Where Does It Come From? Origins Of Phrases & Expressions

[blessmycottonsocks]

Having posted a video earlier of a native of Papua New Guinea describing a possible cryptozoological encounter, I was curious as to the language he spoke and so dived down a Sunday morning rabbit-hole.
PNG has a vast number of indigenous languages and it was impossible for me to tell which one was being spoken.
The more educated islanders and institutions such as government, the courts and higher education use fairly standard English. The lingua franca that developed across PNG however over the last century or so is Papuan Pidgin or Tok Pisin. This is a curious mixture of a simplified version of English along with many indigenous terms and a few loan words from other languages.
These signs from a Papuan hotel will give you a flavour of Tok Pisin:

This got me thinking about the etymology of Pidgin English.
When hearing the term, it's hard for us to dismiss an image of the bird and I guess I assumed it derived from simple, short messages being sent by carrier-pigeons.
That would appear to be a false etymology though.
Apparently, the term originated in the early 19th century when trade opened up between Great Britain and China. With two such radically different mother tongues, a simple language of convenience soon sprang up between traders and Pidgin was merely Chinese speakers attempting to pronounce "business". Hence Pidgin English meant business English.
The earliest reference in the Oxford English Dictionary for Pidgin meaning "business; an action, occupation, or affair" is 1807.

Want to learn to Tok Pisin?
Try a phrase book:

 

[Mythopoeika]

Having posted a video earlier of a native of Papua New Guinea describing a possible cryptozoological encounter, I was curious as to the language he spoke and so dived down a Sunday morning rabbit-hole.
PNG has a vast number of indigenous languages and it was impossible for me to tell which one was being spoken.
The more educated islanders and institutions such as government, the courts and higher education use fairly standard English. The lingua franca that developed across PNG however over the last century or so is Papuan Pidgin or Tok Pisin. This is a curious mixture of a simplified version of English along with many indigenous terms and a few loan words from other languages.
These signs from a Papuan hotel will give you a flavour of Tok Pisin:

View attachment 74580

This got me thinking about the etymology of Pidgin English.
When hearing the term, it's hard for us to dismiss an image of the bird and I guess I assumed it derived from simple, short messages being sent by carrier-pigeons.
That would appear to be a false etymology though.
Apparently, the term originated in the early 19th century when trade opened up between Great Britain and China. With two such radically different mother tongues, a simple language of convenience soon sprang up between traders and Pidgin was merely Chinese speakers attempting to pronounce "business". Hence Pidgin English meant business English.
The earliest reference in the Oxford English Dictionary for Pidgin meaning "business; an action, occupation, or affair" is 1807.

Want to learn to Tok Pisin?
Try a phrase book:
View attachment 74581

You can see how their logical thinking processes work. I guess if you stuck around long enough over there, you'd quickly master their version of pidgin English.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

You can see how their logical thinking processes work. I guess if you stuck around long enough over there, you'd quickly master their version of pidgin English.

Yes, but if your Tok Pisin is nogut you may be thought of as an emti tin.

 

[Analogue Boy]

Crikey. I feel I suddenly became bilingual.

 

[Floyd]

Two Milling terms.

Damsel in Distress;

The damsel is a spindle that strikes the shoe to make grain drop into the eye of the millstones. There's a strap that runs across the hopper and is held down by the weight of the grain. When the grain runs out, the strap springs up and causes a bell to ring each time the damsel strikes the shoe. The ringing bell is called a 'damsel in distress' and the miller would have a bell with a different ring on each hopper so that he knew which grain had run out.

Also;

Grind to a halt;

The gap between millstones can be adjusted to give control over the fineness of the grain. When the stones meet they literally grind to a halt.