2020-10-24
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด I – itch - scratch
การใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ ที่ถือว่า ถูกต้อง ในที่นี้ เป็นไป ตามมาตรฐาน ของภาษา
การใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ ไม่กำหนดมาตฐาน ถือตามส่วนใหญ่ที่ใช้แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจยืดหยุ่น ขึ้นอยู่กับ ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง Itch = ‘ICH’
ออกเสียง scratch = ‘SKRACH’
Common Errors in English Usage Dictionary - dpwe
Itch - scratch
Strictly speaking, you scratch an itch.
If you’re tryingto get rid of a tingly feeling on your back scratch it, don’t itch it.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Itch
Definition - an uneasy irritating sensation in the upper surface of the skin
usually held toresult from mild stimulation of pain receptors
Itch is a word with many possible meanings,
few of which are likely to be viewed as pleasant or desirable.
The word may function as either a verb or a noun,
both of whichhave been in use in English since before the 12th century.
Along the way the word has also been associated, in an uncomplimentary fashion, with more than one country.
In 1699 B. E., author of The Canting Crew defined Welsh-fiddle as “the itch,”
and also provided an entry for Itch-land with the definition of “Wales.”
Several decades later lexicographer Nathaniel Bailey decided that Scotland was the proper answerto the question of ‘where is Itch-land?,’ and that the Itch could be referred to as either the Scotch or the Welsh fiddle. We advise you to avoid all these terms, when traveling in either country.
…but lest I should be again tormented with a supposed apparition, I besought my landlord to let his son sleep with me, which he obligingly did; and, to compleat my misfortunes, I got the Scotch fiddle, which I continued to play most harmoniously, while I remained in that kingdom.
— John Carteret Pilkington, The life of John Carteret Pilkington, 1762
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Scratch
Did You Know?
Noun
The phrase up to scratch has its origins in the world of sports. In the 18th century, scratch began to be used for a line or mark that served as the starting point in a contest or competition.
In order to begin or continue a fight, for example, a pugilist would "come up to the scratch," positioning himself at a line drawn across the prize ring.
Up to the scratch was soon being used figuratively of anyone who was ready and able to do something. Over the years, the usage of the phrase has evolvedsomewhat, but something that is "up to scratch" can still be said to be ready and able in that it is capable of functioning or performing as expected.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Word History
Scratching the Surface of ‘From Scratch’
Out of nothing comes something.
What to Know
To createsomething from scratch is to make it without anyingredients or materials prepared ahead of time. The scratch in from scratch originally referred to the starting line of a race "scratched" into the ground, from which all runners would be starting without a head start.
In cooking, to make something from scratch means to use only the most basic ingredients, with nothing premade:
Brad and Rachel Cottle will run the Orlando bakery and cafe, which will feature breads milled and baked from scratch daily using wheat from Montana's Golden Triangle.
— Faiyaz Kara, The Orlando Weekly, 5 Sept. 2019
Building a structure from scratch means using no prefabricated parts:
Using Island trees Collins cut and milled himself would save money. He likes working for himself and wanted to take the time to create the barn from scratch. “I wouldn’t have enjoyed stick framing it,” he said, referring to typical construction with lumber yard wood.
— Margaret Knight, MV Times (Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.), 28 Aug. 2019
To build a business or livelihood from scratch means to start with nothingprovided in advance:
To keep a sense of connection alive, it might help to turn to art that speaks to an experience we almost all share as members of a nation of immigrants: how our ancestors … were brought here by poverty, famine, war or simply hope for a better life, and how they struggled to start from scratch and stake a claim in a sometimes unwelcoming new land.
— Ligaya Mishan, The New York Times, 5 Sept. 2019
Starting at the 'Scratch' (The Starting Line)
Scratch is about beginnings, but to do something from scratch doesn’t mean to scratch something with your fingernail and have it appear.
Scratch in this instance finds its origin in sports talk.
Originally, the scratch was the starting line in a race, likely from such a line being scratched into the earth when races were held on soft terrain.
A.F. Duffy, the American runner at the scratch, carried the Georgetown colors to the front at the London Athletic club meeting at Stamford Bridge to-day, in the final of 100 yards handicap with a high wind dead against him, and in quick time, winning by a yard and a quarter in ten seconds.
— The Decatur Herald, 30 June 1901
The term was also used in boxing and cricket.
In boxing, it referred to a line drawn across the ring, at which opponents would be brought from opposite corners to start the match.
Tony was half afraid the referee would give the fight against him without another round, but to his joy 'Time' was duly called. He came up to the scratch as game as ever, though his head was singing. He meant to go in for all he was worth this round.
— P.G. Wodehouse, The Pothunters, 1902
Figurative Use of 'Scratch'
To come (up) to the scratch was also used figuratively to mean “to show up to a confrontation,” or to present oneself for a decisive action. (In the U.S., we might similarly use the baseball expression step up to the plate.)
A mighty man at cutting and drying, he was; a government officer; in his way (and in most other people's too), a professed pugilist; …. To continue in fistic phraseology, he had a genius for coming up to the scratch, wherever and whatever it was, and proving himself an ugly customer.
