Another etymological adventure: I saw a reference to the fact that ajar was originally on char 'on the turn' (i.e., of a door, 'slightly opened'), and I thought I'd investigate this mysterious char. The OED lists it as "chare, char," saying the original but now obsolete sense 'turn' (whence either 'occasion, time' or 'turning back, return') is usually cher or char. An extension of this sense is 'turn or stroke of work; an action, deed; a piece of work or business,' and this develops the specialized meaning 'an occasional turn of work, an odd job, esp. of household work; hence in pl. the household work of a domestic servant' (1606 SHAKES. Ant. & Cl. IV. xv. 75 The Maid that Milkes, And doe's the meanest chares; 1881 HUXLEY Sc. & Cult. ii. 34 Mere handicrafts and chares). But this, the "extant sense," is "now usually CHORE." Cue lightbulb over head.
What's the etymology, you ask? Tangled:
OE. cerr, cierr, cyrr, masc. i- stem:—O.Teut. type *karri-z or *karzi-z... Often identified with OHG. chêr, MHG. kêr, Ger. kehr, MDu. kêr, Du. keer, masc.; besides which there is OHG. chêra, MHG. kêre, Ger. kehre, MDu. and MLG. kêre, LG. kêr str. fem.; but these represent OTeut. types *kairi-z-oz or kaizi-z, oz, and *kairâ or *kaizâ, the vowel of which has no connexion with that of the OE. word. No forms cognate to either are known outside Teutonic.Posted by languagehat at March 3, 2008 01:22 PM
That's fascinating. "Kehren" in German means "to turn," but also "to sweep" (i.e., with a broom), but I had no idea it was related to either "chore" or "ajar".
Posted by: Peter at March 3, 2008 01:59 PMI suppose you don't use ‘charwoman’ in the US?
Posted by: Aidan Kehoe at March 3, 2008 02:18 PMAnother interesting wrinkle: an intermediary stage between on char and ajar was at jar, as used by Swift: "Opening a few wickets, and leaving them at jar." OED says this was based on false analogy to a preexisting sense of at jar (also shortened to ajar), meaning "in a jarring state, out of harmony, at odds." (But see the April 1901 issue of Modern Language Notes for a more phonologically motivated explanation.)
Posted by: Ben Zimmer at March 3, 2008 02:44 PMI suppose you don't use ‘charwoman’ in the US?
No, but many of us are familiar with the UK use.
Posted by: language hat at March 3, 2008 03:22 PMUntil I read these comments, I always thought "charwoman" was "tealady", from cha, the Punjabi pronunciation of chai. Thanks for the clarification.
Posted by: Stuart at March 3, 2008 05:04 PMMy mother remembers singing as a child,in a German Christmas carol, that the Christ child "kehrt mit seinem Besen, ein in jedes Haus" until she was informed that it should be "kehrt mit seinem Segen".
She sang "sweeps with his broom in every house" rather than "turns in with his blessings at every house"
Posted by: Gary at March 3, 2008 05:31 PMYou mean ajar isn't about a jar holding the door open? Or did I just have a funny turn? Or churn?
Posted by: zhoen at March 3, 2008 06:26 PMI thought she was called a charwoman because she cleaned out the ashes from the fireplace.
Like Cinderella. :)
Posted by: Peter at March 3, 2008 07:22 PMI suppose "Teutonic" is Germanic, chosen so they can use Ger. for German without fear of confusion?
Posted by: David Marjanović at March 3, 2008 07:24 PMDavid: "Teutonic" only shows up in OED etymologies that haven't been revised from the olden days (like most entries at the beginnning of the alphabet). Etymologies for revised entries use "Germanic".
Posted by: Ben Zimmer at March 3, 2008 07:31 PMSo is there no candidate PIE etymon with the expected shape *ger?
Posted by: ACW at March 3, 2008 09:02 PMchar lady be the one that serves cha, so wot would I know. T by any name be still Cha ****
A chare is a little alley,where I come from (see http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/tlt/photo/026283.htm).
So there is Broad Chare, Manor Chare, and Pudding Chare.
"Chare is a word almost peculiar to Newcastle. Somner derives it from the Saxon cerre, diverticulum, the turning or bending of a way. Others think it comes from the word ajar, partly open. It is applied to narrow streets, lanes, or alleys.
"A laughable mistake happened at our assizes some years ago, when one of the witnesses in a criminal case swore that 'he saw three men come out of the foot of a chare.'—'Gentlemen of the jury,' exclaimed the learned judge, 'you must pay no credit to that man's evidence. He must be insane.' But the foreman, smiling, assured his lordship that they understood the witness very well, and that he spoke the words of truth and soberness.—Hist of Newcastle, published by Anderson.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43337#n6
Posted by: Hoover at March 4, 2008 04:30 PMAt least as late as the 1980s, the Scout Handbook used by the Boy Scouts of America quoted the admonition of Lord Baden-Powell that a good Scout ought to "do a good turn daily" -- a usage that otherwise was not current in colloquial U.S. English. ("Do a good deed daily" was the usual phrase.)
But at certain rank-promotion ceremonies, Baden-Powell's "do a good turn" wording would be recited as the Scout being promoted was physically lifted by his heels in a slow-motion cartwheel, with the assistance of several older Scouts or Scoutmasters.
(No Kama Sutra jokes, please.)
Posted by: Throbert McGee at March 6, 2008 01:12 PMIt's still acceptable in British English to use "turn" to indicate work - not only in phrases like "do a good turn" or "one good turn deserves another" but also in saying someone "hasn't done a hand's turn" - meaning hasn't done any work.
Presumably this is related to "taking your turn" - doing your share of the work.