AboutTed Nesbitt Expertise I have an interest in the meanings of words and phrases, as well as how and when they became part of the English language. I enjoy
researching idioms, colloquialisms, dialects, and obscurities of
all kinds. I prefer short questions on a particular subject, and
I will not accept lengthy research projects or term papers. NOTE: ALLEXPERTS CLAIMS THAT I TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN AND FROM LATIN TO ENGLISH. I DO NOT. ALLEXPERTS REFUSES TO DELETE THE LATIN-TO-ENGLISH SERVICE -- ONE THAT I DO NOT PROVIDE.
TRUST ME ON THIS: ALLEXPERTS IS WRONG. I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LANGUAGE. LOOK FOR A LANGUAGE EXPERT INSTEAD. ETYMOLOGY AND TRANSLATING SERVICES ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. ALLEXPERTS SHOULD KNOW THAT. ALLEXPERTS DOES NOT KNOW THAT. I HAVE TRIED FOR MANY YEARS TO GET THEM TO CHANGE. THEY WILL NOT. SORRY, BUT I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN.
Experience I am the bibliographic instruction and reference librarian at a public
college. My master's thesis concerns William Faulkner's tragic novels. I formerly taught advanced placement English at two schools in the Philadelphia area.
I have been a member of the grammar and writing section of Allexperts
for more than a year.
Education/Credentials Masters degrees in English, philosophy, and library science.
Question What is the origin of BULLSEYE in the context of Archery? Is it directly related to the appearance of a (startled) Bulls' Eye, or is there an earlier parallel with Glass Windows, Boullion.
Answer Peter:
The origin is rather unclear, specifically in relationship to archery. The phrase "bull's eye" [from the French, "oeil de boeuf"] has been used in connection with so many different things, it's almost like it is "generic."
The earliest entry in WRITTEN English, according to "The Oxford English Dictionary," is in reference to glass -- "a thick boss or prominence in the center of a glass pane." The year was 1825.
I mention that reference in particular, because it is the first time that the word "center" [the English word is "centre"] is used. The word, prior 1825, meant simply a "glass lens." [date = 1753].
From the association with the actual resemblance to the eye of a bull, the phrase "bull's eye" has had several other meanings: circular tatted lace; a round "glob" of sweetmeats; and a slang expression for the English crown piece [1690]. It was used as early as 1753 as a nautical term, describing a certain kind of cloud that usually developed into a storm.
According to the OED entries, the first mention of "bull's eye" as a TARGET was in 1833, and it was in reference NOT to archery, but to guns [see below].
Although the phrase has been applied to many different things [as I mentioned above], "The Oxford English Dictionary" gives no direct association with archery.
Presumably, when bows and arrows were used in hunting and in battle, the phrase was not used. It became commonplace in association with gunfire, and then, presumably, the large targets used in archery practice were created, with the center of the target called "the bull's eye."
I am pasting in below the pertinent references from "The Oxford English Dictionary."
Ted Nesbitt
7. a. The centre of a target.
1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry I. 32 A bull's eye of eight inches diameter. 1840 DICKENS Old C. Shop 256 This is wide of the bull's-eye. 1860 G. H. K. Vacation Tour 121 The house..stands clear and white on the brown moor, like a target, with a black window for a bull's-eye.
b. A shot that hits the bull's-eye of a target; fig. a ‘shot’ that hits the mark.
1857 J. BLACKWOOD Let. 30 Jan. in G. S. Haight G. Eliot Lett. (1954) II. 290 The public is a very curious animal and..how difficult it is to tell what will hit the bull's eye. 1887, 1891 [see INNER B. n.]. 1894 [see MAGPIE 7]. 1951 Essays in Criticism I. I. 6 Some of his observations..seem also to be very just especially his opinion of Amiel, which is a bulls-eye.
10. Naut. ‘A little dark cloud, reddish in the middle, chiefly appearing about the Cape of Good Hope’ (Chambers Cycl. Supp. 1753), supposed to portend a storm; hence the storm itself.
