[@blindleader42]

@@CaritasGothKaraoke But it originates as "acorn", not "egg" + "corn". So its journey from noun to verb is the same as Google's. Remarkable only at he time of its creation.

[@TheGeekViper]

I too associated it that way. I felt like it was related to the "final nail in the coffin" 😁

[@IglooQBirdbath]

In Scotland, the use of the word 'bide' is quite common. "Bide at peace" is used on a fidgeting child or for someone fretting over something. Meaning to remain still or calm yourself. "Whar dae ye bide?" - where is your home? The past tense of this becomes 'bid' or 'bided', depending on the region.

[@Safetysealed]

Bade is a pretty common past tense conjugation in the north east too.

[@mistymisterwistyjones9668]

It's even used by the Scottish cousin of Blackadder. 'How's Morag?" "She bides fine."

[@ByronLina]

Yes, semi-fossil at best

[@ghshinn]

We still use "bide my time" or "bide your time" in the United States.

[@bobsteele9581]

I was about to say this, but you saved me the bother 😁 Certainly not a fossil word here in Scotland.

[@j.f.fisher5318]

Definitely looking up the historical petard now! Petard has at least as recently as WW2 been used for a demolition bomb thrown by a spigot mortar that used mechanical action rather than a powder charge to hurl the projectile. A smaller application of the same principle was the PIAT Projector Infantry Anti Tank.

[@RottnRobbie]

67 year old Canadian here, and I've always said lambast/lambaste with a long 'a', like "lamb-based". I don't recall ever hearing it with a short 'a' "bast" growing up.

[@fang_shi_tong]

Me too. And I’m also Canadian.

[@peterrobinson3168]

A good one is to "Glean". This is the practice of picking up odd corn stalks after harvesting, but used today for gathering small bits of information among other things.

[@steeveletur1983]

Probably related to the French verb glaner with the same meanings

[@frankshailes3205]

Still used in newspaper titles like the Jamaica Gleaner.

[@PHill]

Not just corn stalks are gleaned. Today, to glean is often in contrast to the fancy mechanical harvesters, be they harvesters for berries, potatoes, or corn (maize). When the local chuch is allowed to grab anf left overs to stock their food pantry, or neighbors pick a bussel from the corners of the field that the machines just don't get, the produce is being gleaned.

[@FlyingCaveman]

There's an organization called the senior gleaners that feeds the hungry with donated or surplus food. That sounds related to the original meaning.

[@zacharywranovsky]

@@PHillI don’t know if it comes from the Bible, but the term glean is used in the Bible. There was an Israelite law that said that if farmers dropped crops they had cut while harvesting, they weren’t allowed to pick it up, and thus provided food for the needy.

[@dennismcdermot647]

Tolkien used a lot of these. “faithful heart may have froward tongue” for example. I heard he often had to correct his editors.

[@corralescoyote]

Excellent comment! I bet Tolkien was a beast to edit for. I get a little annoyed when my spell-check auto-corrects me against my will. I can only imagine how angry he might’ve been telling an editor, “I meant to write that!” (BTW, it’s impossible for me to use the slang “sta.che” for “mustache” in YT comments unless I alter it like I did just there or misspell it “stash”.) ✌️

[@fariesz6786]

it's mostly bc Tolkien was a nerd. ​@@corralescoyotewhy is that?

[@corralescoyote]

@@fariesz6786 If you’re referring to my aside about abbreviating “mustache”, I’ll show you a few attempts without going back to correct it: … satchel .. Stacie .. LoL. Actually, doing that experiment, I just now discovered that if I capitalize it “Stache” I can get away with it. Full disclosure, I never had occasion to abbreviate “mustache” until I tried to call a cop’s facial hair a “porn-Stache”. Those 2 words take on a different meaning when it’s “stash” instead. 😉 That might make Rob blush. ✌️

[@WaterNai]

@@corralescoyote Autoincorrect is the worst! There should be a sensitivity meter for it. You should be able to choose a lower sensitivity so that if you make a typo that gives a string of nonsense or a misspelling, it adjusts it to its best guess. Only on high sensitivity would it substitute a different word for an actual word that was typed. There’s the feature to put in strings and keyboard shortcuts for certain things, and it does learn (eventually) for some things one might use more frequently. However, this is not a viable workaround for being able to enjoy the full use of one’s vocabulary with convenience and without constant vigilance for sneaky “corrections”.

[@fariesz6786]

i actually have mine disabled and yet it still occasionally jumps in to "correct" a word once every other week or so. and out of those occasions i literally only had *one (1)* instance a few days back where it _actually_ corrected to the word i needed! it's embarassingly bad. and predictive text sometimes gives me absurd suggestions. okay, my keyboard is set to German, sure it'll suggest German words when i type English, won't it? welp.. it suggests weird German-English chimæra words that don't exist in either language.

