A few of us have made it a routine to get together and spend a few minutes over a cup of coffee. Though this routine itself has become monotonous the discussions that we have are sometimes very intriguing. A few days ago during one of these discussions a colleague of mine used the phrase ‘bone-dry’, obviously to refer to something that was ‘very’ dry. The usage of this phrase (bone-dry) is very common and most of us do know what it means, but I wondered how this term actually originated. What has bone to do with dryness and who actually came up with this relationship first?
I was hoping that one of us (among our coffee group) would have answers, but to my surprise all of us were equally ignorant. Later that day I checked the Wikipedia for any information on bone-dry, and again to my surprise wiki did not have any mention either. It does have a mention of ‘bonedry’ which apparently is a type of clay that is completely dried. So I did the next best thing, just googled it, and found some interesting thoughts (though none of them mention anything concrete about the origins).
According to one source, 'Bone dry' derives from an allusion to the dryness of bone after being left in the sun (Clearly someone out there tried to dry bones under the sun!). It goes on to say that the earliest known use of this team was in 1830 by the clergyman Robert Forby. Then there are those who think that ‘bone-dry’ actually is a variant of ‘bonedry” (the dry clay which forms porcelain). Once source points to the Bible, where a reference to bone dry is made, but here a lot is left to imagination (as is the case with most of the interpretations from religious texts).
To sum up, there is no clear answer. If someone else has anything interesting to add about ‘bone-dry’ please don’t hesitate do so.
3 Responses to “Bone-dry: Does it really have anything to do with bones?”
Interesting question, one that I had also after seeing the term in a story just now. My quick search came up with the same results.
Given that "In vivo bone (living bone in the body) contains between 10% and 20% water. " (Structure of bone - http://www.doitpoms.ac.uk/tlplib/bones/structure.php), I'm surprised that we don't run across more comments by researchers or orthopedic doctors or the like.
I used this phrase yesterday and the recipient wasn't clear of its meaning. I don't know when I learned it, but have been using the phrase for years.
Here's my take on it. We make up ways to "express" meaning all the time. We try to combine familiar words together that most people will understand in order to help the listener paint a picture in their mind. Some examples: white as a ghost, blood red, black as night, bone chilling, wet sack and the list goes on and on.
The expression "bone dry" most assuredly became common phrase when people would come across remains of a body, be it animal or human. Examining any bones that have been lying around for a long period of time would only be a pile of bones. And we know that those bones would be very dry.
And so another expression comes to mind regarding bones: picked clean. Animals and such would eat the bones clean.
We'll never really know exactly where these expression were originally conceived, but it is fun to imagine.
I used this phrase yesterday and the recipient wasn't clear of its meaning. I don't know when I learned it, but have been using the phrase for years.
Here's my take on it. We make up ways to "express" meaning all the time. We try to combine familiar words together that most people will understand in order to help the listener paint a picture in their mind. Some examples: white as a ghost, blood red, black as night, bone chilling, wet sack and the list goes on and on.
The expression "bone dry" most assuredly became common phrase when people would come across remains of a body, be it animal or human. Examining any bones that have been lying around for a long period of time would only be a pile of bones. And we know that those bones would be very dry.
And so another expression comes to mind regarding bones: picked clean. Animals and such would eat the bones clean.
We'll never really know exactly where these expression were originally conceived, but it is fun to imagine.
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