myhts and legends

Fernstruth | 09:38 Thu 01st Feb 2007 | Word Origins

3 Answers

the origin of the following- bye and large ;hum drum; painstaking

that awful 'F' word

put your monica on that

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Quizmonster

The phrase �by and large' started life as a sailing term. As such, it meant sailing almost - but not quite - directly into the wind and with the wind almost - but not quite - directly behind. If you knew how a rival skipper sailed �by and large' that meant you were familiar with how he controlled his vessel in all wind conditions. As a result, by the 18th century, it had taken on today's meaning of �on the whole' in circumstances other than sailing.

Quizmonster

Humdrum involves a use of the repetitive 'um' sound...ie the second part probably has nothing to do with 'drums' at all. It is the very repetitiveness that provides the word's meaning of boring, tedious etc.

Quizmonster

One meaning of 'pain' is great care or trouble taken to do something properly. Putting the ideas of 'pain' and 'take' as above together gives us the word 'painstaking', which is used to describe a person who does just that...takes care to do things well.

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