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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009What case is that?
Not long ago I heard someone say "Don't get on my case." To me this is not an expression I hear every day, but it is familiar enough. It means, more or less, "I've heard enough about that; don't keep on nagging or berating me." But... why "case"? Please don't say what you guess or assume [or I'll have to get on your case about it :-)]. I can invent three or four plausible etymologies myself. But is there a documented *true* etymology for the phrase?  SignatureMark Brader "Do YOU trust US?" Toronto "YES!! Well, we try to." msb@vex.net -- A Walk in the Woods, by Lee Blessing My text in this article is in the public domain. > Not long ago I heard someone say "Don't get on my case." To me > this is not an expression I hear every day, but it is familiar [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > etymologies myself. But is there a documented *true* etymology > for the phrase? I think you know that you don't usually get that for slang; the best you can hope for are some historical citations. Cassell's has an entry: get off one's case, to. phr. [1950s+] [orig. US Black] to stop harassing, to stop annoying. Under "case" they have two dozen entries, and the one they associate with the above use is: case. n.8. [1920s+] (US) a situation, usually in phrases e.g. have a bad case of the brokes, to be poor; get off my case, leave me alone. It looks to me like they swept a couple of miscellaneous uses of "case" into one entry. RHHDAS has an entry: get off (one's) case, to quit harassing or annoying (one); (hence) on (one's) case, harassing or being hostile to (one). They offer no etymological theory. A long list of citations starts with 1969, emphasizing underground and urban use. For amusement, I list here the other things that "case" has meant in earlier slang, according to Cassell's: 1. the vagina 2.a house (Ital. casa) a shop, a warehouse a brothel, esp. London a lavatory 3. a counterfeit coin 4. a ne'er-do-well 5. an infatuation an adulterous affair a pair of lovers 6. an eccentric person 7. a crime or criminal charge And that doesn't count the adjectives, verbs, and combinations. SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux [...] > For amusement, I list here the other things that "case" has meant in > earlier slang, according to Cassell's: [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > And that doesn't count the adjectives, verbs, and combinations. No 6 remains current in BrE, and I think it enjoys certain extended meanings, such as "a person posing some difficulty" or "an amusing person". SignatureMike. Mark Brader: >> But is there a documented *true* etymology for the phrase? Donna Richoux: > I think you know that you don't usually get that for slang... Looks like we have one this time. But, yes, that's why my question was "is there one?" SignatureMark Brader There are people on that train! Toronto Sure, they're Canadians, but they're still people! msb@vex.net -- Paul Gross, "Due South" >Not long ago I heard someone say "Don't get on my case." To me >this is not an expression I hear every day, but it is familiar [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >etymologies myself. But is there a documented *true* etymology >for the phrase? So you are looking for a case in point? SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida >>Not long ago I heard someone say "Don't get on my case." To me >>this is not an expression I hear every day, but it is familiar [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > So you are looking for a case in point? Case the joint? > Not long ago I heard someone say "Don't get on my case." To me > this is not an expression I hear every day, but it is familiar [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > etymologies myself. But is there a documented *true* etymology > for the phrase? The OED proposes a plausible derivation having to do with the investigation of criminal cases: on the case a. Actively engaged in an investigation, originally spec. a criminal investigation (cf. sense 6); in active pursuit. 1937 E. POUND Fifth Decad Cantos xlvi. 33 Seventeen years on the case; here Gents, is/are the confession. ‘Can we take this into court? Will any jury convict on this evidence?’ 1971 O. ACOSTA Let. Oct. in H. S. Thompson Fear & Loathing in Amer. (2000) 445 They've put one of the heavy D.A.'s on the case and he started in on me right away. 1999 J. BOYLE Hero of Underworld 70 Farm it out, my arse. I want you on the case immediately. b. colloq. (orig. U.S.). Aware of, alert to, or actively dealing with a particular situation or task; (more broadly) capable, prepared, and alert; well-informed. Also: on hand, esp. in readiness. 1971 D. GOINES Dopefiend 153 Don't let your fingers get too sticky..'cause I'll be right there on the case. 1980 H. GOULD Fort Apache, Bronx (film script) 41 Rest?.. sh.t, I don't need no rest, I'm on the case. 1987 T. WOLFE Bonfire of Vanities (1988) 4 Tell 'im, bro... Y'on the case... Yo, Gober! 1992 J. PETERS & J. NICHOL Tornado Down (1993) xii. 94, I was already on the case, and as he finished speaking the wings finally did roll out level. 1998 E. BRIMSON Hooligan xv. 41 We all have to be on the case so don't get too sh.t- faced. Anyone that's pissed ain't coming, right? colloq. (orig. U.S.). a. to get off a person's case: to leave a person in peace; esp. to stop criticizing or harassing a person. Usually in imper., as get off my case! 1971 E. E. LANDY Underground Dict. 88 Get off my case, expression meaning leave me alone. 1977 C. MCFADDEN Serial (1978) vii. 20/2 ‘It's Michael's,’ she said. ‘Anita's new old man. And get off my case.’ 1990 R. DOYLE Snapper (1993) 174 Was she in pain, he asked her. The fuckin' eejit; she'd give him pain if he didn't get off her case. 1997 A. WOOD EastEnders (BBC TV Script) Episode 575. 21 Get off my case will you? I know what I'm doing. b. to be on a person's case and variants: to criticize or reprove a person, esp. repeatedly; to harass or annoy someone. 1971 H. ROBERTS Third Ear 5/2 Don't get on my case. 1982 W. L. HEAT MOON Blue Highways VII. xvi. 298 Some people have gotten on my case because of a rumor that I posed for it. 1988 Star (Tarrytown, N.Y.) 12A 8/2 You've got the boat, the bike and the expensive tools, but if she so much as looks at that fur jacket in the window, you're on her case. 1993 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 1 Feb. C 3/2 Her mother..is seriously on her case, her boyfriend ditches her, a blind date fails to show. 1999 Odds On Feb. 3/2 The tabloids are on her case full time. Paul Brians: > The OED proposes a plausible derivation having to do with the > investigation of criminal cases... Ah! Indeed, that was one of the plausible guesses I made. But, hold on. You posted the following (I'll elide only the cites): > on the case > > a. Actively engaged in an investigation, originally spec. a > criminal investigation (cf. sense 6); in active pursuit. ... > b. colloq. (orig. U.S.). Aware of, alert to, or actively dealing > with a particular situation or task; (more broadly) capable, prepared, > and alert; well-informed. Also: on hand, esp. in readiness. ... > colloq. (orig. U.S.). > > a. to get off a person's case: to leave a person in peace; esp. to > stop criticizing or harassing a person. Usually in imper., as get off > my case! ... > b. to be on a person's case and variants: to criticize or reprove > a person, esp. repeatedly; to harass or annoy someone. ... There's nothing structural here to confirm that they're intending to relate the two expressions "on the case" and "on/off a person's case" to each other; in fact, the lettering sequence a-b-a-b suggests that these are two independent entries. I assume this is all part of a long entry for "case" in the OED Online, but I don't have access to that (and the OED Supplement isn't recent enough to have an item in the C's whose first cite is from 1971). Could it be that these are two entries that just happen to be adjacent, among a list of idiomatic phrases containing the word "case"? Or is there something that you didn't post (or that I missed) and which positively relates them to each other? SignatureMark Brader, Toronto "Suspicion breeds confidence." msb@vex.net -- BRAZIL My text in this article is in the public domain. |
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