Tiger

Tiger (pronounced tahy-ger)

(1) A large, carnivorous, tawny-colored and black-striped feline, Panthera tigris, of Asia, ranging in several subspecies from India and the Malay Peninsula to Siberia.

(2) In non-technical use, the cougar, jaguar, thylacine, or other animal resembling the tiger (in wide use in southern Africa of leopards).

(3) A person of some fierceness, noted for courage or a ferocious, bloodthirsty and audacious person.

(4) In heraldry, a representation of a large mythological cat, used on a coat of arms, often with the spelling tyger or tygre (to distinguish the mythological beast from the natural tiger (also blazoned Bengal tiger), also used in heraldry).

(5) A pneumatic box or pan used in refining sugar.

(6) Any of several strong, voracious fishes, as a sand shark.

(7) Any of numerous animals with stripes similar to a tiger's.

(8) A servant in livery who rides with his master or mistress, especially a page or groom (archaic).

(9) In entomology & historic aviation, a clipping of tiger moth (in the family Arctiidae), tiger beetle or tiger butterfly (in tribe Danaini, especially subtribe Danaina).

(10) Any of the three Australian species of black-and-yellow striped dragonflies of the genus Ictinogomphus.

(11) In US, slang, someone noted for their athleticism or endurance during sexual intercourse.

(12) In southern African slang, a ten-rand note.

(13) As TIGR (pronounced as for “tiger”), the abbreviation for Treasury Investment Growth Receipts: a bond denominated in dollars and linked to US treasury bonds, the yield on which is taxed in the UK as income when it is cashed or redeemed.

Pre 1000: From the Middle English tygre & tigre, from the Old English tīgras (plural) and the Anglo-Norman tigre (plural), from the Latin tīgris, from the Ancient Greek τίγρις (tígris), from an Iranian source akin to the Old Persian tigra- (sharp, pointed) and related to the Avestan tighri & tigri (arrow) and tiγra (pointed), the reference being to the big cats “springing” on to their prey but the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) notes no application of either word (or any derivative) to the tiger is known in Zend.  It was used of “tiger-like” people since the early sixteenth century and that could be complementary or pejorative although the female form (tigress) seems only to have been used in zoology since the 1610s and was never applied to women.  The tiger's-eye (yellowish-brown quartz) was first documented in 1886.  The word “liger”, like the creature it described, was a forced mating of lion and tiger.  As a modifier, tiger is widely used including the forms: American tiger, Amur tiger, Asian Tiger, Mexican tiger, Siberian tiger, tiger barb, tiger beetle, tiger bench, tiger-lily, tiger lily, tiger's eye, tiger shark & tiger's milk.  A female tiger is a tigeress.  The alternative spellings tigre & tyger are both obsolete.  Tiger & tigerishness are nouns, tigerly, tigerish & tigerlike are adjectives and tigerishly is an adverb; the noun plural is tigers.

Lindsay Lohan (b 1986) atop tiger in Kult Magazine (Italy), January 2012, photograph by Vijat Mohindra (b 1985), makeup by Joyce Bonelli (b 1981).

In idiomatic use, a country said to have a “tiger economy” (rapid and sustained economic growth), especially if disproportionate to population or other conventional measures.  “Tiger parent” (and especially “tiger mother”) refers to a strict parenting style demanding academic excellence and obedience from children; it’s associated especially with East Asian societies.  The “tiger cheer” dates from 1845 and originated in Princeton University, based on the institution’s mascot and involved the cheerleaders calling out "Tiger" at the end of a cheer accompanied by a jump or outstretched arms.  Beyond Princeton, a “tiger cheer” is any “shriek or howl at the end of a cheer”.  The phrase "paper tiger" was apparently first used by comrade Chairman Mao Zedong (1893–1976; chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 1949-1976) when discussing his thoughts about the imperialist powers.  A calque of the Chinese 紙老虎／纸老虎 (zhǐlǎohǔ), it referred to an ostensibly fierce or powerful person, country or organisation without the ability to back up their words; imposing but ineffectual.  Phrases in the same vein include "sheep in wolf's clothing" and "a bark worse than their bite".  To be said to “have a tiger by the tail” suggests one has found one’s self in a situation (1) that has turned out to be much more difficult to control than one had expected and (2) difficult to extricate one’s self from, the idea being that while holding the tiger’s tail, things are not good but if one lets go, things will likely become much worse.

