Cavalier

[Dr. Goodword]

• cavalier •

Pronunciation: kæ-vê-leer • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, adjective

Meaning: 1. (Noun) A gallant, chivalrous man, a gentleman. 2. (Noun) A horseman, horse-soldier, especially a knight. 3. (Noun) A lady's escort or dance partner. 4. (Adjective) Arrogant, haughty, dismissive, disdainful. 5. (Adjective) Carefree, jaunty, nonchalant.

Notes: Today's Good Word started out as a synonym of chevalier ([she-vê-leer]). It comes with a rather large extended family, including two adjectives, cavalierly "haughty, disdainfully" and cavalierish "like a cavalier" and two nouns, cavaliership "position of a cavalier" and cavalierism "features of a cavalier".

In Play: As a noun, today's word might be heard in expressions like this: "Courtleigh Manners is the perfect hired cavalier if you ever want a playful escort to accompany you to a party." As an adjective, we might hear something like this: "Anita Job was sacked because of her cavalier attitude toward work, coming in and leaving whenever it suited her."

Word History: Today's Good Word comes from Old Italian cavaliere, inherited from Late Latin caballarius, the direct descendant of Latin caballus "pack horse, nag", source of French cheval, Italian cavallo, Romanian cal, and Spanish caballo—all meaning just "horse". Caballus had replaced equus for "horse" by Late Latin. It probably goes back to PIE kaba- "pack horse, nag", because we find Greek kaballes "work horse, nag", Khotanese kabä "horse", Persian kaval "slow, clumsy horse", from Old Iranian kaba-, kabala-, "horse", akin to Late Latin cabo "gelding", and Russian and Czech kobyla "mare". Greek, Latin, and Proto-Slavic probably borrowed the word from Old Persian. (Today's gratitude is due our old friend Rob Towart for suggesting this rather cavalier Good Word.)

[David Myer]

Carefree. Is that different from Careless?

Both appear to mean 'without care'. But there is a difference between 'without care' and 'without a care'.

My partner suggests that there is some sort of distinction around awareness of the risks or consequences.

I was at school in England sixty years ago with a bloke whose older brother (who was also at the same school) has just died. Here is his obituary from the Sydney Morning Herald.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/eccentr ... 5egad.html

The question is, was he cavalier? And is it relevant that he might or might not have understood the risks?

[Slava]

I'd go with Meaning 4 for his attitude toward his own life and limb.

[Dr. Goodword]

What an interesting character, your partner. I enjoyed the interview with the cavalierishly carefree spirit being interviewed and the bungy jump of the 73-year-old! I also was impressed that he got the spelling right; the common spelling has always puzzled me. I would do it as a Good Word if anyone had any idea where your partner got the word. Do you know?

[David Myer]

Ahh! I have confused you. The obituary of the cavalier referred to an old schoolmate of mine. My partner, Carolyn, merely made a suggestion about the distinction between carefree and careless, between 'without a care' and 'without care'.

As to the origin of bungy, I have no idea, I'm afraid. I do know that the elasticated cords with a hook at each end used for securing things like luggage in a car, are called bungy straps, at least here in Australia.

A search of the internet throws up https://www.amazon.com.au/Gripwell-Meta ... 21fd1300e7

It is suggested on the internet:

The word "bungee" originates from West Country dialect of the English language, meaning "Anything thick and squat", as defined by James Jennings in his book "Observations of Some of the Dialects in The West of England" published 1825. In 1928, the word started to be used for a rubber eraser.

I have to say that this is entirely unconvincing. Well, I am unconvinced.

But I have seen also on the internet a suggestion that it is formed by combining bouncy and spongey. Again, I am not convinced. Maybe others can help?

[bnjtokyo]

David, I second your observation that the elastic bands with hooks on the end used to secure items on the luggage racks of motorcycles and bicycles are called "bungy cords" on at least the west coast of the US. And I believe this usage predates the advent of bungee jumping by several years.

Edit
I just entered "bungee cord" in the Ngram viewer and found a use from 1946 in a US patent specification. The title of the invention is "A Dual Purpose Parachute Pack" Patent No. 2,293,702, and Claim 1 reads, in part, ". . . one of said rip cord receiving means comprising a bungee cord secured along one extending flap at pairs of spaced points to receive the static line rip cord pins beneath the portions of the bungee cord between the points of said pairs of spaced securing points."

The other uses from the 1950s I found had a military connection so I suspect it was coined during World War II

[Slava]

Here's what etymonline has on it:

1930, "elastic rope," probably an extended use of the identical word used in late 19c. British schoolboy slang for "rubber eraser;" this probably is more or less onomatopoeic, from notions of bouncy + spongy. First record of bungee jumping is from 1979.

Wikipedia has a short entry on it, too.

Here's a rather disparaging Australian take on what surfers call occy straps. Valid etymology? Your call.

[David Myer]

Yes, I'm afraid the disparaging take is perfectly valid.

I think the occy derivation was actually created when someone invented one with eight arms/hooks to hold down a roof load.

Of course they were always going to be a disaster because they are stretchy. If the headwind gets under the front of your surfboard, the elastic will be tested for sure.