— Charles Dickens, Hard Times, 1854
Dr. Skinner had selected this particular point for his attack, for he had to leave his enemy in possession of the field. When people are left in possession of the field, spectators have an awkward habit of thinking that their adversary does not dare to come to the scratch.
— Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh, 1903
A runner starting from scratch was not given a head start; applying the same idea to other sports, a scratch golfer or scratch bowler is one good enough to play without having their score adjusted with a handicap.
The idea ofthe scratch as a figurative starting point then gets carried over to contexts of cooking or building, giving us from scratch as a phrase for a true starting point for such projects.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Words We're Watching
Words We're Watching: 'Record Scratch'
You're probably wondering how the sound of a needle being dragged across a phonograph came to be used as an interjection.
Records scratch. That is, the vinyl they are made of can be scratched with a sharp or hard object, causing audible pops when played. It’s paradoxical that the terms record scratch and record scratching refer to completely different sounds: they could refer to the sound of a needle zipping briefly off or across the surface of the vinyl. This sound (more of a zip or whoosh than a pop) was usually the unintentional and audible evidence of a mistake. A different sound could be made by keeping the needle stationary in the groove of a record and rotating the turntable back and forth slightly to produce a repeatable short sound—this is the sound that we typically think of that integrated into hip-hop by DJs in the 1970s.
The literal sound came to be used figuratively as a rhetorical interruption
By the ‘80s, the terms had moved beyond music journals and were being used in print in major newspapers:
In addition, they work with a live band rather than a record-“scratching” dee-jay.
—Jeff Spurrier, The Los Angeles Times, 15 May 1983
Mr. Hancock is a veteran jazz pianist who has kept up-to-date with the latest gadgets and styles; the Rockit Band includes Grandmixer D. ST., whose instrument is a turntable and who makes sounds by ''scratching'' records back and forth.
—Jon Pareles, The New York Times, 17 Jun. 1984
The DJ hand-turns a record to "scratch" the music and make sound effects, or intersperse other music.
—Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia), 22 April 1988
Record scratch as a description of the sound itself was initially used in music contexts:
"In terms of having stuff like the record scratches and organ sounds, adding them to the live performance would mean dealing with tape loops and other musicians," [Amber] Valentine said.
—Rob Bailey, Arizona Daily Star, 16 November 2001
Subsequently, record scratch came to be used in contexts that referred to sound effects rather than music:
Gleeful executives at CNN's main U.S. competitor, Fox News, crowed that the word "sexy" was accompanied by the sound of a zipper. CNN maintains it was actually a record scratch—a common TV sound effect emphasizing surprise.
—Simon Houpt, The Globe and Mail (Toronto), 12 January 2002
The term then moved from the literal to the figurative: these sound effects were so often used to accompany the depiction of surprise or a sudden change of subject on TV and in movies that record scratch has come to mean“something that abruptly calls attention to surprise or change”:
But Pelosi's statement refers to Spicer's comments as "downplaying the horror of the Holocaust." It's a record scratch of a line: Spicer didn't downplay anything. He outright denied that Hitler used chemical weapons against "his own people."
—Nora Loreto, rabble.ca, 12 April 2017
A dictionary definition of record scratch would incorporate both the literal and figurative elements of its use:
: the sound of a phonograph needle suddenly producing a single scratching sound on a record as an abrupt interruption—used to call immediate attention to something
Record scratch is often used attributively to modify moment, showing that the associations made of the sound effect have become clichés:
On TV it'd be one of those record-scratch moments when everything stops and the high school kids stare at each other.
—Jamie Kastner, National Post, 12 February 2005
I admit, the trailer has all the hallmarks of a bad children’s movie – the cheesy voiceover, the record scratch moment, the prerequisite scatological humour where Kevin Spacey urinates in his ex-wife’s handbag, and the wordplay.
—Jack Bernhardt, The Guardian, 9 May 2017
The sound and the rhetorical interruption—the literal and the figurative use of the term—are often explicitly connected:
A record scratch sounded in my head one weeknight this January, when a pharmacist at my local drugstore told me my birth control pills would—for the first time—cost more than $50 a month.
—Susie Poppick, Time, 18 February 2015
This connection brings record scratch full circle, with its use as an interjection to stand for the rhetorical equivalent of the sound itself, symbolizing the interruption that changes the subject suddenly or calls attention to a new idea:
Does she want to? "Well, you hooked me up with somebody and we chat from now and then," she offered, coyly. Record scratch. What's this now?
—Billy Nilles, eonline.com, 23 April 2017
Cue the record scratch. Yep, that’s Mayor Gregor Robertson and the City of Vancouver’s new logo. You’re probably wondering how he got here.
—Stephanie Ip, The Province (Vancouver), 28 February 2017
Sometimes people complain about the shortened attention span that seems to have accompanied the digital age, but it’s notable that some recent and efficient shorthand expressions are pure analog.
Words We're Watching talks about words we are increasingly seeing in usebut that have not yet met our criteria for entry.
