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Picnic OriginIdioms are attention-grabbing devices that add colour to language, although they will make English exhausting to study. An idiom is a phrase or phrase which has a meaning different from its literal one. For example, if I say that something is a purple herring, I usually do not mean that it is a herring that is purple in colour. If I say that one thing is a superb kettle of fish, I’m normally not admiring fish inside a tea kettle. Interestingly, though, when the origin of some idioms is explored, including the two fish idioms that I’ve simply mentioned, a literal or logical rationalization is found.

English is an interesting and evolving language. The research of idioms and their origin is a study of our historical past. Even as we speak, new idioms are being created. They will almost definitely be studied by the historians of the long run as they examine our lives. It’s an interesting thought. picnic (orig.) social leisure through which each particular person contributed a share of the meals; (now) outdoor pleasure social gathering with a repast. XVIII. — F. piquenique, app. f. piquer PICK2 + nique (cf. faire la nique à mock, present scorn of). Lord save me! I get angry each time somebody tells me I’m using a logical fallacy. Instead, I ought to just examine logical fallacies. I’m tempted to write something intelligent, so as to add to this, however I received nothing. Thanks for clearing the air on Red Herring!!!

The phrase picnic first appeared in English in a letter of the Gallicized Lord Chesterfield in 1748 (OED), who associates it with card-taking part in, consuming and conversation, and should have entered the English language from this French word. three The apply of an elegant meal eaten out-of-doors, moderately than an agricultural employee’s dinner in a discipline, was linked with respite from looking from the Middle Ages ; the excuse for the pleasurable outing of 1723 in François Lemoyne ‘s painting (illustration, left) is still supplied in the context of a hunt. This is a fascinating hub! The origins of those idioms are very fascinating. Thanks for penning this.

Very fascinating. I even have at all times heard these idioms but never knew what they meant, a lot much less their origin. Wonderful article. A long salting and smoking interval is needed to turn a herring red. One firm states that the method requires two to a few weeks of soaking in brine adopted by two to a few weeks of smoking. In order to shorten this lengthy process, commercially produced kippers often comprise artificial colour. Thank you very much for the remark and for sharing an idiom that I’ve never heard of earlier than, Faith. Thank you for all of the votes and shares, too. I at all times admire your kindness! Blessings to you. I by no means had any thought what a high quality kettle of fish was, regardless that I heard it prior to now. Thanks for getting it cleared up for me. Hi Linda. How interesting. I actually realized one thing new at present. I had no concept as to the origin of these idioms. Great job.

To be abundantly clear, it’s fairly doable for a word with innocent origins to be associated etymologically with racism. We can look at the time period niggardly, for example. The origins have nothing to do with race, and but the term cannot escapte it’s racist connotations of right now. This does not appear to be true of picnic. After the French Revolution in 1789, royal parks grew to become open to the general public for the primary time. Picnicking in the parks grew to become a preferred exercise amongst the newly enfranchised citizens. Hi, Lisa. I agree – idioms should imply one thing to us earlier than they feel pure! Thanks for the interesting comment.

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