[@pdblouin]

In my canadian french upbringing, "Fusil à pétard" is "Cap gun". I'm glad the word is also used in France, but the people in Paris could not understand my accent.

[@erinmalone2669]

I didn’t know the iPod was the origin word of podcast. I’m happy to subscribe to this channel!❤

[@julianprice1587]

I Understood it derived from "play on demand" and I'm not so convinced about the iPod connection.

[@azuarc]

I would have never drawn that connection. Were podcasts only a thing on iPods initially?

[@FlyingCaveman]

It makes you appreciate how quickly the language can change and the word origin can be forgotten. Do you know what the word 'blog' comes from?

[@julianprice1587]

@@FlyingCaveman Web log?

[@deandownsouth]

It actually meant Portable On Demand.

[@tekspec]

thank you for this show!!! it makes me so happy and i love your calm energy

[@petertrevorah7689]

“On the lam” might be one of rare Celtic words that made it into English. “Lamma” being the verb to jump or bound.

[@gchecosse]

Lots of Celtic words surely? Banshee, smashing, shanty...

[@RobRoss]

@@gchecosseSurprisingly few Celtic words made it into Old English to then survive into modern English. Although when you understand the context, it’s actually not surprising. When the Anglo-Saxons were becoming culturally dominant, Old English became the high “prestige” language, the way Latin was in the Roman empire. So Celtic people adopted the prestige language and native Celtic became the language of the home and small social circles. The “prestige” language doesn’t tend to adopt many words from languages that are considered “lower”.

[@CheeseWyrm]

Makes sense! Tolkien used the term Bounder for those sturdier Hobbits who 'Beat the Bounds', ie: they patrolled the borders of the Shire.

[@jonathanwetherell3609]

As an Engineer the verb "to fettle" is to make small adjustments, take off the rough edges. A rough part will need fettling. Also, on Tyneside, "What fettle the day?" is still a common greeting.

[@maxximumb]

Every time I hear the phrase Hoist by one's own petard I wondered what it meant, but it never occurred to me to look it up for some reason. Now I know and am currently progressing down an Internet rabbit hole of petards and the history of breaching buildings. Thanks for another great video

[@sydhenderson6753]

I always associated it with countermining. (Someone's digging a tunnel to plant explosives and you dig a tunnel under them and set off a charge, which would blow up their explosives as well.)

[@davidtuer5825]

I used to think that a "Petard" was a catapult that threw boulders over the defensive wall at a siege.

[@Markle2k]

Jess also just informed us that using shaped charges was a thing before they likely had an explanation for why they work the way they do, directing the energy towards the object to be destroyed.

[@stephend9968]

@@sydhenderson6753 I think it's called 'undermining'.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Dewsbrarian here! Dewsbury is a medium sized town the UK that has the "Devils Knell", which is when the bellringers of Dewsbury Minster ring one bell ring for each year on Christmas Eve. I remember when I regularly used to go out for a few drinks on Christmas Eve I'd hear it often. It comes from when a local dignitary accidentally killed a kinsman, and in penance set up the "Devils Knell", the ringing of the bell every Christmas Eve. So.... we have another connection to knell!

[@deanrobertoleson4669]

I’m on a plane. Stumbled across this video and found it fascinating. Thanks for making air travel interesting.

[@Bedonkabonk]

Am I the only one who, at the start of each episode, says a little prayer -- "Make him blush. Make him blush. Please make him blush"? :)

[@loisdungey3528]

😂

[@kencory2476]

He did better this time.

[@Bedonkabonk]

@@kencory2476 I sensed a bit of a glow when they started talking about farts -- but honestly, he brought that on himself.

[@Chris_the_Muso]

@@Bedonkabonk ...as do the farts.

[@bencodykirk]

He is 12. In certain respects, he is a 12 year old boy. It's hilarious. I look forward to it every episode 😂

[@donaldewart2275]

'Champ' is used in Scotland for mashing, especially for mash potatoes and turnip. In fact, a serving of mashed turnip can be called 'champ'....I think also used in Scouse and Geordie(?)

[@Mancozeb100]

… and here in Ireland. Though not as commonly heard these days

[@frankhooper7871]

"Knell" immediately brought to mind [for me] a line from Macbeth: "hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell that summons thee to heaven or to hell" - my freshman English teacher would be pleased, no doubt, that I still remember that over 50 years later LOL I remembered Bilbo's riddle before Jess bought it up 😊 One or two to add: "hew* and cry - and IMHO the "quick" and the dead, where quick means alive, rather than speedy (also in quicksilver and quicksand)

[@joannshupe9333]

Also the "quickening" of an unborn child, when its mother is first aware of baby's moving.

