Verbs wet And brush one’s teeth share an identical pronunciation and, as homonyms, have certainly caused some confusion among writers. Often, they are mistakenly swapped for the phrases “to wet the whistle” and “to stimulate one’s appetite”.
Examples of misuse are—unfortunately—quite easy to find.
With over 125 restaurants, market-goers can stimulate or quench their hunger with specialty drinks and food. — San Diego Union CourtApril 26, 2018
Summer is here and the heat has hit, there’s nothing better than a cool drink to blow the whistle and keep you refreshed. — Poughkeepsie Magazine (New York)June 22, 2017
There will be discounted drinks and barbecues to quench cravings. — northern miner (Australia), 20 April 2018
The restaurant has a ‘Yum Bar’ for diners who want a snack, but any diners can order from the menu and watch the food being cooked in front of them to satisfy their cravings. — Wimbledon GuardianAugust 9, 2017
All ‘whistles’ from this point on will be purely metaphorical.
Consider that wet is a more familiar word in modern English, and the act of grinding—referring to the sharpening of the edge of a tool or weapon on stone—is not as common as it was in the Middle Ages, which we can understand somewhat (but still unconfirmed) a mix of wet with brush one’s teeth in the idiom “to stimulate one’s appetite.” (On the other hand, the use of brush one’s teeth with Horn just not safe—we’ll get to that in a moment.) After all, when something whets your appetite, your mouth tends to water, and it gets—ah -wet. But the reality is wet And brush one’s teeth are not interchangeable and they have a symmetrical meaning: wetting one’s whistle “soothes thirst” (thirst) while stimulating one’s appetite “stimulating” (desire to eat) , as well as drooling).
You can wet a whistle
From the 14th century, Horn has been a metaphor for the mouth or throat, especially an instrument for speaking and singing, meaning Horn reasonable appeal wet—similarly, the mouthpiece of an instrument sometimes needs to be wet—not a verb meaning “to sharpen”. Medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer used Horn figuratively in “The Reeve’s Tale”, when he wrote “Like any jay she is bright and cheerful; / Her merry whistle is steamy.” Over time, the phrase “wet one’s whistle” came to be commonly used to mean “drinking a drink (especially an alcoholic drink).” Around the 17th century, people inexplicably began to replace brush one’s teeth because wet in the expression.
“Give the boy a drink! Piper, blow the whistle!” — Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Bush of beggars1647
It can be speculated that the introduction of the phrase “to whet one’s appetite” (referring to “sharpening” one’s appetite) in the same century is related to the misuse of the word. brush one’s teeth. However, brush one’s teeth is of Old English origin, and the figurative meaning of the word dates back to at least the 15th century, when the meaning of “to make sharper or sharper” was coined to refer to intelligence, inspiration, or intelligence. one’s desires, desires, etc.
Adversity often stimulates our intelligence. — Fynes Moryson, a journey1617
You can’t wet the appetite
At a time when the culinary palate was said to be “stimulated”, brush one’s teeth has been firmly established in English. In this case, it’s a bit confusing as to why people suddenly started abusing brush one’s teeth in the idiom “wet one’s whistle” – but alas, the phenomenon is real and it’s been around for centuries.
It’s unlikely we’ll see the end of the “whet one’s whistling” and “wet one’s craving” constructions. They appear too often in edited text. All we can do is reiterate that, semantically, when you “blow the whistle,” you are sharpening your mouth, which is painful; when you “wet your appetite” you are trying to do the impossible by trying to wet something invisible (craving). On the other hand, wetting your whistle is refreshing, and eating a delicious appetizer to whet your appetite is entirely possible…and you’ll feel full in the end (( and arid).
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
