h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

But I have definitely heard people say "back". It's not cricket, as they say.

Yes. But people also say 'walk the talk' for 'walk the walk', and lots of other misquotes. People in general are not reliable guardians.

Glad to hear the OED confirming it's the cricket bat.
I dare to extend that to the expression about doing
something 'right off the bat'. Meaning, I suppose,
the first thing, the immediate reaction.
See also: Get cracking!
(Both of which may be from US baseball where
one is expected to run the bases immediately
upon hitting the ball and not stand wondering.)


~jwf~

Hubby discovered a rip in a pair of suit trousers. They're fairly new, so he doesn't want to throw them away.

I told him 'You'll have to find an invisible mender.' He burst out laughing and I realised what I'd said.

Another usage for "right off the bat", in ceramics, a 'bat' is a plaster disk used as a foundation for throwing pots on a wheel.

Coming here from 2legs' journal, because he was talking about the bathroom ceiling etc., and I found myself asking - why do we say ceiling?

If it came from the French "ciel" surely it would be spelt that way? At least that's what I thought.

Well, this is the internet, full of information, and I have found this explanation.

>>ceiling (n.) mid-14c., celynge, "act of paneling a room," noun formed (with -ing) from Middle English verb ceil "put a cover or ceiling over," later "cover (walls) with wainscoting, panels, etc." (early 15c.); probably from Middle French celer "to conceal," also "cover with paneling" (12c.), from Latin celare (see cell). Probably influenced by Latin caelum "heaven, sky" (see celestial). <<

Lots of hypotheses there - does anyone have any more accurate explanation? I don't see the connection with "To conceal" or "cell" as ceilings, especially way back when, were definitely way above the floor and often very elaborately painted.

I think it probably is connected with 'ciel' and fell foul of the 'i before e, except after c' rule.
I once lived in a house in Ethiopia with very high canvas ceilings. Until I realised their construction I thought their movement in the wind was caused by rats. This silly 42 year old memory comes to mind whenever I hear the word 'ceiling'.

The OED goes for the 'lining walls or roofs' origin of the word. The online dictionary gives a lot of quotations for use of the word, and the spellings vary greatly - celynge, sieling, cieling and ceiling all being used.

Spelling wasn't 'fixed' for the English language until the late 18th century (Dr. Johnson's dictionary), so people spelled words as they saw fit at the time. I've been reading the Journals of Lewis and Clarke (expedition 1804 - 1806) and spelling is inconsistent, even for the same word.

Hmmm. In German, "Decke" can mean "blanket" or "ceiling". Maybe they knew how to keep warmth in without building something expensive?

"to conceal,"

Sounds OK to me.

The plaster work conceals the joists and floorboards above.

Also wall panelling conceals the brick / stone / mud (sorry Cobb) walls.

Mind you

Also sealing a room to keep drafts out, would work in English.

So "Tapete", wall paper, the cheap version of carpets on cold walls?
Someone bald probably knows about insulation. (Sorry, but I couldn´t resist that one)

No
I know all about, lack of insulation.
Mostly if I'm not wearing a hat.

[BB]

sunburn up there is nice too, right?
But as to wallpaper...if our ladies were the gentlewomen they are, they´d spend their lives doing finest tapeterie.
Crochetting?

A red shiny top is not good

If we are going up market of course we should have Tapestries hung on the walls in the main rooms that have not been plastered and in the fine plastered rooms the walls should be lined with silks.

I live in a very old house, so the interior walls are wattle and daub. The top plaster on BOTH WALLS AND CEILINGFS is mixed with horsehair.

and intrusive Fs seemingly

WS, that´s quite normal and rather clever. Fibrous material, be it hair, cow dung, whatsoever, holds the clay together and keeps it from flaking off during a dry season. In postwar buildings you sometimes find cheap plaster stabilized with wire mesh - once it got damp, the rust stains on the wallpaper can drive you bonkers.

In preparation for the annual British Motoring Festival
held here in Windsor Nova Scotia (July 19-21 this year)
a member of my British Car Club has sent out the following
helpful link to an updated phrase book of 'British English':

http://www.english-zone.com/vocab/ae-be.html


~jwf~


PS: Not relevant to the topic but perhaps of some interest
it has also transpired that a committee suggestion to have
folks dress in period costume - a la Goodwood Motor Festival -
has resulted in a lot of homophobic chatter and threats of
cricket bat bashings - which sadly is being taken seriously
by certain types of British car enthusiasts.
http://www.britishmotoringfestival.com/

Interesting ... but do I spot a misdirection?

A bedspread is not a duvet. The US bedspread is the same as the British English bedspread, as far as I can find out: a thin, often decorative, cover over all the other bedclothes. It is also known as a counterpane.

Duvet is a word used on both sides, but synonyms include quilt (UK) and comforter (US). An older term was featherbed, either above or below the sleeper, or both.

'In the US, confusion often occurs as the word "duvet" is sometimes used to refer to a comforter cover rather than the down blanket itself.' (~wiki)

This may account for the misdirection in http://www.english-zone.com/vocab/ae-be.html

The Australian term for a duvet is doona, after a trade name.