[stylist] Fwd: A Phrase A Week - Cash on the nail

Fri Sep 17 12:53:09 UTC 2010

Jim,
    Thanks for sending this out! I remember hearing the phrase when I was a 
kid and your message triggered that memory for me. It was a very interesting 
read! It is also an interesting resource I will need to check out! I 
subscribe to merriam-Webster's Word of the Day and quite enjoy learning new 
words and discovering the etymology of those familiar to me. I have a couple 
of on-line resources I will share later today when I am done checking my 
email and have a moment to do some recreational emailing!

Fraternally yours,
Marion Gwizdala


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James H. "Jim" Canaday M.A. N6YR" <n6yr at sunflower.com>
To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 6:15 PM
Subject: [stylist] Fwd: A Phrase A Week - Cash on the nail


> I've never seen this phrase.  I am quite familiar with "cash on the 
> barrelhead" meaning complete payment made at time of purchase.
> jc
>
>
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>>From: A Phrase A Week <apaw at phrasefinder.co.uk>
>>To: "James H. \"Jim\" Canaday M.A. N6YR" <n6yr at sunflower.com>
>>Subject: A Phrase A Week - Cash on the nail
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>>
>>Cash on the nail
>>
>>
>>
>>Meaning
>>
>>Payment made immediately.
>>
>>
>>Origin
>>
>>
>>
>>'Cash on the nail' (or 'pay on the nail') is an extension of the earlier 
>>phrase - 'on the nail', meaning immediate payment; without delay. This 
>>expression is first recorded in English in Thomas Nashe's Haue with you to 
>>Saffron-Walden, 1596:
>>
>>"Tell me, haue you a minde to anie thing in the Doctors Booke! speake the 
>>word, and I will help you to it vpon the naile."
>>
>>Philip Massinger's comic play The City-Madame, 1632, in which a character 
>>welcomes the arrival of a ship that has given his master considerable 
>>profit, makes the association with timeliness clear:
>>
>>And it comes timely; For, besides a payment on the nail for a manor late 
>>purchased by my master, his young daughters are ripe for marriage.
>>
>>The first example that I can find of the longer 'cash on the nail' version 
>>is in an anonymous open letter from to the Mayor of Exeter, printed in a 
>>sixpenny broadsheet in 1753:
>>
>>The Commanders and Officers of those vessels knew very well that Wool and 
>>Worsted were Commodities of a real and intrinsic Value: Articles that 
>>would sell at any Time or Place for ready Cash on the Nail.
>>
>>cash on the nail
>>I've managed to get this far without mentioning the story that 'cash on 
>>the nail' relates to the bronze pillars called nails. These are to be seen 
>>outside the Corn Exchange in Bristol and the Stock Exchanges in Limerick 
>>and Liverpool. This derivation is printed in virtually every etymological 
>>reference book. Whisper it not in Bristol, Limerick or Liverpool, but this 
>>story has to be treated with some caution.
>>
>>It is said that the oldest of the four pillars in Bristol is mid-16th 
>>century and so would just pre-date the earliest printed reference to 'on 
>>the nail'. It is also true that business deals were sealed on these 
>>pillars. The late dates of the appearance of either or the terms cash on 
>>the nail and pay on the nail, make the attribution doubtful. None of the 
>>early printed references makes any reference to any of the cities with 
>>nails. The first time the suggested link between the bronze nails and the 
>>phrase was made was in 1870, by Dr Cobham Brewer in the first edition of 
>>the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. That suggestion was made over a 
>>century after the phrase was already in common use. There's not quite 
>>enough evidence to say that Brewer made the story up, but it does seem to 
>>be a strong possibility.
>>
>>It is more likely that the nails were named to match the expression rather 
>>than the other way around and that the origin of the expression lies in 
>>France rather than on the west coast of either England or Ireland.
>>
>>Versions of the expression were used in several European languages:
>>
>>14th century Anglo-Norman, as payer sur le ungle - to pay immediately.
>>17th century French, as sur l'ongle - exactly.
>>Dutch, as op den nagel - on the nail
>>German, as auf den Nagel - entirely, to the last detail.
>>
>>The Anglo-Norman 'payer sur le ungle' means just the same as the English 
>>'pay on the nail'. 'Ungle' derives from the Latin 'ungula', which means 
>>claw or nail. The sense of the earliest version of the phrase is clearly 
>>'payment with the hand' - nothing to do with bronze obelisks.
>>
>>By around 1900 the US also began to use 'cash on the barrel' and 'cash on 
>>the barrelhead', with the same meaning as 'cash on the nail'. Those 
>>phrases have a much stronger claim to have a literal derivation, as 
>>barrels were used as impromptu counters in US stores and yard sales.
>>
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