Fagged
out: To be fagged out is to be exhausted, weary. I can find no certain
origin. The 1811 dictionary hints that it may be derived from the
schoolboy use of the term "fag", or servant, to a senior boy by a
junior one. These were often worked so hard that they did indeed become
exhausted. Alternatively, the term may come from the original use of
"fagend" - the very end of a piece of cloth, which was therefore
exhausted
Fall: To fall foul of someone is to be on bad terms with them. The foul
here is another nautical word and is used when one ship impedes the
progress of another; it falls foul of it. A foul anchor is when its own
rope becomes entangled with itself.
Feather: see Cap.
Fed up: To be fed up is to be lethargic, bored, uninterested in the
world. This is said to come from the ancient
sport of falconry, which, it is also claimed, has left several other
marks on the English language, sadly all without any good evidence! It
seems likely that their relationships with falconry are fanciful, especially since the earliest known
use of 'fed up' dates from 1882, at which time falconry was a
minority activity, and thus not likely to be the origin.
Fed up - trained hawks are driven by appetite: one which has 'fed up'
wants merely to sit still and digest its meal (i.e. it is totally
unresponsive).
Gorged - a hawk's crop is in its throat (le gorge in
French).
Chaperone and hoodwink - blindfolding a hawk with a hood
(chaperone in French) calms it by making it think it is night. This
reduces the risk of impetuous behaviour.
Booze - hawks were traditionally trapped in Holland and
needed to drink ('boozen' in Dutch) on the sea crossing to England.
Haggard - an older hawk, caught in adult plumage. Although
falconers used to prize such birds, haggard and hag are definitely
derogatory when applied to humans.
Cadge - a mobile perch on which falcons are carried. The
unpaid bearer would have to 'cadge' tips from onlookers.
Fettle: To be in fine fettle implies being in good shape or humour; to
be prepared for anything. The word has been given several uses, such as
fettled ale, a type of ale seasoned with ginger and nutmeg and all uses
have a sense of "preparation" in them. It all goes back to the old
English "fetel" or "girdle" and links in with the biblical concept of
preparation by "girding up the loins".
Fiddle: If someone is on the fiddle then they are reckoned to be doing
something illegal. Why fiddle? There's no reference that I can find,
but a naval anecdote told by guides on HMS Victory offers a partial
explanation. To this day dining tables on ships are edged with a rim,
either fixed or hinged, which stops plates falling off during rough
weather. These rims are called "fiddles" (why I can't find out).
Similar rims were present on the square wooden plates which gave the
origin of "a square meal". The story goes that some sailors would get
their plates unfairly so full that the food was "on the fiddle" - hence
today's saying.
Fit
as a fiddle means to be in good health and comes from the sense of
'fit' as being suited to a purpose, such as 'the meal was fit for a
king'. Why 'fiddle' was chosen for the comparison is unclear. The
earliest recorded form of this expression (1595) is 'as right as a
fiddle', perhaps because it was a piece of skilled craftsmanship and
therefore to be admired, or because its playing required dexterity. It
used to be said that a person who was well-liked had a face 'made of a
fiddle', meaning that it was always wreathed in smiles, as a fiddle has
a much-curled shape.
Fiddlesticks: It's all fiddlesticks implies that it is all nonsense.
Again I can't find a modern origin but, in 1811 "Fiddlestick's end"
meant "nothing". The ancient fiddlestick (violin bow) ended in a point,
hence, metaphorically, used to express a thing terminating in nothing.
Field day: To have a field day now implies easy achievement of a task.
It wasn't originally so. Like so many other English sayings, it has a
military background, and is a term for a day of manoeuvres in open
fields or country, often in front of the commanding officer or even
higher rank; a day of great effort and inspection. When these days are
successful the units can be seen to be well prepared and turned out. In
the US Navy it is also applied to a day devoted to cleaning ship prior
to inspection.
Fig: I don't give fig indicates complete lack of concern about an
event. It comes from the Spanish Fico (= Fig) which gave its name to a
traditional gesture of contempt made by placing the thumb between the
first and second fingers. The gesture was common in Shakespeare's time
and was known as The Fig of Spain. The modern-day equivalent is the
"V"sign
Finger: To pull your finger out is to hurry, to get a move on. This is
another nautical saying and comes from the times of the Men'o'War. When
the cannon were loaded a small amount of powder was poured into the
ignition hole near the base of the weapon. In order to keep the powder
secure before firing, a crew member pushed one of their fingers into
the hole. When the time came for ignition, the crewman was told to pull
his finger out
Fired: The words "you're fired" are often used to tell someone that
they've lost their job; have been discharged. The similarity between
"fired" and "discharged" may suggest a connection with firearms. I
could find no real origin in any of my reference books, other than
suggesting the analogy with firing a gun. However, one day, I was sent
the following which appeared in the Clevedon, Somerset, Civic Society
Newsletter for summer 1996:
"We discovered recently that the word 'fired', meaning discharged from
a job, originated on Mendip. It comes from Item 6 of the Laws of Mendip
Miners.
"If any man... do pick or steale any lead or ore to the value of
xiiid,the Lord or his Officer may arrest all his lead and Oare House or
hearthes with his Grooves and Workes and keep them in forfeit... and
shall take the person that hath soe affeended and bring him where his
house or worke and all his tooles and instruments are... and put him
into his house orworke and set fire in all together about him and
banish him..." Fired indeed!
First rate: These words imply excellence but what is the rate by which
things are judged? From Elizabethan times up to the 19th century
British warships were rated by the number of their guns and not the
weight of the ships themselves. Six rates were applied and First rate
was the most armed. The term was soon used for other comparisons.
