Belly Up

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hello, this is Tracy Sherbrook calling from Kirby, Vermont.

Hi, Tracy. Welcome to the program.

Hi, Tracy.

Hi. Hi, Grant. Hi, Martha.

Assuming that I have any matter left in my mind, or that what I have left in my mind matters, I have a question for you.

My husband and I, he very often uses interesting little euphemisms, and we were talking about the slow service at a local business. They were very nice, but we were discussing the fact that if such service continued, they were going to go belly up before long.

And belly up got me to thinking, and he and I started discussing the origins of belly up. And obviously there’s a visual that goes along with that that’s very graphic, a dead fish, a boat that’s turned over, a submissive dog.

But we wondered what the actual origin of the phrase is, where it came from, what the actual visual attachment would be.

Mm—

I mean, how can you not think of dead fish if, you know, when you hear that expression? I mean, didn’t we all bring home a little goldfish in a baggie? Didn’t make it home.

Yeah, either didn’t make it home or the next morning you go in and it’s belly up. I mean, I’m traumatized still.

Well, you were supposed to take it out of the bag.

Well, no, but you played the $2 ping-pong toss at the county fair, right? And they give you a 10 cent fish for your $2, right? And you bring it home and maybe it makes it, maybe it doesn’t.

But the fish is held vertical, you know, dorsal fin up, right, by his little fins. And when he stops moving those fins, he kind of flops on his side and you can see his belly, right?

Yeah.

He is not literally belly straight up, but belly more up.

Yeah.

And I think those are the earliest examples we see of it and the most common. Hundreds of years. This is a metaphor that’s existed in English for hundreds of years.

And so it’s the fish when we talk about belly up. It’s not about a submissive dog. Bugs occasionally do end up with their bellies up. But fish, like consistently when they’re dead, you can see their bellies in a way that you can’t when they’re alive.

Well, the belly up is interesting, too. You mentioned as a verb, right? Belly up to the bar, certainly. That came up in our conversation.

Oh, really?

I mentioned that, too. Now, that’s interesting because I’ve seen belly used as a word for crawl, like to crawl on your belly in the past.

Oh, to belly down a hallway or something?

Well, you know, an animal bellying through the grass or something. And so I’ve never been clear if belly up to the bar means you stick your fat belly up against the bar or you’re just crawling for one last drink.

I think you’re just putting your belly up to the bar. That’s what I think.

Well, I hope we’ve helped.

You have been wonderful.

All right. It’s been a joy talking to both of you. I actually came up with a word to describe the two of you because you’re such a great team.

-oh.

It is fascintillating. It’s fascinating and scintillating.

Oh, it reminds me of scrumtralescent. Fascintillating.

I like that.

Tracy, thanks for calling.

Thank you very much, Grant.

Our pleasure. It’s been wonderful.

Bye-bye.

Take care.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

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