The Herring Trained the Horse
A phrase can outlive the work, instrument or social arrangement that gave it meaning. Etymology and idiom records turn this into a test for jargon that sounds current while carrying an obsolete model underneath.
etymology
3 entries
Frail and Fragile
Two English words, one Latin root, two arrival dates centuries apart. The form of each records which route it took — which makes shape a dating instrument.
Oll Korrect
Three dictionaries of record carried the wrong origin of OK until 1961. The discipline that eventually settled it had, since 1878, required every exception to be named.