Etymology of Measure Fathom

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Nick calling from Chicago.

I have a question about the word fathom.

Now, I’ll give you the back story.

I am in my second year of my job,

So it’s not the most stable position in the world.

So my goal is not to miss a day

For anything short of, you know, a near-fatal illness.

And so my friend kind of dropped to me that,

You know, I should just take a day to, you know,

Sit at home and relax and just kind of chill out.

It’s called a personal holiday, which I’m sure lots of people take from time to time.

And I had said, I can’t fathom taking a day like that at this point in my career.

And we kind of started scribbling about connotation of the word.

He was saying that that didn’t really work for my sentence,

Mostly because it’s more used in logic and more mathematical things,

Because he is a mathematician, so that would be down his alley.

Where I was, it would be more acceptable to have a general use like I had used,

Meaning, well, given everything that’s going on and that it’s a new career,

I wouldn’t dare take a day off of work for personal reasons.

So I just thought I’d call and ask what your thoughts on the word are.

So your question about the word fathom is what exactly?

I’m kind of curious about the origin and given the origin, some of the connotative uses.

Is it a more logical use of the word or is it more, I was thinking a little beyond just the logical use.

Well, I can tell you about the origin of the word, Nick.

It’s one of my favorite words, in fact, because in Old English,

Fathom meant the length of a man’s outstretched arms from fingertip to fingertip.

Okay.

It was a unit of measurement, and it’s usually about six feet.

And so later on in Shakespeare, you hear full fathom five, which means five times six, five times six feet, 30 feet.

So to fathom, the verb really means literally to get your arms around something.

And so metaphorically, to comprehend, to understand.

I love that word because I just love the image of fathom being sort of your wingspan.

And then the idea of grasping a subject or an idea.

Yeah.

Right, grasping another one of those verbs that behave the same way

Can mean to literally grab something with your hand

Or to metaphorically grab something with your brain.

Apprehend works the same way.

Right.

It means to catch someone or to understand,

Although it’s less common in that use.

Right.

So when you’re talking about connotations, Nick,

Yeah.

What exactly do you mean?

When I said connotation,

When I was thinking about, like I said, he had, my friend had thought that it was maybe more of a specifically logical thing.

You know, fathom this problem or fathom the answer of this particular ecclesiastical,

Rather than, oh, more maybe of an emotionally oriented thing or just kind of a general personal,

Like I can’t take a day of work, I can’t grasp what it would be like for me to take a day of work.

I would lean toward your interpretation of that.

Okay.

Grant, would you agree with that?

Yeah, I think that’s fine.

Okay.

You sound like you’re clear on the meaning and the use.

Right, we’re clear on the meaning.

We were just not sure about some of the finer aspects of the word

And where it might fit best in which kind of situation.

One of the interesting things about the use is that it’s almost always used

In a construction similar to the ones that you’re talking about,

Which is I can’t fathom or I couldn’t fathom.

You’d almost never say, I fathom that.

And that’s a good point.

Or I am fathoming what you’re saying.

You’d almost never say that.

Yeah, and I was surprised when I had been questioned on that use

Because I’ve heard that construction before.

And so I was a little taken aback when we got into our little discussion.

So I’m glad to have clarified that and to know that it’s not just me

Kind of misconstruing something I’d heard before.

Okay.

All right.

Well, thank you so much.

Thank you very much.

I really appreciate it.

Okay, Nick, thanks.

Yeah, have a good one.

Well, if you can’t fathom something about language, give us a call.

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