Hit the road is an idiom with a contemporary feeling to it, at least to me (I blame Ray Charles; see end of this post).
The phrase popped to mind when I stumbled across this painting by James Tissot, one of my favorite painters from the mid/late 19th century.
 |
| Waiting for the Train, James Tissot, circa 1871–1873 Oil on panel Collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery |
But is it?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
According to The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer, hit the road, meaning to set out as on a trip, first appeared in the late 1800s. The Online Etymology Dictionary narrows the first-use date even further, to 1873.
So, I was wrong!
And I'm tickled to find that this young woman in 1873, and indeed my protagonist Inez Stannert in 1881, could hit the road, with or without baggage, and not be anachronistic.
Finally, before you leave slang-o-rama and hit the internet road for other entertainment, please enjoy this mid-20th-century musical interlude:
Posts
4 comments:
Good thing you included the Ray Charles song, as what sprang to my mind was Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon. In that song, the phrase is "slip out the back Jack".
Hi Liz! Uh-oh... I'm going to have that Paul Simon song rattling around in my brain for the rest of the day! ;-) It's a good one, so I don't mind!
What fun, origin of a word, and music.
Hi Irene! Music to hum along to as you write today... :-)
Post a Comment