[@HarmSchelhaas]

*hue and cry

[@Filmwing]

This is the video and channel I didn't know I was looking for. Thanks

[@garrettbernstein5991]

Thank you so much for explaining Fossil words. While refining her English, my Italian wife would ask me to explain words in some idioms and so many times I found myself admitting that I really didn't know what the word meant outside the saying. Understanding the concept of fossil words would have helped me focus on the phrase rather than trying to break it all down. Cheers!

[@tomobedlam297]

In rural areas fences are traditionally made using battens between the posts to keep the wires correctly spaced.

[@roadrunnercrazy]

Battens are also used in board and batten siding. Traditionally, board and batten siding starts with wide vertical planks (boards), which are then joined together by thin vertical strips (battens) to cover the seams.

[@nevinmurtha1670]

Fettle specifically refers to trimming a spout on a clay pitcher or tea pot so it pours well. There was a job of being a fettler at a ceramic workshop.

[@johnfoster6412]

There are fettlers in the metal trades as well. They remove casting marks and seams off fresh castings.

[@autumnaslakson]

You can still buy specific pottery tools called 'fettling knives' in the US and probably elsewhere.

[@bawrytr]

Kit is often used today, though perhaps more in British English to mean gear or equipment. I had a new camera, and a British friend remarked "nice bit of kit, Brian."

[@meadow-maker]

your 'kit' in Britain to a school child would usually mean your sports clothes but it can mean anything you need to do the job that you normally take with you.

[@dalehoustman4737]

My British mum used to often sing the World War I marching song “"Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag, and Smile, Smile, Smile" - which I am certain was the first I’d heard the word used, unless it was in “med-kit” or some such. Remembering her rather gleefully singing it is one of my fond memories of her.

[@lmm046]

Kit is also in Canadian military to mean gear or equipment.

[@unexpectedparolemadwerewol6565]

I have definitely heard it referring to sports gear, hunting gear, and military gear. if boodle is related to booty then I can see it is grab the equipment you brought with and whatever else you are taking with you from here..

[@WordsUnravelled]

Yes, "caboodle" is the fossilized word in that phrase!

[@adreabrooks11]

Your mention of "knell" only appearing with "death knell" took me down a whole delightful rabbit hole. I was certain I had first read/heard of this word in the phrase "the horns are knelling." This sent me off on an exploration of my poetry books from my childhood and youth (which I'm fortunate enough to still possess). It was a delightful few hours of nostalgia, as - along with the knelling horns - I reacquainted myself with numerous other verses that had lain forgotten in the dusty corners of my brain. There's a magic in the smell and feel of old books - and I thank you for the excuse to dig through them! For the record, the line was in Sir Walter Scott's "Hunting Song" - so it probably doesn't count as "modern" usage. However, Theodore Tilton's "Baby Bye, Here's a Fly" (also a childhood fave) comes a little closer to the mark, with its 1924 quote: "That small speck is his neck, see him nod and beck." "Beck" was another word you covered, and it brought a thought to my mind: Perhaps "beckon" is one of those compound words that has outlived one or more of its components - after all, to beck someone on would mean to call them forward... to "beck on." This would put it in a weird class of "semi-fossil words" like "until." I was always taught in school that till (as in "till we meet again" was slang or, at best, informal - but it turns out that "till/til/tille" was the original, going all the way back to Proto-Germanic. In the Middle English, it took on the modern meaning of "going onward and into; continuing in time up to." "Until," is a relative latecomer, compounding the root word in the same manner as "unto" - but "until" gained such dominance that "till" nearly fell away (not counting other meanings, such as tilling soil), and even gained an erroneous apostrophe (i.e. 'till) in my school dictionaries. I wonder if there are more "lost compounds" of this sort... If so, it might make a good episode!

[@svenhillring3275]

My understanding of shebang refers to the shelter halves that Union soldiers were issued starting in the summer of 1862. Usually, you see two of them buttoned together to form a "dog tent" (later to become "pup tent"), but 4 can be buttoned together to form the "whole shebang".

[@JiveDadson]

Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling, from glen to glen and 'round the countryside. The summer's gone, and all the roses falling. It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.

[@brendanward2991]

... and down the mountainside.

[@seanmalloy7249]

By Harry Belafonte: Come, Mr. Danny boy, de pipes, de pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down de mountainside. Day-O! Daaaay-O! From glen to glen, and down de mountainside.

[@HotelPapa100]

As a German speaker it is often surprising how many very common German words crop up as English fossils. "Span" for wood chip is the normal German word to this day. And the whole complex of hale, whole, heal heil, heilen is fascinating. Holy goes into the same group.

[@mistymisterwistyjones9668]

Span as in 'shaving'?

[@HotelPapa100]

@@mistymisterwistyjones9668 Yep.

[@ronsonders]

Hale sounds like the dutch word "heel" witch mean unbroken.

[@robertyoung9611]

I believe span is also related to the word spoon, since the earliest spoons would have been carved from slithers or pieces of wood.

