1/5/10

Anglo/American Word of the Day!!

I thought we'd have a BWOTD for the New Year, one I used at work earlier and caused confusion with, of course! But then after much discussion in the comments, it became clear it's not just us Brits that use it.

"I shelled out a good few bucks on it"

Shell(ed)(ing) out = Pay/Paid

To be honest I had absolutely no clue how this one came into being, I mean it's hard to spot a connection between shells and payment, and there's no rhyming going on. But then along came the lovely Kay from Hawaii, a good blog friend of mine, with the very interesting ANSWER to my wondering how it originated. It seems us Brits had a hand in it, but it originated from that long ago British Colony known as the America's! So not so much a Brit Word of the Day, but a very interesting history on how we all came to use it.

Thanks Kay :-)

13 comments:

Arija said...

Sarah, no wonder the origin of shelling out has faded into oblivion since the introduction of frozen peas. No I have not gone quite nuts, just onsider a moment, when you shell peas, they roll out one by one just like paying out in coins. It also has some relationship with shilling, shelling - shilling, both tend to slip between the fingers.

I only wish I had that coastline two hours away! it takes us 3 days to cover the 500+ miles.

Lynn said...

That's odd. I have been hearing that all my life. It's very common and I had no idea that it was a "Brit word".

Mary (Bookfan) said...

Yes, we use that term in my family (area of the country perhaps) too.

Anonymous said...

I've heard that expression all my life too. I love reading your BWOTD!

M said...

Wow, I have not used that in such a long time!!! Good one!

Jo, a retired teacher said...

I, too, have heard that expression forever. Do you think it could have come over the water with my English ancestors?

Unknown said...

I'm beginning to think so Jo, but there are obviously some areas where it's not used or known here!

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

That's an expression I use and have heard all my life. It's very common here in Virginia. Must go back to the settlers at Jamestown.

Kay said...

We even use the expression in Hawaii. I figured it had to do with natives (ancient Hawaiians) using shells for money.

I looked it up on the web and found a website with information. I guess I got the wrong natives.

http://szabo.best.vwh.net/shell.html

SandyCarlson said...

That was interesting. You and your visitors have taught me plenty today.

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

I love that word. It kind of implies something a tad expensive.

Kay said...

Awww... that's so sweet of you, Sarah. :-)

Dee/reddirtramblings said...

Yes, we all shell out dinero for our fun and folly don't we. Thanks for the lesson on this one.~~Dee