Wednesday, 14 October 2009

Sold down the river

The expression probably first appeared in print around 1837: it was applied to slaves who had been troublesome to their masters in the northern slave states and were sold into much harsher conditions in Mississippi. Since P G Wodehouse used it figuratively in 1927 it seems to have established itself permanently as a boring old cliché pointlessly replacing betrayed.

Sad to see it appear twice in the Guardian last Saturday, applied to football fans who were deprived of a television viewing of England's World cup qualifier, and to the English hacker who was refused permission to appeal to the supreme court against his extradition.
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2 comments:

Froog said...

It seems it is my turn to encounter difficulties in registering a comment through Blogger. I tried a couple of times on Thursday, but both times my contribution was gobbled up by gremlins.

I agreed that the increasing frequency of the usage is unfortunate, and that if the phrase is to fulfil any useful role in our language it ought to have a much narrower definition than simply 'betrayed'.

I am distressed to discover that my beloved Wodehouse is responsible for this unlovely linguistic innovation.

I also mentioned that the phrase famously occurs - in its original meaning - in Mark Twain's savage satire on race, Puddn'head Wilson; particularly, if I recall correctly, in a chilling last line. It's also worth remembering that in that novel the prospect of "being sold down the river" is so terrifying that a female slave actually contemplates killing herself and her infant son to avoid it.

7:53 am
Tony said...

Glad you got through eventually.

8:40 am

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