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re: Down the "pike" or "pipe"
Posted on 5/28/14 at 9:58 pm to S
Posted on 5/28/14 at 9:58 pm to S
I am a classicist Dandy, so I say Pike.
Down the pike v. Down the pipe
"The idiom meaning soon to happen or appear was originally coming down the pike, not coming down the pipe, but both forms are now widely used and understood. In coming down the pike, the noun pike is short for turnpike, which is a broad road, sometimes a toll road. This usage of pike originated in the U.S. in the early 19th century, and the earliest known instances of coming down the pike appeared around 1900. Pike soon fell out of use and has survived almost exclusively in this idiom, so it’s understandable that so many English speakers resist using it. Meanwhile, pipe is of course a very familiar word, and things do come down pipes sometimes, so it’s easy to see why pipe has taken pike‘s place in the idiom, even if the pipe metaphor doesn’t hold up under logical scrutiny."
Down the pike v. Down the pipe
"The idiom meaning soon to happen or appear was originally coming down the pike, not coming down the pipe, but both forms are now widely used and understood. In coming down the pike, the noun pike is short for turnpike, which is a broad road, sometimes a toll road. This usage of pike originated in the U.S. in the early 19th century, and the earliest known instances of coming down the pike appeared around 1900. Pike soon fell out of use and has survived almost exclusively in this idiom, so it’s understandable that so many English speakers resist using it. Meanwhile, pipe is of course a very familiar word, and things do come down pipes sometimes, so it’s easy to see why pipe has taken pike‘s place in the idiom, even if the pipe metaphor doesn’t hold up under logical scrutiny."
This post was edited on 5/28/14 at 10:01 pm
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