Men in frock coats: The “Big Four” at the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920), outside the Foreign Ministry headquarters, Quai d'Orsay, Paris.  Left to right: David Lloyd George (1863–1945; UK prime-minister 1916-1922), Vittorio Orlando (1860–1952; Italian prime minister 1917-1919), Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929; French prime minister 1906-1909 & 1917-1920) and Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924; US president 1913-1921).

Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929; Prime Minister of France 1906-1909 & 1917-1920) was a physician who turned to politics via journalism, a not unfamiliar trajectory for many; at a time of national crisis, he undertook his second term as premier, providing the country’s politics with the stiffness needed to endure what was by then World War I (1914-1918); he was nick-named le tigre (the tiger) in honor of his ferociously combative political demeanour.  In February 1919, while travelling from his apartment a meeting associated with the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920), he was shot several times, his assailant an anarchist carpenter & joiner, Émile Cottin (1896-1937) and two decades on, another leader would learn carpenters can be assassins.  Le tigre was lucky, the bullets missing his vital organs although one which passed through the ribcage ending up lodged close to his heart; too close to that vital organ to risk surgery, there it remained until his death (from unrelated causes) ten years later.  Cottin’s death sentence was later commuted to a ten year sentence and he would die in battle, serving with the anarchist Durruti Column during the early days of the Spanish Civil War.  The Tiger’s response to his survival was to observe: “We have just won the most terrible war in history, yet here is a Frenchman who misses his target six out of seven times at point-blank range.  Of course this fellow must be punished for the careless use of a dangerous weapon and for poor marksmanship. I suggest that he be locked up for eight years, with intensive training in a shooting gallery.”  In the circumstances, deploring the state of French marksmanship displayed a certain sangfroid.

The Sunbeam Tigers

Sunbeam Tiger, LSR run, Southport Beach, March 1926.

There have been three Sunbeam Tigers, the first illustrious, the second fondly remembered and the last so anti-climatic it’s all but forgotten.  The first was a dedicated racing car, built between 1923-1925 and, those being times when there was less specialization, it was used both in circuit racing and, most famously, in setting the world Land Speed Record (LSR).  Although aerodynamic by the standards of the time (the techniques of streamlining learned in World War I (1914-1918) military aviation applied), there was little innovation in the platform except for the engine, the nature of which ensured the Tiger’s place in history.  For Grand Prix events conducted for cars with a maximum displacement of 2.0 litres (122 cubic inches), Sunbeam had earlier built a two litre straight-six, the limitations imposed by the relatively small size being offset by the use of the then still novel double overhead camshafts (DOHC) which allowed both more efficient combustion chambers and much higher engine speeds, thereby increasing power.  It was a robust, reliable power-plant and when contemplating an attempt on the LSR, instead of developing anything new or using the then popular expedient of installing a big & powerful but heavy and low-revving aero engine, the engineers paired two of the blocks and heads on a single crankcase, creating a 75° 3,976 cm³ (243 cubic inch) V12.  When supercharged, power outputs as high as 312 hp (233 kW) were registered.

Sunbeam Tiger in 1990.

Deteriorating weather conditions meant there wasn’t time even to paint the bodywork before the Tiger was rushed to the banked circuit at Brooklands for testing in September 1925 where performance exceeded expectations.  Over the winter, further refinements were made including a coat of most un-British bright red paint and it was in this color (and thus nick-named “Ladybird”) it was in March 1926 taken to the flat, hard sands of Southport Beach where duly it raised the LSR mark to 152.33 mph (245.15 km/h).  That was broken within a year but the Tiger still holds the record as the smallest displacement ICE (internal combustion engine) ever to hold the LSR and a century on, it’s a distinction likely to be retained forever.  After the run on the beach, it returned to the circuits.  A sister car was built and named Tigress; fitted with one of the big Napier Lion W12 aero engines, it still competes in historic competition but the Tiger is now a museum piece although, after 65 years, it did have a final fling when in 1990 it made one last run and this time set a mark of 159 mph (256 km/h).

