Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: On the Q.T.

 The minute I typed on the Q.T. my mind turned to Slang-o-rama. This phrase sounded sort of World War II vintage to me, or maybe the Roaring '20s (the 1920s, that is).

Was I right, or was I wrong?

I was...

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... WRONG! 

Turns out, on the Q.T. has a lifeline stretching back into the19th century.

According to The Phrase Finder, on the Q.T. (meaning "on the quiet" or "secretly") is of British origin. Here's what the entry says:

The slang term 'qt' is a shortened form of 'quiet'. There's no definitive source for the phrase 'on the q.t.', although it appears to be of 19th century British origin - not, as is often supposed, American.

The longer phrase 'on the quiet' is also not especially old, but is first recorded somewhat before 'on the qt', in Otago: Goldfields & Resources, 1862: "Unless men can work [the gold] on 'the quiet', they are not likely to make 'piles' so rapidly as Messrs. Hartley and Riley."

As to on the q.t., in The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, Robert Hendrickson states: "A British broadside ballad (1870) contained the line 'Whatever I tell you is on the Q.T.'" It would be good to know the name of the ballad in order to follow up this assertion. Unfortunately, the author doesn't give it, from which we can only suppose he didn't know it himself. That first record is from new Zealand, but is soon followed by citations from the United Kingdom and the USA....

The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer notes that on the Q.T. was first recorded in 1884.

That means I could probably have a character in one of my Silver Rush books mutter, "This is all on the Q.T., if you please." (But would readers think the phrase anachronistic? Hmmm...)

Shhh... It's on the Q.T.
 Image by Sammy-Sander from Pixabay

Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: The penny dropped

No sooner did I comment to a friend that the penny dropped than I knew what this week's Slang-o-rama was going to be about...

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An informal British idiom, the penny drops is used to say that someone finally understands something after not understanding it for a time. (Thank you, Merriam-Webster, for that definition!)  As for the what and when of its origin, The Phrase Finder points to the Oxford Dictionary for an explanation:

...The Oxford English Dictionary states that this phrase originated by way of allusion to the mechanism of penny-in-the-slot machines. The OED's earliest citation of a use of the phrase with the 'now I understand' meaning, is from The Daily Mirror August 1939:

And then the penny dropped, and I saw his meaning!

The image of someone waiting for a penny-in-the-slot mechanism (which often jammed) to operate does sound plausible and, if that isn't the origin, it is difficult to imagine what is...

Ah, but Word Histories finds an earlier date for first figurative use of this phrase—April 10, 1931—in "On getting educated," published in The Ripley and Heanor News and Ilkeston Division Free Press of Ripley in Derbyshire. The post also offers several other instances cropping up in 1932, including the following from the Skegness Standard of Skegness in Lincolnshire, on April 20, 1932:

THINGS WE WANT TO KNOW.
The identity of the gentleman who was allowed to go for a drink after assisting the missus on Sunday?
And how long it took him to fathom the problem as to why the hostelry was closed at 1.15 p.m.
And if the penny dropped on suggestion of his spouse that he had forgotten to advance his watch an hour?
And if he has made a mental resolve to guard against a similar happening in future years?

Check out the Word Histories post and scroll down to see other early-use figurative quotes.

It took me a few minutes, but then the (figurative) penny dropped.
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay