On the Word : Canary

The Oxford English Dictionary lists 16 different meanings of the word 'canary.' It ultimately derives from the Latin word "canis," meaning "dog." This may seem strange, given that most people in the English speaking word associate the term (I assume) with the name of a type of bird. The reason for this discrepancy is that the name of the bird comes from the location where it can be found - namely, the Canary Islands off of the coast of Africa. These islands, however, derive their name from either the presence of large dogs on the largest of the island (i.e. Insula Canaria, according to Pliny), or from the name of a Berber people (the Canarii) from Morocco, who may have settled the islands before the arrival of the Spaniards. Etymonline considers Pliny's derivation to be a folk etymology, while Wikipedia mentions only Pliny's explanation in its article on the domestic canary, while describing the derivation from the name of the Berber tribe as a "legend of the islands" in its article on the wild canary (also known as the Atlantic canary).

The color known as "canary" is a bright yellow, derived from the color of the wild canary, which is mostly yellow and green. The domestic variety of the bird, having undergone more extensive breeding, correspondingly has a wider range of colors. In the wool industry the color is sometimes used to describe the wool of various breeds of sheep, such as Merino and Rambouillet.

The dance known as the canary dance originated in the Canary Islands, hence the name. Wikipedia notes that it may be a form of the Tajaraste dance (from the Berber "tajarast"). It became popular throughout Europe during the Renaissance, and involves rapid stamping of the heel and toe; although given some of the performances I've seen, one might consider the accuracy of the adjective "rapid" to be in the eye of the beholder. Shakespeare mentions the dance in All's Well That Ends Well : "I have seen a medicine that's able to breathe life into a stone, and make you dance canary with sprightly fire and motion..."

Shakespeare also mentions the wine known as canary at least three times; in Henry IV Part 2, he goes so far as describes it thus : "But, i'faith, you have drunk too much canaries, and that's a marvellous searching wine, and it perfumes the blood..." It's a sweet white wine sometimes called Malmsey in England. Apparently the Canary Islands have been lucky enough over the centuries to escape the scourge of phylloxera, an insect which destroys vines; this means that canary has been developed without the need for rootstocks.

Australian prisoners are known as "canaries" in early literature (among many other terms). The source of this is probably the idea that an inmate is trapped in a cage - consider the phrase "a jailbird" - together with the fact that the color of prisoners garb in that country is traditionally yellow, which connotes disgrace.

The slang term meaning "informant," usually against fellow criminals, derives from the use of canary to mean a prisoner, together with the idea that canaries, like all songbirds, do not remain silent. The idiom "to sing like a canary" encapsulates this same idea. The Oxford English Dictionary claims that canary is first used in this way in 1912, though it doesn't specify in which text; however I find it interesting that Edward Frederic Benson's novel A Reaping, first published in 1909, and then republished in 1912 in combination with another of his novels (The Book of Months), describes his conscience in terms of a canary which speaks to him.

The gold coin known as a canary is an obsolete term, last used in print in 1928, though the term is still used in auction houses. This currency should definitely not be confused with the similarly named cryptocurrency, which is, shall we say, a bit newer. It is used by the Canary Decentralized Exchange, under the symbol CNR.

The idiom "a canary in a coal mine" indicates an early indicator of danger. Miners used to use the birds to detect the presence of carbon monoxide, as the canaries would die from the fumes before the person was affected. This practice was mandated in England in 1911 (though the law did not specify the species of birds to be used), and continued all the way up until 1996, when legislation was introduced to replace the birds with electronic sensors. The blogger Amelie Bonney provides a veritable wealth of information about this phrase at review.gale.com (cited in the sources).

The idiom "like the cat that ate the canary" means "self-satisfied in a smug way," though it can also mean "someone with an appearance suggesting guilt mixed with other qualities, such as pleasure or feigned unconcern." The origin of the phrase is unclear, though it may derive from a joke which was popular in the late 1800's : "Father: That cat made an awful noise in the back garden last night. Son: Yes, sir. I guess that since he ate the canary, he thinks he can sing." If this is true, then the singing quality of the canary is why this particular type of bird is used in the phrase. Indeed, the OED lists one of the meanings of canary to be "a female singer," dating from 1862. Phrases.com, however, claims that the phrase appears earlier, in the mid-1700s, and that it derives from various cartoons showing cats attempting to eat caged canaries. No sources are given, but at least that's more appealing to me than LanGeek's claims that the phrase has its origins "in English literature," which basically says nothing.

The phrase "to have a canary" appears to be a British phrase equivalent to the American phrase "to have a cow" meaning "to overreact." The same phrase in Ireland also involves a raising of the voice during the overreaction. This phrase possibly derives from a malapropism of the phrase "to have a coronary;" all of these thoughts are quite speculative however, as they derive from an online forum and are thus not as well established as other sources.

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Sources :

https://www.oed.com/search/advanced/Meanings?textTermText0=canary&textTermOpt0=WordPhrase&textTermExactMatch0=true&tl=true, accessed 2024-11-19

https://www.etymonline.com/word/canary, accessed 2024-11-19

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_canary#Etymology, accessed 2024-11-19

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_canary#Etymology, accessed 2024-11-19

https://piktochart.com/tips/what-color-is-canary-yellow, accessed 2024-11-19

https://www.publish.csiro.au/cp/AR9760687, accessed 2024-11-19

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_dance, accessed 2024-11-20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EvYXxbchfw, accessed 2024-11-20

https://www.shakespeareswords.com/Public/Play.aspx?WorkId=30&Scene=1&Act=2#220994, accessed 2024-11-20

https://collections.etoncollege.com/cheers, accessed 2024-11-20

https://www.shakespeareswords.com/Public/Play.aspx?WorkId=39&Scene=4&Act=2#258890, accessed 2024-11-20