There is a bit of water in the Persian Gulf that is in the news almost every day now – the ‘strait’ of Hormuz. Which, for us wordies, raises the question of the origin and meaning of ‘strait’ and whether or not it is related to the more familiar spelling of ‘straight’. I have done some digging into the story behind these words (or, I have done a ‘deep dive’ as the current idiotic slang says) and I don’t think those two words are related. Certainly not in their history.

‘Strait’ first appears in English in the 1300s. It came into Middle English from Old French – and somewhere deep in the background behind the French word was a Latin source word. The core meaning of ‘strait’ is ‘tight, narrow’ – which exactly explains its use in reporting on the Iran war, because the Strait of Hormuz is definitely ‘tight and narrow’ – which is why it is also dangerous. There are other bodies of water around the world that share the same descriptive title – for instance the Strait of Singapore. The old expression ‘the strait and narrow’ (the spelling used from around 1340) means a narrow path. But that expression is sometimes spelled ‘straight and narrow’ (which spelling arises only from around 1906) because the two words are easily confused.

‘Straight’ came into English well before ‘strait’ – sometime very early in the 1200s. It always had the meaning of not bent, not deviating or curved. This one comes from a Germanic source word – not from Latin via French. And the background source of ‘straight’ is the word ‘stretch’. If you stretch a piece of string (or anything) the result is that it is ‘straight’ (direct, without deviations). Meanwhile, the Latin word that lies in the background behind ‘strait’ is strictus meaning ‘strict’ or ‘stringent’ (giving us the notion of narrowness, or confinement). Despite these clear differences the Oxford says they show: ‘considerable overlap in form and some proximity in meaning’. Which I think we’d already worked out for ourselves!

Speccie reader John asks where the expression ‘wagging school’ comes from. ‘Wag’ started out as a term of endearment used for a mischievous boy. This goes as far back as the mid-1500s. It seems to be a shortened form of an earlier expression ‘waghalter’ meaning someone who would end up hanging from the gallows (swinging or wagging from the rope or halter). Which is a rather nasty thought. But the experts say its application to a child was always meant in a playful way. And from this ‘playing truant’ came to be called ‘playing the wag’ and (hence) ‘wagging school’.