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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006... who fell down her area
Hello: Is this natural these days: "fell down her area?" I'd have expected "_in_ her area." I mean, I know one can "fall down something (stairs, etc)" but fall down an AREA?" ----- "... she's been awfully kind to my little boy, who fell down her area chasing his kitten, and gave himself a nasty cut." Edith Wharton, Age of Innocence, p. 136 http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/541/66.html ----- Thanks. Marius Hancu In Victorian London. the word "area" could be used to mean a sunken, er, area in front of a house or tenement allowing residents, sunlight etc to access a basement. Usually protected by railings. Often reached by "area steps". Not just London, and not just the 19th century. A picture of an area with railings at http://www.citytraining.org.uk/images/RoseLG/now_area/railings.jpg LONDON BOROUGH OF HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM STATUTORY LISTED BUILDINGS Last updated: 24/10/2006 ADDISON BRIDGE PLACE Nos. 2 & 3 (including area railings) No. 4 (including area railings) No. 5 (including area railings) Robert Louis Stevenson - The Dynamiter Page 42 - Persuaded that something deadly was afoot, I crossed the roadway and drew near the area railings. There was no one below Page 50 - A crowd would certainly, from time to time, collect before the area railings; but they came to jeer and not to speculate Joyce - Ulysses ch17 ...possible for an ordinary person to climb over the area railings of no 7 Eccles street, either from the path or the steps > Not just London, and not just the 19th century. > > A picture of an area with railings at > > http://www.citytraining.org.uk/images/RoseLG/now_area/railings.jpg Thank you. Very suggestive. Marius Hancu > Not just London, and not just the 19th century. > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > ...possible for an ordinary person to climb over the area railings of > no 7 Eccles street, either from the path or the steps And from OED: 1917 T. S. Eliot Prufrock 31, I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids Sprouting despondently at area gates. ... and not just Britain: 1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) iii. 56 Then Louie gets the back door open and takes it on the lam through an areaway.  SignatureJohn Dean Oxford > > Not just London, and not just the 19th century. > > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > 1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) iii. 56 Then Louie gets the back door > open and takes it on the lam through an areaway. Hmm... There was a young man of Samaria Caught *ing the cook in the area. When they asked why, He said with a sigh, "The housemaid would want me to marry her." SignatureMike. > And from OED: > > 1917 T. S. Eliot Prufrock 31, I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids > Sprouting despondently at area gates. Sprouting? Amazing. Marius Hancu >> Not just London, and not just the 19th century. >> [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >1917 T. S. Eliot Prufrock 31, I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids >Sprouting despondently at area gates. It was probably August, and they were just starting to prepare the vegetables for Christmas. SignatureRobin Herts, England >>> Not just London, and not just the 19th century. >>> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > It was probably August, and they were just starting to prepare the > vegetables for Christmas. Italian housemaids, used to handling grape-like objects with their feet. Lucky it was August. >>1917 T. S. Eliot Prufrock 31, I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids >>Sprouting despondently at area gates. I've always assumed this referred to the way stored vegetables will start to sprout if they are kept damp. Potatoes, carrots and the like - not the things from Brussels. Incidentally someone said "area" sounded Scottish. I don't know whether it's used in Edinburgh, but all the examples I've every come across (of the object or the usage) have been in the South of England. Katy K. Edgcombe wrote, in <ejul7j$f90$1@gemini.csx.cam.ac.uk> on 21 Nov 2006 10:42:59 GMT: > >>1917 T. S. Eliot Prufrock 31, I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids > >>Sprouting despondently at area gates. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > used in Edinburgh, but all the examples I've every come across (of the object > or the usage) have been in the South of England. They are to be found in Dublin too. I'm not familiar enough with any other Irish cities to know if they occur elsewhere. SignatureNick Spalding On 20 Nov 2006, wrote > Not just London, and not just the 19th century. > > A picture of an area with railings at > > http://www.citytraining.org.uk/images/RoseLG/now_area/railings.jp > g AFAIK it's still a standard building term -- entirely current. SignatureCheers, Harvey Canadian and British English, indiscriminately mixed For e-mail, change harvey.news to harvey.van > On 20 Nov 2006, wrote > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > AFAIK it's still a standard building term -- entirely current. I'd always assumed it was an abbreviation for something like "servants' and tradesmen's area" -- a "restricted non-family area", like the parts of a great house behind baize doors. But OED doesn't support the idea at all. It seems it's more like "a defined area off the road with no building". Here are OED's etymology and all its illustrations: <[a. L. area a vacant piece of level ground in a town.] 2. a. An enclosed court, spec. a sunken court, shut off from the pavement by railings, and approached by a flight of steps, which gives access to the basement of dwelling-houses. dry area: a covered channel round the external walls of a building to prevent damp. 1649 JER. TAYLOR Gt. Exemp. II. Add. xi. 24 The Temple was the area and court of Religion. 1694 Lond. Gaz. mmmxii/4 The Dining-Room Floor..hath..a pleasant Airy 30 foot long. 1712 STEELE Spect. No. 454 6 One of the Windows which opened to the Area below. 1810 WELLINGTON in Gurwood Disp. VI. 9 To go, like gentlemen, out of the hall door..and not out of the back door, or by the area. 1839 DICKENS O. Twist (1850) 45/2 Pulling the caps from the heads of small boys and tossing them down areas.> The Latin dictionary shows an interesting range of uses, from "building plot" through "playing field" and "graveyard" to "a bald patch on the head". SignatureMike. > Not just London, and not just the 19th century. ... > Joyce - Ulysses ch17 > > ...possible for an ordinary person to climb over the area railings of > no 7 Eccles street, either from the path or the steps Which is why I associate this word with "oxter". "Areaway" is barely alive for me; I don't think I've ever heard anyone use just plain "area" in this sense. SignatureJerry Friedman >> Not just London, and not just the 19th century. >... [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >Which is why I associate this word with "oxter". Interesting. "Oxter" means armpit. What is the nature of your association of the two words? SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > >> Not just London, and not just the 19th century. > >... [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > What is the nature of your association of the two words? I learned both from /Ulysses/. (I think "area" in this sense occurs two or three times in that book.) SignatureJerry Friedman > In Victorian London. the word "area" could be used to mean a sunken, > er, area in front of a house or tenement allowing residents, sunlight > etc to access a basement. Usually protected by railings. Often reached > by "area steps". Sounds distinctly Scottish to me, if not specifically Edinburgh. SignatureRob Bannister > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > "... she's been awfully kind to my little boy, who fell down her area > chasing his kitten, and gave himself a nasty cut." This is more frequently labelled "Place of Refuge." or refuse or refusge... somethin like that. > Edith Wharton, Age of Innocence, p. 136 > http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/541/66.html > ----- > > Thanks. > Marius Hancu |
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