[stylist] useful resource

Fri Jun 18 04:57:22 UTC 2010

you're welcome.  I certainly appreciate it.

I am curious which online dictionaries people use, and which thesauri 
[plural for thesaurus].
jc

At 05:51 PM 6/17/2010, you wrote:
>Jim, This is excellent! Thanks for sharing. Donna
>
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>James H. "Jim" Canaday M.A. N6YR wrote:
>>I've subscribed to the "a phrase a week" newsletter for some time 
>>now.  don't think have shared it here.  below you'll see yesterday's.
>>jc
>>From: A Phrase A Week <apaw at phrasefinder.co.uk>
>>
>>
>>In the nick of time
>>
>>Meaning
>>
>>Just in time; at the precise moment.
>>
>>Origin
>>
>>The English language gives us the opportunity to be 'in' many 
>>things - 
>><http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/in-the-doldrums.html>the 
>>doldrums, 
>><http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/in-the-offing.html>the offing, 
>><http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/in-the-pink.html>the pink; we 
>>can even be 
>><http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/down-in-the-dumps.html>down in 
>>the dumps. With all of these expressions it is pretty easy to see 
>>what they refer to, but what or where is the 'nick of time'? It may 
>>not be immediately obvious what the nick of time is, but we do know 
>>what it means to be in it, i.e. arriving at the last propitious 
>>moment. Prior to the 16th century there was another expression used 
>>to convey that meaning - 'pudding time'. This relates to the fact 
>>that pudding was the dish served first at mediaeval mealtimes. To 
>>arrive at pudding time was to arrive at the start of the meal, just 
>>in time to eat. Pudding was then a savoury dish - a form of sausage 
>>or haggis (see also 
>><http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/proof-of-the-pudding.html>the 
>>proof is in the pudding). Pudding time is first referred to in 
>>print in John Heywood's invaluable glossary A dialogue conteinyng 
>>the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue, 1546:
>>
>>This geare comth euen in puddyng time ryghtly.
>>
>>In the nick of
>>time
>>That seems a perfectly serviceable idiom, so why did the Tudors 
>>change it to 'the nick of time'? The motivation appears to be the 
>>desire to express a finer degree of timing than the vague 'around 
>>the beginning of the meal'. The nick that was being referred to was 
>>a notch or small cut and was synonymous with precision. Such 
>>notches were used on 'tally' sticks to measure or keep score.
>>
>>Note: the expressions 'keeping score' and 'keeping tally' derive 
>>from this and so do 'stocks' and 'shares', which refer to the 
>>splitting of such sticks (stocks) along their length and sharing 
>>the two matching halves as a record of a deal.
>>
>>If someone is now said to be 'in the nick' the English would expect 
>>him to be found in prison, the Scots would picture him in the 
>>valley between two hills and Australians would imagine him to be 
>>naked. To Shakespeare and his contemporaries if someone were 'in 
>>(or at, or upon) the (very) nick' they were in the precise place at 
>>the precise time. Watches and the strings of musical instruments 
>>were adjusted to precise pre-marked nicks to keep them in proper 
>>order. Ben Jonson makes a reference to that in the play Pans 
>>Anniversary, circa 1637:
>>
>>For to these, there is annexed a clock-keeper, a grave person, as 
>>Time himself, who is to see that they all keep time to a nick.
>>
>>Arthur Golding gave what is likely to be the first example of the 
>>use of 'nick' in this context in his translation of Ovid's Metamorphosis, 1565:
>>
>>Another thing cleane overthwart there commeth in the nicke:
>>The Ladie Semell great with childe by Jove as then was quicke.
>>
>>The 'time' in 'the nick of time' is rather superfluous, as nick 
>>itself refers to time. The first example of the use of the phrase 
>>as we now know it comes in Arthur Day's Festivals, 1615:
>>
>>Even in this nicke of time, this very, very instant.
>>
>>
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