Nick is an attenuated form of nock, the old spelling of notch, and means a little notch. When a woman, in a certain state, "Nick" is a fundamentally neutral word that means roughly means "notch." Charles Earle Funk says it is a nick, a groove, etc., used to mark time. rev 2020.10.21.37861, The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, English Language & Usage Stack Exchange works best with JavaScript enabled, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site, Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, Learn more about hiring developers or posting ads with us.

Nick, sb1, 1643 (John Angier) Lancashires Valley of Achor, 19- "We came in the nick of time to relieve the well affected in Preston." How long will the footprints on the moon last? . Does the nick here mean a small chip, a notch or a very small but significantly sharp edge of time that allowed her to be rescued?

With the widespread use of the tally it is not surprising that reference to it should enter popular parlance. The doctor arrived in the nick of time. I reached the airport in the very nick of time and made my flight. What is the origin of the phrase In the nick of time? in the nick of time only just in time; just at the critical moment. This simple mode of reckoning seem to have Would the hypothetical Exxon call be illegal? Be careful handling it though, the edges might be sharp and nick your skin. We have the nick meaning prison, as in "he served time in the nick", then we have the verb to nick, meaning to steal; but if the police catch you red-handed, then "you've been nicked". If you are 13 years old when were you born? Nick is used here in the sense of ‘the precise moment of an occurrence or an event’. Meanings of word “nick” in British English, “In the nick of time” or “in a nick of time?”, Etymology of “Mother Nature” and “Father Time”, Etymology of the words “narky” and “narked”. notches correspondent to the number of days preceding the vacation, Maybe this reference helps, although more specific references would be better. I asked what was the meaning of "the nick" in the idiom. From An Original Manuscript, In The Library Of John George Lambton, ESQ., M.P. How does this answer my question? The nocke of the shaft You got here in the nick of time—we're just about to start the show. Sometime around the 1580s the phrase in the nick or in the very nick began to be used for the critical moment, the exact instant at which something has to take place. "In the nick" means "in the act" or "red-handed.". Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary, the webmaster's page for free fun content, in the middle of (something or some place), in the midst of something/of doing something. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Etymology of “nick” in, in the nick of time? What's the localic reflection of a presheaf topos? Could you please add a link to "nictare". English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts.

