Bats in the belfry, credentials

Biden Is Obama's Pick for VP
CHICAGO, Aug. 22 -- Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), a two-time presidential candidate who has collected substantial foreign policy credentials in his three decades in the Senate, will be announced Saturday morning as Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, a Democratic source said Friday night.
(By Anne E. Kornblut, Michael D. Shear and Anita Kumar, The Washington Post)

belfry

(bĕl'frē)


n., pl. -fries.

1. A bell tower, especially one attached to a building.
2. The part of a tower or steeple in which bells are hung.

[Middle English belfrei, from Old North French belfroi, alteration of Old French berfrei, berfroi.]

belfried bel'fried adj.

WORD HISTORY The words bell and belfry seem obviously related, but in fact the bel– portion of belfry had nothing to do with bells until comparatively recently.

Belfry goes back to a compound formed in prehistoric Common Germanic. It is generally agreed that the second part of this compound is the element *frij–, meaning “peace, safety.” The first element is either *bergan, “to protect,” which would yield a compound meaning “a defensive place of shelter,” or *berg–, “a high place,” which would yield a compound meaning “a high place of safety, tower.”

Whatever the meaning of the original Germanic source, its Old French descendant berfrei, which first meant “siege tower,” came to mean “watchtower.” Presumably because bells were used in these towers, the word was applied to bell towers as well. The Old North French alteration belfroi, which reminded English speakers of their native word belle (our bell), entered Middle English with the sense “bell tower,” first recorded in 1272.

Bats in the belfry Meaning Crazy; eccentric. Origin Bats are, of course, the erratically flying mammals and 'belfries' are bell towers, sometimes found at the top of churches. 'Bats in the belfry' refers to someone who acts as though he has bats careering around his topmost part, i.e. his head. It has the sound of a phrase from Olde Englande and it certainly has the imagery to fit into any number of Gothic novels based in English parsonages or turreted castles. In fact, it comes from the USA; nor is it especially old. All the early citations are from American authors and date from the start of the 20th century. For example, this piece from the Ohio newspaper The Newark Daily Advocate, October 1900: To his hundreds of friends and acquaintances in Newark, these purile [sic] and senseless attacks on Hon. John W. Cassingham are akin to the vaporings of the fellow with a large flock of bats in his belfry." Ambrose Bierce, also American, used the term in a piece for Cosmopolitan Magazine, in July 1907, describing it as a new curiosity: "He was especially charmed with the phrase 'bats in the belfry', and would indubitably substitute it for 'possessed of a devil', the Scriptural diagnosis of insanity." The use of 'bats' and 'batty' to denote odd behaviour originated around the same time as 'bats in the belfry' and they are clearly related. Again, the first authors to use the words are American: 1903 A. L. Kleberg - Slang Fables from Afar: "She ... acted so queer ... that he decided she was Batty." 1919 Fannie Hurst - Humoresque: "'Are you bats?' she said." There have been several attempts over the years to associate the term 'batty' with various people called Batty or Battie, notably the 18th century physician William Battie. He was a governor of the Bethlem Hospital, a.k.a. Bedlam, and physician to St Luke's Hospital for Lunaticks, where he wrote A Treatise on Madness. Despite those illustrious credentials, it was bats rather than Battie that caused scatterbrained people to be called 'batty'.

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credentials Hide phonetics
plural noun
the abilities and experience which make someone suitable for a particular job or activity, or proof of someone's abilities and experience:
All the candidates had excellent academic credentials.
She was asked to show her press credentials.

cre・den・tial

━━ n. （pl.） 信任状; 推薦状; 人物［資格］証明書.

n.

1. That which entitles one to confidence, credit, or authority.
2. credentials Evidence or testimonials concerning one's right to credit, confidence, or authority: The new ambassador presented her credentials to the president.

tr.v. Usage Problem., -tialed, -tial·ing, -tials.

To supply with credentials: “trained, professional, credentialed child care” (Lee Salk).

[From Medieval Latin crēdentiālis, giving authority, from crēdentia, trust. See credence.]

USAGE NOTE The use of the participle credentialed to refer to certified teachers and other professionals is well established (She became credentialed through a graduate program at a local college), but its more general use to mean “possessing professional or expert credentials” is still widely considered jargon. The sentence The board heard testimony from a number of credentialed witnesses was unacceptable to 85 percent of the Usage Panel.

presentation of credentials 遞交國書