2023-05-28 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด I – itch & scratch

Revision I

 

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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 trying to 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 to result 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 which have 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 answer 

to 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.

 

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 evolved somewhat, 

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 create something from scratch 

is to make it without any ingredients 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:

 

Building a structure from scratch 

means using no prefabricated parts:

 

To build a business or livelihood from scratch 

means to start with nothing provided in advance:

 

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.

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.

 

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 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 of the 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

 

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:

 

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”:

 

A dictionary definition of record scratch 

would incorporate both the literal 

and figurative elements of its use:

 

The sound and the rhetorical interruption

—the literal and the figurative use of the term

—are often explicitly connected:

 

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:

 

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.