(1726 English etymology dictionary.) Is there a command to write text to a file without redirection, pipe or function? How is it possible to differentiate or integrate with respect to discrete time or space? https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/in+the+nick+of+time. This term comes from a now obsolete meaning of. Etymological opinion: The phrase "in the nick of time" could be synonymous with "in a nod of time" or "in the time of a nod." It only takes a minute to sign up. Note (Assuming Roger L'Estrange 1616-1704 is the person Noah Webster is referring to in the entry.). I am looking for a cartoon, old one, with virtual reality? School-boys keep a nick-stick, with from which with delight they cut daily one nick, up to the " very Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange! The material on this site can not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Multiply. "time in the nick" means "time in a confined space" (prison). after the ancient method. Student requests to know their "grades so far". How can I convert a numpy array to a matrix with counts of occurences? Nick in this phrase is taken from the Latin "nictare" to wink. The idea seems to have been that a nick was a narrow and precise marker, so that is something was in the nick it was meant “the critical moment” (a meaning now obsolete) 51 views The English language gives us the opportunity to be 'in' many things - the doldrums, the offing, the pink; we can even be down in the dumps. What is the rising action of faith love and dr lazaro? Olaus Wormius gives Why don't libraries smell like bookstores? To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. They got to the hospital in the nick of time, just as the baby was about to be born. Pagkakaiba ng pagsulat ng ulat at sulating pananaliksik? The idea seems to have been that a nick was a narrow and precise marker, so that if something was in the nick it was precisely where it should be. And if you led a very bad life you could end up meeting with Old Nick, which as we all know is the Devil's nickname or nick 1 Thank you so much. I need to detemine the size of a Tropolone molcule? : "In the nick of time." INFO SOURCE: Dictionary of Idioms and Their Origins by Linda and Roger Flavell, Did a little research online, inspired by @Nick Otime and Preetie Sekhon's answers, A Glossary of North Country Words In Use. The phrase evolved to be in the nick of time. She woke up just in the nick of time and raised the alarm. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. All Rights Reserved. Sheat: Etymology of the English language. 1.In the nick of time. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Sometime round about the 1580s the phrase in the nick or in the very nick began to be used for the critical moment, the exact instant at which something has to take place. have lost her nick-stick. been the only one known to the Northern nations. How much does does a 100 dollar roblox gift card get you in robhx? nick of time" for dulce domum. How do I substitute almond flour for all purpose flour? And "in the nick of time" means in the most critical time period [notch], which generally has good connotations. in the ordinary, normal, etc. 1888). In the nick of time is the only extant expression.It probably has sporting origins.Team scores were notched up on nick-sticks and when a winning goal or goal was scored just before the end of the contest it was "in the nick of time". @Dodgie, I wish, a simple Google brought that up. Was her death stolen away? If string theory is inconsistent with observations, why hasn't it been rejected yet? Marvellous! Does this time travel delivery service cause paradoxes, and if so how can I avoid them? Sometime round about the 1580s the phrase in the nick or in the very nick began to be used for the critical moment, the exact instant at which something has to take place. Copyright © 2020 Multiply Media, LLC. And before I forget, Nick is also short for Nicholas. "In the nick" means "in the act" or "red-handed." Where does the phrase “in good nick” come from? 1989 (note) this appears to be the earliest recorded use of the word "nick" in that context. Source: Oxford English Dict. At the last minute, just in time. Stack Exchange network consists of 176 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Why does having a college degree or not make a difference among white Americans? constraint programming and scheduling issues. The language experts are sure that nick here is the same word as that for a small cut or notch. And "in the nick of time" means in the most critical time period [notch], which generally has good connotations. He remembered in the nick of time that his passport was in his coat pocket. A tally, or nick-stick was used to keep track of time, of points in sporting events, of commercial transactions and (till as late as 1826) of official book-keeping records. Ano ang pinakamaliit na kontinente sa mundo? Does Jerry Seinfeld have Parkinson's disease? To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. This simple mode of reckoning seems to have been the only one known To nick it down for instance meant 'to record something' and to nick the nick, 'to hit the right time' for something. When do the lengths of simple closed curves determine a hyperbolic surface? NICK-STICK, a tally, or notched stick, by which accounts are kept. It is the context that determines whether it is good or bad. us a representation of the tallies used by the ancient Danes, of V. Jam.

When did organ music become associated with baseball? Around the 1580's the phrase in the nick meant in the cut or notch to mean at a precise moment in time. Nowadays the meaning has also evolved to. NOTCH, NOCK, an indentation, small hollow cut in an arrowhead, &c. Formerly nock, of which notch is a weakened form. ' 1.
Did Alphago zero actually beat Alphago 100 games to 0? Or maybe, historically speaking, nick was a measure of time? site design / logo © 2020 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under cc by-sa. What is the origin? goes longer than her calculation, she is said among the vulgar to I can see how the different meanings of nick 3 are related to one another in the examples above, but what escapes me is how did nick come to mean the last critical moment of time. What is most efficient voltage divider for Arduino.

which each party kept one. Who is the longest reigning WWE Champion of all time? By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. Is the idiomatic expression, I wonder, "to be in time" related? In a wink of time, or in no time.

Otherwise, an item can be in a good "nick" (place) or randomly "nicked" (bad). By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy, and our Terms of Service. Nick of time is first attested 1640s (nick of opportunity is 1610s), possibly from an old custom of recording time as it passed by making notches on a tally stick, though nick in the general sense of "critical moment" is older (1570s, Hanmer, who adds "as commonly we say") than the phrase. The patient's life was saved. The phrase evolved to be in the nick of time. What's the origin of the phrase 'In the nick of time'? Otherwise, an item can be in a good "nick" (place) or randomly "nicked" (bad).

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