[@HarmSchelhaas]

​@@ronsonders - and in Dutch "helen" means 'to heal', in a somewhat archaic sense (it has a different, but distantly related sense of 'fence, receive stolen goods'), and an old word for 'surgery' (as a skill) is "heelkunde".

[@jimb9063]

Wonderful words yet again. I like to use the phrase Odds Bodkins when mildly surprised in polite circles.

[@1lightheaded]

It cleans up using the lords name in vain God's Body as an expltive Struth is another

[@Hvitserk67]

Regarding the first part of the word "lambast", we have in Danish and Norwegian the word "lam", which means "lame" in English. In old English they said "lama". We have constructions with the word "lam" such as "lamslått" which means "stunned". The last half of the word "slått" means "beaten". The meaning is figuratively stunned as if one is lame (paralyzed) as a result of being beaten up. In Old Norse the word "lam" meant crippled and also in Old German as "lahm" (as in modern German).

[@ganymedeanoutlaw]

"Shebang" on its own actually has a new usage in English! In computer science (specifically in Unix and derivatives), it refers to the characters "#!" which is used to tell the computer what language a script is written in. The shebang is put at the beginning of the script, and the script's interpreter is put after the shebang, so that the operating system can run the interpreter, and make that run the script. I would assume the etymology is mostly unrelated to "the whole shebang", since it seems to come from a portmanteau of either "hash" or "sharp" and "bang". Though it wouldn't surprise me if "shebang" became the most popular of several alternatives following that pattern because it was already an existing word, even if it was a born fossil.

[@Aengus42]

@@ganymedeanoutlaw There's the interrobang, which is ?! so it seems it's just a word for the exclamation mark.

[@johnboyd6943]

Ah, my favourite show with the gentlemenly Rob and the gorgeous Jess. Just love this 'cast.

[@reneolthof6811]

Boedel is indeed a quite common Dutch word (a variant being inboedel) with lots of composite words like boedelscheiding and boedelbak (a cart or trailer used when moving house to transport stuff). I was not really familiar with the term fossil word and I was surprised to find that I knew about a quarter of the examples in English you presented here, but never realised these words were only used in one set phrase. Like death knell or lo and behold. In Dutch the word amok also exists (sample: een amokloper - an amok runner - is somebody who causes trouble) but this is not really surprising given our ‘Indian’ (Dutch for what is now called Indonesian) past!

[@RaftingBear]

"Amok Time" is the title of a classic Star Trek episode, where it refers to the Vulcans' rutting period (which, fortunately for them, happens only every seven years or so).

[@billallender39]

My dad was in the RAF during the war and a favourite one of his that he used often was: 'If that's going to be your altitude, I have no symphony with you.'

[@rubybaby7320]

Sounds like my dad. He'd slip in 'whole nut in the thingshell' kind of phrases. But I think his were Spoonerisms

[@WagnerGimenes]

Again, sorry to be repetitious, but I listened to the audio version then watched this video and all the words seem to come alive and the explanations seem so much clearer to me (as a non-native speaker). Thanks again. (BTW, reposting hoping that this can benefit someone else) 😇😇😇😇

[@anaxios]

I was excited to learn that I was familiar with the relationship between vicar and vicarious when Rob wasn't. 😂

[@pablovivant9089]

I was surprised that it wasn't obvious to him...

[@eoinmacantsaoir811]

One of the Pope's titles is the vicar of Christ

[@DusanPavlicek78]

Another example of skeuomorphism (it would be useful to show the word on the screen when it was mentioned) is when an image of a floppy disk 💾 is used as an icon for saving files when nowadays we no longer use floppy disks to save files and many people probably don't even know what floppy disks were 🙂

[@cbjones2212]

Even the name of those 1.44kb numbers was from larger disks before them that were actually floppy

[@gcewing]

@@cbjones2212 They're called "floppy" because the disk inside the envelope is flexible. In contrast to "hard" disks where the disk platter is made of metal.

[@silvershadow013]

just like slide rules...

[@maximusmalodorus]

Floppy disks are like Jesus. They died to become the icon of saving... SCNR

[@wessexdruid7598]

@@gcewing But the very first floppy discs were just a thin vinyl 5¼" disc, similar to previous disposable 45rpm demo records. In a paper sleeve. Then came the thicker 3½", in a hard plastic case, as per the symbol used today.

[@reneolthof6811]

Additionally, in Dutch spik en span means extremely clean after a good rubbing like for a car or a floor.

[@frankhooper7871]

"Spic and Span" is also an American brand-name cleaning product.

[@KristenRowenPliske]

we use it that way in America, too!

[@saturninefeline6063]

This is how I’ve always used it, and I grew up in the American Mid-South

[@theseustoo]

It's still in common use in exactly the same way in the UK too... though spelled 'spick and span'.

