copperfasten
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
copper + fasten. From copper sheathing of ship hulls (to protect from damage by marine organisms. Originally copper sheathing but non-copper bolts were used, leading to corrosion. Later copper bolts (fasteners) were also used, eliminating corrosion issues. Literal sense from 18th century, metaphorical sense attested 1948.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɑpɚˌfæsn̩/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɒpəˌfɑːsn̩/
Verb[edit]
copperfasten (third-person singular simple present copperfastens, present participle copperfastening, simple past and past participle copperfastened)
- (transitive, historical) To protect the timbers of (a ship) with plates of copper secured with copper nails or bolts.
- 1796, The Hull Advertiser, 9th July 1796:[1]
- She is copper-fastened and copper-bottomed, and a remarkable fine ship.
- 1796, The Hull Advertiser, 9th July 1796:[1]
- (transitive, figuratively, British, Ireland) To reinforce, strengthen; to make permanent, embed.
- 1948, The Evening Independent, November 1948:[1]
- We had some striking examples of what happens when a guy gets so big for his britches that any pal of his is automatically a copper-fastened genius.
- 2010 “Supreme Court rules on law translation”, RTÉ News, May 6, 2010:
- This brings to an end a ten-year campaign by Pol O Murchú and other Irish language activists to copperfasten rights to have Irish language legislation made available […]
- 1948, The Evening Independent, November 1948:[1]
Usage notes[edit]
Particularly used attributively, as copper-fastened (less commonly, copperfastened).
Originally (in literal sense) an intensifier of copper-bottomed, meaning not only that the plates were copper, but the fasteners too.[1] In meaning close to copper-bottomed, but emphasis on security and lack of ambiguity (compare nailed down), rather than on certainty and trustworthiness.[1]
Related terms[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Gary Martin (1997–) “Copper-bottomed”, in The Phrase Finder, retrieved 26 February 2017.
- “A Shipwright” “Foreign Zinc Plate” The Mechanic's Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal, and Gazette (31 May 1834) Vol.21, No.564, p.136