Today we are going to take a break from the 12 Days of Wordlady for our regular Friday posting, but fear not, the Four Calling Birds will be arriving in a couple of days.
Today's topic is an interesting difference between British and North American English: on this side of the pond we stuff our Christmas stockings, and over there, they fill them.
Both expressions seem to date from the early 1940s (much earlier than the OED's current earliest quotations) and both seem to originate in the US.The custom of having Christmas stockings goes back at least a century earlier.
Harper's Bazaar - Page 23
https://books.google.ca/books?id=ONYhAQAAMAAJ
1939 - Snippet view - More editions
B16- • Five precision instruments on a pilot wheel • An amusing stocking-filler
for a bachelor and to enhance his desk: clock, calendar, barometer, an
infallible gift for an epicure is a can of Cafe hygrometer, thermometer.
$75. B55. Rico for ...Consumer Reports - Page 29
https://books.google.ca/books?id=g8vgAAAAMAAJ
1940 - Snippet view - More editions
For the little gifts — the stocking filler,
or just remembrance gifts — the giver with a lean purse should seek out
the five-and-ten: Here the little girl playing "mama" can be fitted out
with all sorts of domestic trappings. Here the little boy playing ...Hardware Age - Volume 146, Issues 7-13 - Page 42
https://books.google.ca/books?id=wo8TAQAAMAAJ
1940 - Snippet view - More editions
We have everything from the smallest stocking stuffer
to big toys that you will want to buy now and have us store for you
until just before Christmas. But no matter what you have in mind for
your youngsters, get here today while our stock is ...
The idea didn't seem to catch on in the UK till the late fifties. Goodness knows why the alliterative "stocking stuffer" lost out there to the (in my opinion) lamer "stocking filler". If you have any theories based on our different personalities (or perhaps our different stockings), please share them.
And don't forget, whatever you call them, either of my books makes a great one! You can order Six Words You Never Knew Had Something to do with Pigs and Only in Canada You Say from me and
Only in Canada You Say from amazon:
http://www.amazon.ca/Only-Canada-You-Say-Treasury/dp/0195429842/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418403912&sr=1-2
P.S.
If you find the English language fascinating, you might enjoy regular
updates about English usage and word origins from Wordlady. Receive
every new post delivered right to your inbox! You can either:
use
the subscribe window at the top of this page
(if
you are reading this on a mobile device): send me an email at
wordlady.barber@gmail.com
Privacy
policy: we will not sell, rent, or give your name or address to
anyone. You can unsubscribe at any point.
Follow
me on twitter: @thewordlady
No comments:
Post a Comment