[@tomburnham5119]

While on alliterative phrases, "done and dusted" is used in English (perhaps particularly in NE England) to mean that some job is finished and out of the way, and is almost exactly equivalent to the German idiom "fix und fertig", which I believe means pretty much the same.

[@Polyphemus47]

I just found your channel, and I'm already in love with the two of you. I LOVE the English language. My only A grade in school was for English Grammar. I've been a student, ever since. My mom used 'short shrift', but I'm sure she didn't know the original meaning of the term. She also pronounced 'lambast' as 'lambaste'. A friend used 'hoist by my own petard', so I had to look it up. I didn't understand why he didn't say, 'hoisted'. I may not use many of the words you mention in your vids, but I LOVE having them in my vocabulary. In my own writing, I coined the term 'hallelucinations' to describe religious visions. Inexplicably, it doesn't seem to catch on.

[@Polyphemus47]

I don't often correct anyone's misuse of words, but will always try to use them correctly, "Champing at the bit" gets me a few quizzical looks. 'Scuse me while I join my kith in some ekeing.

[@eastwoodmjp]

“The wether is quite clement today” was not an unusual comment in Australia back in the 60s and 70s.

[@peterlowe]

Fettle is a living word to me and is used in various forms. Fettling is undertaking minor repairs, fettled means is something that has been repaired. Only yesterday I was fettling my mountain bike, replacing the brake fluid and brake pads. Since it's been fettled, it's now fit to ride. I come from northern England and this probably represents some localised usage.

[@riftbard7634]

yes, also a railway term, a fettler fettles the track

[@WordsUnravelled]

Excellent, thank you for the knowledge! - Jess

[@g.tucker8682]

It's often used in gearhead circles to mean tuning up the fit of parts. Many body parts and castings need fettling to look or work properly.

[@nigelbundy4008]

The TV show Bangers and Cash uses the word fettling for working on classic cars by their owners. They seem to spend more time in the garage fettling, then driving them.

[@johnfoster6412]

Fettlers work in foundries, removing the seams and marks from castings. I was surprised to hear it described as a fossil.

[@garyswan]

As other folk have already commented, bide is very common in Scotland to mean both live and stay/remain. In North East Scotland, I would say I bide, I bade, I've bidden for I live, I lived, I have lived. You can also use it for example in 'Bide far ye are' to mean 'stay where you are', or 'don't move'. It's also used in the term 'Bidie-in' meaning a live-in lover! In Scots we might say jingbang rather than shebang as in 'the hell jingbang'. I'd pronounce whole as hell rather than hale as Rob mentioned in relation to the hale in 'hale and hearty' deriving from the Scots for whole. Interesting that span could mean new. In Scots we have the phrase 'spleet-new' meaning brand new. I wonder if spleet has similar origins?

[@westflerchinger]

A ‘vicar’ is someone who takes the place of a ‘rector’, who was the person with the ‘right’ to the ‘living’ or parish

[@JonathanMaddox]

The Pope is sometimes (humorously or poetically I assume) referred to as the "vicar of God". More generally vice- is a title for a stand-in, as in vice-president or viceroy.

[@Lexivor]

@@JonathanMaddox I think Catholics are pretty serious when they call the Pope Vicar of Christ.

[@RB-bd5tz]

@@Lexivor And in Latin, "Vicar of Christ" is "VICARIVS FILII DEI" or "Vicar of the Son of God" or "Substitute for the Son of God." Since "anti" can mean "substitute," the title literally means "antichrist," and if we count this title (Rev 13:18), we get V(5)+I(1)+C(100)+A(0)+R(0)+I(1)+V(5)+S(0) + F(0)+I(1)+L(50)+I(1)+I(1) + D(500)+E(0)+I(1) = 666. I understand the Pope used to wear a hat with this title on it, but hasn't worn it since this was pointed out.

[@WinstonSmithGPT]

@@RB-bd5tzDrivel. Unwell.

[@Jay-wz4sb]

Librarian here with an example of technology skeuomorphizm. Every library has a laptop which is referred to as "the card catalog". I have no idea what else it could be called.

[@FlyingCaveman]

Maybe a web catalog or "blog" isn't a log just a short form of catalogue? Like when you log in to your computer you are creating a record of who is signing on.

[@the_latinist]

Directory?

[@i.b.640]

User registry?

[@Grushdeva48]

​@@FlyingCavemandon't think 'log' is short for catalog. It started as a nautical term where a logbook is a recording of speed measurements which are made using a chip log.

[@jeffreycarroll3631]

@@Grushdeva48log is a list of events; catalog is a list of things

[@Jeni10]

Toward and froward. Makes perfect sense!

[@gregorywildie37]

Here in Australia we have a kitchen company called Kitchen Kaboodle.

[@cbjones2212]

Came here to say this 😊

[@j.f.fisher5318]

From the same segment of the episode I see kit used frequently as military slang for personal equipment especially in UK contexts.

