Transcript of “Straight and Narrow, Not Straightened Arrow”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Lauren from West Kentucky.
Hi, Lauren. Welcome to the program. What’s up?
We had had a question of which is the correct way of saying this phrase?
Is it straight and narrow or is it said straightened arrow?
Who’s we? You said we was trying to figure this out. Who’s we? Family members?
Well, I would hope me and some other people, and I’m not the only person getting this confused.
The question from the show, if I’m remembering correctly, it was a few weeks ago.
What’s the saying that you heard wrong and have been using wrong all this time?
And when I met my husband 12 years ago, I used the phrase, and to this day, I couldn’t tell you which one I thought it was and which one it really is.
And he said, what did you just say? And we realized that I had been saying this phrase wrong all of my life.
While I believe I understand the meaning, it means, you know, I’m on a higher path. I’m doing good in my life now. I’m doing right things.
I don’t know which way is correct to say it, but I believe them to mean the same thing, however it’s phrased.
So you’re talking about it’s either straight and narrow, or an arrow that’s been straightened out, right?
Correct. Correct.
Okay. All right.
And they do sort of mean the same thing.
But the one that’s correct is straight and narrow, the three-word phrase.
Sure.
Meaning, you know, a path that you follow that’s very straight and very narrow and often refers to behavior, you know, doing everything meticulously and virtuously.
But this expression is really interesting, Lauren, because actually the original version of straight and narrow featured a different kind of straight.
It featured the word straight spelled S-T-R-A-I-T.
Okay.
And that’s like a geological feature?
Exactly.
Exactly.
A strait is a narrow passage, whether it’s in geology or, say, in a maritime context.
You know, you’re going through something very, very narrow.
And think about the term dire straits, you know, like sailors traveling in dire straits.
And you also see that strait in the thing that they put on people.
A strait jacket was originally spelled that way.
The idea is something very tight, very narrow.
But here’s what’s really cool about this expression, straight and narrow, with the straight spelled S-T-R-A-I-T, meaning really narrow, goes all the way back to the biblical book of Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount.
Isn’t that interesting?
Wow.
And nobody knows that when we use it, you know, just in passing conversation.
Martha does.
You are exact.
Well, yeah.
This is why we pay you the big bucks, right?
Kentucky Preacher’s Daughter does.
Yes.
You know, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives all this advice, you know, blessed are the meek, judge not, do unto others.
And right after he gives that advice about doing unto others the way you would like people to treat you, immediately afterwards, he talks about how you must behave in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.
And in modern translations, that verse starts out, enter by the narrow gate.
For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction.
Meaning, you know, it’s a really narrow path that you have to follow to get into heaven.
But if you go back to the King James Version, it doesn’t say enter at the narrow gate.
It says enter ye in at the straight gate with straight spelled S-D-R-A-I-T.
And so originally, originally the term straight and narrow literally meant especially narrow.
Take that super narrow path of righteousness.
But over time, because this expression is so confusing and you thought it was straight and narrow and and other people thought that it was straight and narrow, which also makes sort of sense, doesn’t it?
Sure.
And that was the worst part about not knowing for sure is I could have explained any of them as being correct.
And it’s interesting to hear this explanation that straightened arrow, the object, a straightened arrow, feels more like you’ve been on a bad path and now you’re on a good one.
Which isn’t necessarily what the biblical definition, you know, what they were trying to say.
They were just telling you from the get-go, you’re going to have to take the harder road to get where you want to be.
It’s not going to be easy at any point.
Right.
Well, that’s a really good point.
Well, Lauren, thank you for your call.
We really appreciate it.
Thank you.
You guys have a great day.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
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