Where did the idiom every other come from?
"I married Marsha because every other girl in town laughed in my face" makes sense literally but if you interpret it idiomatically, you've proposed to hald the girls in town.
I don't find anything explaining the origin of "every other" in the sense of alternating between selecting and deselecting items in a sequence, as opposed to inverting a prior selection.
I feel sorry for anyone trying to learn how to speak English. John W. Campbell once proposed a phonetic alphabet designed to confuse and confound the enemy by using words that sound like they start with another letter. That is, quixotic pneumonia would be QP, not KN. He asked readers for help finding letters, but I don't think he ever published a complete alphabet.
You might also want to consider that there is hyperbole as well.
EmmettRedd said
You might also want to consider that there is hyperbole as well.
And parabole, too, although none but a mathematician is likely to wonder whether that word exists.
deaconB said: I don’t find anything explaining the origin of “every other” in the sense of alternating between selecting and deselecting items in a sequence, as opposed to inverting a prior selection.
I think the phrase "every other" simply has 2 logical meanings, and the meaning would have to be inferred from context in each specific case.
1. I married Marsha because every other girl in town laughed in my face. Here the meaning is clearly "every girl other than Marsha."
2. I pulled every other box off the conveyor belt. Here the meaning could be "all but one box" or "every second box in the series" so further context would be needed. If the latter meaning is intended, then to be totally clear I would rewrite the sentence as something like: I pulled every second box off the conveyor belt.
I share your pity for those attempting to learn our language. I've been speaking it all my life, and it still confuses me sometimes.
Heimhenge said
I think the phrase "every other" simply has 2 logical meanings, and the meaning would have to be inferred from context in each specific case.
I ought not mention that there is only *one second item in a series. "Every second item" is as idiomatic as "every other item" for the literal "alternating items. I'm not questioning yjr meaning of either idiom, nor their validity in writing or speaking. They are firmly entrenched in the language.
My question is when where, and how these ifions, which conflict with the literal sense of their words, came into being. I can conjecture that animals were coming off the ark, and Noah said "I'll grab the first one that exits the ark and leas it to freedom, and you grab every other one" except that Noah didn't take two of every species; he took seven cattle, for instance. That is, if you believe the boble. But most people who claim to believe thye ninle haven't read it, and they think he took two of each species. And if you don't believe every word of the bible, the first seven chapters of Genesis will surely trigger your disbelief.