[@JiveDadson]

I recall that some sixty years ago, the giddy feeling some people experience around celebrities was called "vicarious vertigo."

[@mikefrederick2696]

There was a story of a lecturer asking his English class if any of them had had a vicarious experience with a novel and a student from the back replying, "No - but I once had a novel experience with a vicar."

[@JiveDadson]

@@mikefrederick2696 That will be quite enough of that, young man.

[@joannshupe9333]

A Connecticut lam-baster here. (long a). Also, I've been under the impression that to "batten down the hatches" was a sailing term meaning to fasten the hatches in the deck because bad weather was in the offing and you didn't want to flood below decks.

[@burlapknapsack]

From my understanding, that's still the case. However, people today aren't necessarily doing it using wood strips called battens. It's like if someone today says they're dialing a phone number. I've never used a dial to make a phone call in my life.

[@Penny-16]

You guys bounce off each other well. I enjoyed the interaction. Great Vid.

[@robertlohamm]

When I was making shipping crates,we called the boards that reinforced the plywood "battens'. I figured that similar boards were used to seal a ship's hatches in extreme conditions.

[@DanNikon1776]

Glad to see the show is back

[@PapaOsmubal.OscarBalajadia]

Did it stop somewhere in its existence? I did not know that. I have been following this channel regularly. I did not notice that.

[@DanNikon1776]

@@PapaOsmubal.OscarBalajadia they took a month break to focus on other projects

[@PapaOsmubal.OscarBalajadia]

@@DanNikon1776 oh, thanks. I did not know that.

[@DanNikon1776]

@@PapaOsmubal.OscarBalajadia no problem, I hope you enjoyed the episode. It's very good

[@robinbiddlecombe9202]

batten as a term for a thin (1" x 2") strip of wood for building is very much still in use in building in UK

[@johnpaterson6112]

Also, battens are often used to stiffen sails in small boats.

[@Theodore-zd2mv]

It is also a very common term in the construction industry in North America also. Usually strips of wood as described, but could also be plastic or metal strips. To hold down the edges of a waterproofing membrane or geotextile fabric prior to covering or backfilling with some other material.

[@pierreabbat6157]

I'm not sure if I've actually used a batten in a sail, but I've seen, probably in Chapman, drawings of sails with pockets for battens in them. I think the hatch was closed with a latch on the inside. (It's been decades since I've been on a boat.)

[@Rocketsong]

@@pierreabbat6157 On old 16th/17th century ships the hatch was not a tight fit, as it would obviously jam due to the timbers shifting. To Batten down the Hatch in this instance would be to cover over the hatch with a oilcloth, nailed down with thin strips of wood (battens)

[@JDCheng]

"Board and Batten" is an architectural wall style - at least one I have seen in the States. Wide boards used for wall coverings, with narrow strips covering the joints.

[@briantaylor9266]

"Ships’ hatches, more formally called hatchways, were commonplace on sailing ships and were normally either open or covered with a wooden grating to allow for ventilation of the lower decks. When bad weather was imminent, the hatches were covered with tarpaulin and the covering was edged with wooden strips, known as battens, to prevent it from blowing off."

[@blindleader42]

I was surprised to find that the OED does not appear to have the "modern" (must be well over a hundred years old) usage as the thin strips of (used to be) wood inserted into pockets on the leech (convex edge) of a fore and aft sail.

[@francisuccellini7320]

Not an uncommon word in wooden construction. One can have "board and batten" siding, for example, where smaller strips of wood (battens) are used to cover the joints between larger boards.

[@royballantine6788]

Even today, battens (strips of plastic, formerly wood) are used in the some sails as stiffeners.

[@alexkiddonen]

Whoa this was amazing! 'The dude abides" to make it perfect. I need to watch more of these

[@osvaldobenavides5086]

Great show! I really enjoy the etymology of words.

[@tammytrocki2110]

Talking about “the whole shebang” made me think of these other fine ways to say “the whole thing”: The whole nine yards The whole enchilada The whole shooting match The whole ball of wax The whole kit and kaboddle (To go) whole hog You might be about to do something one day about the origin of our many crazy English idioms. Tammy Trocki

[@BoycottKentucky]

What's weird is that I've used every one of those expressions. (Southern U.S.)

[@Leon-w5h]

There is a construction term, “board and batten”, where wide boards would be held to their joists by narrower “battens”, which would allow the boards to shift without losing the weatherproofing properties. Cargo hatches would be covered by fitted hatch covers, and in rough weather, strapped down with metal batten-straps either bolted to or locked on hasps. Thus, encountering rough weather, a Commander might call out, “All hands, batten down the hatches”, to secure the holds from getting wet, and from the hatches from blowing off in the wind.

[@bsa45acp]

To this day the metal straps that are tightened over the canvas covers (which cover the wooden hatch covers) of hatches are called Battens.

