This column is devoted to the origins of words and phrases, or as a linguist would put it, to etymology. Where words come from is a fascinating subject, full of folklore and historical lessons.

Bury the hatchet

What does it mean by ‘Bury the hatchet’? – (Nonis-Colombo 5)

It is an American English colloquialism meaning ‘to make peace.’ The phrase refers to the practice of putting away the hatchet at the cessation of hostilities among Native Americans in the Eastern United States. Weapons were to be buried or otherwise cached in time of peace. One might ask: If the phrase is of Indian origin, why ‘hatchet’ and not ‘tomahawk’? It wasn’t always. In 1705 Robert Beverly wrote of “very ceremonious ways to concluding of Peace, such as burying a Tomahawk.” Tomahawk variations remained popular for over a century, but eventually “hatchet” buried “tomahawk”.

Catch 22

Why do they call a no-win situation a “Catch-22”? - (PGS - Kalutara)

The phrase ‘Catch-22’ comes from the book of that name by Joseph Heller (1923-1999), published in 1961. The story is set in Italy in World War II. The main character, Captain Yossarian, is a bombardier (as Heller had been) who wants to get out of flying potentially deadly combat missions. So does his tent-mate, Orr.

The easiest way to get out of flying more missions is to plead insanity. In short, Catch-22 is “heads I win, tails you lose.” Whenever you try to behave sensibly in a crazy world, there’s a catch.

To be caught red-handed

What is ‘caught red-handed’? (Theresa –Galle)

This phrase is used to describe catching someone in the act of wrongdoing. Some historians believe that ‘caught red handed’ originated in the 15th century in Scotland.

It is said that the phrase was used to describe a murderer who had been caught with victim’s blood on his hands. Scott’s ‘Ivanhoe’ has the first recorded use of ‘taken red-handed’. Not long after, the expression became more common as ‘caught red-handed.’”

But there are other historians who believe the phrase originated between 800 and 900 BC. The people of the Indus Valley would determine a thief’s guilt or innocence by placing the accused person’s hand on an axe blade that had been heated until the metal was glowing red. Another origin is derived from the Japanese.

The Japanese would brush the sap from poison ivy on their money. If the money was stolen, the thief would break out into a rash, thus they would be caught red handed

Checkmate

Why checkmate refers victory obtained by the intellect?

In chess, checkmate is the final winning move when the King is beaten. The term originated from the Persian (now Iran) shah mat literally meaning ‘the king is astonished’, but mistranslated into Arabic shah mat, to give the meaning ‘the king died’, which later became Old French eschecmat prior to the expression entering the English language in the early 14th century as ‘chekmat’, and then to ‘checkmate’.

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