Advertise here from only 40 baht per week
Bobby’s British Breakfast Foods
UK Sausages, Ham, Bacon, Pies, Teas etc.
Call 087 155 7737 or 089 985 7473
SERVED UP BY...
A section for all you budding etymologists where each week the origin of a word or phrase is investigated.
This week it is..... Under the thumb
Completely under someone’s control.
Few fields of endeavour have as much false etymology
associated with them as falconry. ‘A bird in the hand is
worth two in the bush’ derives from hunting with birds
of prey and this has seemingly led to a spate of supposed
derivations along the same lines. ‘Hoodwinked’ is said
to derive from putting a cloth cap over the eyes of a
falcon to calm the bird by simulating nighttime and ‘old
codger’ is said to derive from the carrier of the cadge or
cage that held the birds. Neither of these has any basis
in fact. We can add to the list ‘under the thumb’, which
was once presented on the BBC’s Alan Titchmarsh Show
as originating from the handler’s use of his thumb to trap
the bird in his hand when he didn’t want it to fly. Again,
that’s pure flight of fancy.
Being ‘under one’s thumb’ is just a figurative expression
that alludes to being completely under another’s control.
The allusion was to a protagonist so powerful and a
victim so insignificant that even the former’s thumb
was strong enough to control them. None of the early
references relates to falconry, or to any other specific
origin. The phrase was always used to refer to a powerful
person, like a king or lord, exercising control over a
subject. The earliest reference found to the expression
in print is from the 18th century English politician
Arthur Maynwaring in The Life and Posthumous Works
of Arthur Maynwaring, 1715, which, as is strongly hinted
at in the title, was printed after his death:
The French King having them under his Thumb,
compell’d them to go at his Pace.
The phrase was well enough established by the 19th
century for it to spawn the verb form ‘thumbing’. This
was defined in James Halliwell’s Dictionary Of Archaic
And Provincial Words, 1847, as:
Thumbing: A Nottingham phrase, used to describe that
species of intimidation practised by masters on their
servants when the latter are compelled to vote as their
employers please.
‘Under the thumb’ is still used today with much the same
meaning as when it was coined in the 18th century. It’s
not entirely clear what meaning Mick Jagger and Keith
Richards had in mind when they wrote the eponymous
‘Under My Thumb’ in 1966, but it probably wasn’t
falconry.
Is there an English phrase or saying that you would
like to know more about?
Email it to us on [email protected]
EVERY ADVERT IN AWOL
IS SEEN BY UP TO 4000
people, online and in
print every week
**********
In 2013 the AWOL
website had an average
of over 2,000 unique
visitors a week
Enjoy a Day Tour at the Wildlife Rescue Center
Only
With our daily tours we explore the WFFT Rescue Center’s animals; we have bears,
45 m
from inutes d
elephants, gibbons and many others. You will learn about the animal’s
Only
rive
Hu
3
life stories, and walk with our elephants to the nearby forest. You can shower Tran 0 minutes a Hin,
spor
from
t can
the elephant after the walk, and help with the feed out to the bears and monkeys.
be a Cha Am.
rrang
Responsible tourism as we keep animal welfare as top priority.
ed.
Visit us for an unforgettable experience!
Bookings: 0822458598 (English) / 032458135 (Thai/English),
email: [email protected]
Check us out on www.wfft.org
Facebook-Wildlife Friends Thailand / Tripadvisor
Join the AWOL forum
7