[@g.tucker8682]

I believe this this terminology comes from the earlier practice of securing hatches with a piece of canvas, held tight by laying battens across the margins of the canvas and nailing them to the deck. An emergency measure taken when the vessel was caught out in the roughest weather.

[@richarddietzen3137]

A batten in sailing is one of several narrow thin strips of wood (or laminate now) that holds the outer edge of a sloop’s mainsail stiff and straight to prevent it from shivering while losing wind or ‘luffing’.

[@bsa45acp]

@@richarddietzen3137 I am the Chief Docent on the SS Jeremiah O'Brien (the last unaltered fully functional Liberty Ship) and our battens are heavy steel bands.

[@richarddietzen3137]

@@bsa45acp True, but I’m sure you can agree that your ship is not a sailing sloop.

[@cliffknoll6226]

Shrift must be related to “Shrove”, as in Shrove Tuesday or to be “shriven” both liturgical terms. This is the day before Ash Wednesday, and is a day for confession prior to the period of Lent. As a child I remember this term in my Lutheran church, perhaps at least Catholics are familiar with the term nowadays? Looking up Shrove Tuesday in wikipedia, I also realized (beside the point) that “Fat Tuesday” might come from the very practical practice of using up the lard (and sugar, butter, etc) so they wouldn’t go bad over the Lenten fast… and thus various traditions such as making pancakes arose. I also noticed “Shrovetide” which liturgically groups the three or four days preceding Lent (all “Shrove” days)… still all fossils but i thought the links were interesting

[@MareeLud]

In Catholicism to be strived is to be forgiven one’s sins in confession.

[@mikefrederick2696]

Yes, I was raised a Catholic and we also used these words - to shrive was to seek forgiveness.

[@derekspitz9225]

'Fossil words'. Excellent. Never come across that idea before. Great conversation.

[@SpiritmanProductions]

How did you not get "shoplift"? Good video, though. 🙂

[@juzma94]

I'm surprised Rob hadn't heard to *bide one's time*. I thought that was common in UK.

[@22poopoo]

Agreed 👍

[@lukep98]

Same in the US at least in the Midwest. Only ever used in that context but abide is used broadly.

[@maryjackson1194]

I've never heard Jess's pronunciation for "inclement," which shy rhymed with "increment." I've ALWAYS heard it as Rob said in, "in-CLEM-ment." In the US, we've heard a lot about forms of clemency that a president can grant. "Clement" is also found in my favorite prayer -- as in the one I find most poetically beautiful. "Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy on us, and after this exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Oh CLEMENT, oh loving, oh sweet Virgin Mary."

[@sagetmaster4]

Interesting, I've absolutely never heard it pronounced that way in the US

[@durellacell]

23 year old in America here! Never heard it that way and no one says it that way :)

[@Rocketsong]

As an American, I would pronounce it as Jess did, and presume that "in-CLEM-ment" was a British affectation.

[@johnfenn3188]

Bide is the regular south western British term for stay or wait. Thomas Hardy "bide where you be".

[@markhesse2928]

Regarding "shebang." Charles P. Pierce, a political blogger who is a columnist at Esquire magazine, has Irish heritage and frequently uses Irish-american slang terms in his writing. One such term he uses frequently is "shebeen" which is a term he uses to refer to his blog. This seems to come from common blogger practice as referring to blogs as places for people to hang out. Pierce, for example often refers to regular readers of his blog/column as denizens of his shebeen. Until reading Pierce's blog, I hadn't heard of shebeen, but assumed it was related to the more familiar term, shebang.

[@timseguine2]

Shebang is actually used in computer jargon. It's a bit difficult to describe for a general audience, but on unix like operating systems you can have small text files that can be run as programs which are generally called shell scripts. And the shebang is a special header you put at the beginning of the text file to tell the computer what program it needs to use to interpret your program with. I think it is a corruption of "Hash bang", because the first two symbols in the header are #! which are in jargon sometimes called hash and bang.

[@brianarbenz1329]

Jess’ reciting the “white horses on a hill” riddle jolted me back to the 2nd grade. Our teacher read us a similar version: “Thirty-two white horses on a red hill. When one moves, they all move. Or all stand still.” Our young minds mulled it, but the teacher had to explain it was horses. Thanks for a nice trip back!

[@LymanPhillips]

You should edit it to be teeth.

[@richdiddens4059]

Shrift is the noun version of the verb shrive. How about an episode on words whose meanings have been hijacked?

[@angelaflierman]

Related to that is unshriven, as in dying unshriven, meaning to die without sins.

[@davidgould9431]

​​@@angelaflierman "Dying unshriven" is to die without having your final confession taken. Hamlet's father's ghost was particularly put out by that. Edit: so it's exactly the opposite of dying without sins.

