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Touch and Go
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Where does this come from. Touch and go........What?
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Interesting question... Word Detective says:
The phrase "touch and go" was almost 300 years old by the time Poe used it, having first appeared around 1549 in a literal sense of "to touch for an instant and then leave or move on." By 1675 "touch and go" was being used to describe someone of impatient temperament, and by 1812 it was being used in a related sense of "rushed, careless, or slipshod," as in "touch and go" schoolwork done by a child eager to go outside and play.
By 1815, however, "touch and go" was also being used in its modern sense of "dangerous" or "precarious," often in the sense of a narrow escape from disaster, as when two ships graze each other in passing. Today we often use "touch and go" to mean "delicate, risky, and by no means certain of success," often in regard to negotiations or complicated surgery.
We do use the phrase in aviation to describe a practice landing, usually by a student pilot, that involves landing, but taking off again from the landing roll to expedite the useage of the aircraft and runway... closer to the original meaning as described above...
The phrase "touch and go" was almost 300 years old by the time Poe used it, having first appeared around 1549 in a literal sense of "to touch for an instant and then leave or move on." By 1675 "touch and go" was being used to describe someone of impatient temperament, and by 1812 it was being used in a related sense of "rushed, careless, or slipshod," as in "touch and go" schoolwork done by a child eager to go outside and play.
By 1815, however, "touch and go" was also being used in its modern sense of "dangerous" or "precarious," often in the sense of a narrow escape from disaster, as when two ships graze each other in passing. Today we often use "touch and go" to mean "delicate, risky, and by no means certain of success," often in regard to negotiations or complicated surgery.
We do use the phrase in aviation to describe a practice landing, usually by a student pilot, that involves landing, but taking off again from the landing roll to expedite the useage of the aircraft and runway... closer to the original meaning as described above...
1 to 2 of 2
