Thursday, October 10, 2013

nick of time


I've had occasion to use this phrase several times recently. Mostly meaning "starting something at the last possible moment". Like, say, yoga, where I mean starting at the last possible moment in which, when I get down on the floor, I can still probably get up again unassisted. I've heard myself use the expression so much lately that I've wondered what exactly I was saying. What is the "nick" in the nick of time?  A nick like a scar? A nick like a niche? A nick having something to do with the devil?

***
It turns out that "in the nick of time" is one of those curious cases of word drift. Originally, round about 1580, the meaning of "the nick" was "at the precise moment", not the last moment. That's because it was related to an older form of time telling, where a basic record of time passing was tracked by a notch on a tally stick. ("Precise moment" presumably means something more like a day than a nanosecond here.) The original nick was a nyke, and meant notch, groove or slot. Apparently "in the nick" was the whole expression, but "of time" had to be added, so that a confusion about whether this meant in prison, in  the nude, or in a valley between two hills, depending on whether you were listening to  an English, Australian or Scottish speaker, or so says World Wide Words.

Call me hungry, but I liked an earlier way of saying one had arrived just in time. According to The Phrase Finder , you would say that the person had arrived at "pudding time". I'm as game to arrive in time for dessert as the next person, but in fact, this pudding was a savory dish served at the beginning of the meal. In an example of food drift, pudding began to be served at the end of the meal in the 16th century, and was sweet. But if you've ever traveled in Ireland, you'll know that the full Irish breakfast keeps the savory tradition in the form of both black and white pudding.

You can start to see why pudding time might need to be narrowed down a little. But it's still delightful.

This geare comth euen in puddyng time rightly.
                      (John Heywood, A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the   Englishe tongue, 1546)
 
 
 
 The picture is shamelessly lifted from a blog called 450 Meals. I hope they won't begrudge this County Kerry breakfast they have already had the good fortune to eat...

Oh, and the opening photo is from one Peter Craine who took it near West Kirby, Wirral, Great Britain, and very kindly made it available on Creative Commons.

10 comments:

  1. We always said "just in the nick of time." Seems to add to the urgency of the arrival, and I am too late for yoga. Good luck in your efforts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the boat arriving in the nick time of time. I hope it gets them back to the resort by pudding time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. For some reason I always think of Dick Van Dyke when I hear that phrase. It must have to do with his character Bert in Mary Poppins. (So maybe a weird link to "Step in Time.) I shared this post on Facebook!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Collagemama, if I am not too late for yoga, I doubt you are, especially after seeing your reflooring efforts.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kathleen, I think pudding time should probably be reinstated.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Julie, anything that makes you think of Bert in Mary Poppins can only be a good thing. Thanks for the Facebook mention.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for clearing up the meaning of the nick of time, Seana. I had never really bothered to think what it meant, which is the case with many phrases that have come to us from centuries past.

    Strangely, I almost never use it, perhaps because I did not know what it means.

    ReplyDelete
  8. You're welcome, Maria. I rarely let the fact that I don't know what a word means keep me from using it, unfortunately.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That second photo brings back fond memories of fortifying Irish breakfasts.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Man, it's midnight here and yet I could still go for one of those right now...

    ReplyDelete