I wondered today how the word harp came to mean “talking tediously or nagging.” Is that meaning of the word related to the instrument by the same name? Are they different words which have developed into the same one over the years? Apparently, they are the same word, and the phrase “to harp on one string” was used in print as far back as 1513. I have no doubt that this phrase has something to do with bar patrons whistling for their beer at one time, but that story has yet to be concocted.
The stories are being concocted for the origin of the phrase “with bells on,” because there isn’t enough print material to argue well for any of them. Have you ever used this phrase or had it used on you? Why would anyone go to a party with bells on, or the British variation, “with brass knobs on”? How did the phrase develop to mean not only enthusiasm but also intensity, such as “He retaliated with bells on”?
The last explanation, about Conestoga wagons and the concept that keeping your bells meant you had made the trip without an accident, is the one I read in a school book and have always understood to be true. Apparently it’s not as solid an explanation as they pretended. Another example of misinformation and indoctrination in the educational system!
I don’t know if you’ve tried the Wordnik site Phil. (It’s the best dictionary site I’ve come across.) They’ve got the old Century dictionary available, and it’s got over fifty definitions for bell/s. (Often they’ve got some good photographs as well.)They’ve got a ton of stuff for each word, with all kinds of quotations,etc.
– I didn’t see anything that quite fit the phrase however.
I was looking through the photos (near the bottom of the page) and found one of a town crier (1938 it says) who has a bicycle with a big bell on it, and he’s speaking through a megaphone of sorts.
– [Town-crier announcing the latest news on the island of Terschelling, the Netherlands, 1938.]
– wordnik.com
Thanks, SR. I didn’t know about this site.
“Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes; she shall have music wherever she goes” Old Nursery Song. How about the Fair in Old England…a time for enthusiasm.