[@saturninefeline6063]

@@angelafliermanto die without the opportunity to confess and receive absolution for one’s sins, a possibility that horrified the faithful of many an age

[@rubybaby7320]

I waited for that to be brought up. Maybe a future episode

[@adamfeldman3145]

This channel is ******* awesome

[@OldmanNix]

"Soddin"

[@julianprice1587]

Sofa King

[@ekner]

"hale" in hale and hearty sounds a lot like the swedish word "hel", in both meaning and pronounciation. The kinship of our languages is so fun to discover. Swedish contains a lot of old norse in its dialects called "mål" too. Älvdalsmål and Moramål for example.

[@SebastianSchleussner]

Indeed, "hel" and variants (Icelandic retaining the Old Norse spelling "heill") are alive and kicking in all the Nordic languages (as is of course the cognate "to heal" in English).

[@rmdodsonbills]

I did a lot of theatre in college and our director/instructor used the word "batten" as a noun to talk about strips of wood to provide some stability to the canvas flats that were being used as walls on set. I assumed that in olden days, someone on a ship might use a batten to keep the hatches secure and that's why the term was "batten down the hatches" rather than something else. Anyway, an example of unfossilized use!

[@danvol3835]

How about the word "cool"? Until Tarantino and others started using it back around his early career, it had totally fallen out of being "cool." But you'd have to had lived through the 60s and 70s to appreciate this. Kind of a flash-fossilization that bounced back strong.

[@maxberan3897]

I've never fully got the hang of what people mean when they say the word "cool". My sense is that it is a signal that person A is aware of what person B (often a child) is saying or doing but a mild approbation is as far as it's going to go by way of follow-through. Maybe it harks back to its jazz-age "cool cat" origin suggesting casual insouciance or light indifference because too much interest or effort would be considered bad form.

[@1lightheaded]

I think that cool has been in use continuously since the fifties used by beat poets

[@crosswordboss]

Fossil Words like AMOK, EKE, LAM & VIM are staples in American Crossword Puzzles. Words like that sometimes help glue crossword puzzles together. Those type of "gluey" words are also considered "CROSSWORDESE" to a Cruciverbalist!

[@WordsUnravelled]

Excellent callout, thank you! I'm a daily crossworder as well, and should have thought to bring this up! - Jess

[@stephend9968]

I had to look up what VIM meant - vigour (or vigor, if you're on t'other side of the pond). Then I remembered another phrase that might be used to describe someone with a lot of energy, namely 'full of vim and vigour'. One could also do something 'with vim and vigour'. Not sure, though if vim is a fossil word.

[@crosswordboss]

@@stephend9968 Vim is not even in the vocabulary of a vigorous vim user... Who in the flip uses the phrase "Vim & Vigour", let alone the word VIM! (a.k.a. Vigorous in its Meaning;)

[@stephend9968]

@@crosswordboss I'm not really sure what you're getting at with the first part of your comment, given that you were the one who brought it up as a word. Perhaps you were being facetious. As to your question about who uses the phrase, all I can say is that I have heard it used during my 70+ years on this planet, but I wouldn't know who still uses it. However, VIM is in my dictionary and, if you care to look, you'll find the phrase on the internet, with examples of its recent use. The fact that the two words mean more or less the same thing is just another example of what Jess calls 'alliterative reduplication' or, if you prefer, a tautology. Fun Fact: There used to be a household cleaning product called VIM on the market in Britain and Ireland. According to Wikipedia: 'The name is thought to derive from the colloquial English word VIM which has the same meaning as the Latin vis, vim ("force", "vigour").'

[@nigelbundy4008]

I am an archer. The old word to stop an archery shoot is shout FAST, short for standfast, stop. The archers would releasing their strings to shoot, called to loose or loosing. Could "to play fast and loose" come from this? I once shouted fast at a shoot, when a dog decided to pee on the first target. Unfortunately other clubs did not use this word, and I had to use stop as well.

[@ChrisHatt]

It could equally be "hold fast", which is what I was taught.

[@nigelbundy4008]

@@ChrisHatt Could be I will have to look further into it.

[@felixthecat265]

In the days when factory machinery was powered by overhead shafts and belts there was typically two pulleys at each position. One was attached to the shaft and one was loose. The belt was slipped between the "fast" and the "loose" pullies to start and stop the machinery..

[@markaustin5359]

I wonder if it might be related to "avast," the nautical command meaning "cease."

[@ChrisHatt]

Yes, from the 17th C Dutch "houd vast", hold fast.

[@johnangelico667]

"Knell" was used by Gilbert in Ruddigore (the ghost song "When the night wind howls") and in Mikado (Katisha "I claim my perjured lover, Nanki-Poo")

[@stellaginger]

I used to work as a lawyer in Hong Kong. We often used quite a few of the fossil words you mentioned. ulterior motive, vicariously, to and from, hoist with one's own petardwere were often heard and used.