Sunbeam Alpine (1959-1668) with the original tail fins: 1961 (left) and 1963 (right).  When in late 1958 the design was approved by the Rootes board, tail fins were fashionable but the moment passed and with the release of the Series IV in 1964, they were pruned.

Although successful in competition and the manufacturer of some much admired road cars, financial stability for Sunbeam was marginal for most of the 1920s and the Great Depression of the early 1930s proved its nemesis, the bankrupt company in 1934 purchased by the Rootes Group which was attracted by Sunbeam’s production facilities and their well-regarded line of HD (heavy duty) chassis for bus & truck operators.  Rootes over the years used the Sunbeam name in a desultory way, the vehicles little more than “badge engineered” versions of their Hillman, Singer, Humber & Talbot lines but one aberration was the Sunbeam Alpine, a small sports car (1959-1968).  Rootes had used the Alpine name before, adopted to take advantage of the success enjoyed in the 1953 Alpine Rally but the new roadster was very different.  Although the platform was taken (unpromisingly) from a small van (noted for its robustness and reliability but little else) with the rest of the structure a mash up of components from the Rootes parts bin, as a package it worked very well and the body was modern and attractive, owing more to small Italian sports cars than the often rather agricultural British competition from MG and Triumph.  The rakish fins drew the eye (not always uncritically) but they were very much of their time, taller even than those on the Daimler SP250 released the same year.  The Alpine was also pleasingly civilized with a heater which actually worked, a soft-top which didn’t leak (at least not as often or to the same extent as some others), external door handles and wind-up windows, none of those attributes guaranteed to exist on most of the local competition.  It was also commendably quiet, conversations possible and the radio able to be listened to even at cruising speed, then something then novel in little British roadsters.

1966 Sunbeam Tiger Mark IA.

With an engine capacity initially of 1.5 litres (91 cubic inch), the Alpine was never fast although that was hardly the point and Rootes advertising included some for what was then known as the “ladies market”.  Slightly larger engines would improve things but the performance deficit was better addressed when in 1964, a version of the Alpine called the Tiger was released, this time with Ford’s then new 260 cubic inch (4.2 litre) “thinwall” Windsor V8, about to become well known from its use in both the Ford Mustang and Shelby’s Cobra, the latter based on a much-modified AC Ace.  The Windsor V8 was called a “thinwall” because genuinely it was small and light (by V8 standards) but even so it only just fitted in the Alpine’s engine bay and so tight was the fit a small hatch was installed in the firewall (under the dashboard) so a hand could reach in to change one otherwise inaccessible spark plug.  That notwithstanding, the package worked and all those who wrote test reports seemed to enjoy the Tiger, noting the effortless performance, fine brakes and (within limits) predictable handling, all in something conveniently sized.  However, even in those more tolerant times, more than one journalist observed that although the Ford V8 used was in the mildest state of tune Ford offered (the ones Carroll Shelby (1923–2012) put in the Cobra producing over 100-odd HP (75 kW) more), it was clear the classis was close to the limit of what could be deemed sensible for road use.

Despite that, in the mid 1960s there was in the US quite an appetite for cars not wholly sensible for street use and late in 1966, a revised version was released, this time with a 289 cubic inch (4.7 litre) Windsor V8 and although there had been some attention to the underpinnings, it was now obvious that while still in the low-power state Ford used in station wagons and such, the 289's increased output exceeded the capability of the chassis.  For the journalists of course, that was highly entertaining and some were prepared to forgive, one cautioning only that the Tiger:

“…doesn’t take kindly to being flung around.  It’s a car with dignity as asks to be driven that way.  That doesn’t mean slowly, necessarily, but that there’s sufficient power on tap to embarrass the incautious.  But if you treat it right, respecting it for what it is, the Tiger can offer driving pleasure of a very high order.”

In the era, there were other over-powered machines which could behave worse and those able to read between the lines would know what they were getting but there may have been some who were surprised and tellingly, the Tigers were never advertised to the “ladies market” although one pink Tiger was in 1965 given as the traditional pink prize to Playboy’s PotY (Playmate of the Year).  Presumably she enjoyed it and, now painted "resale" red, the car still exists.

Jo Collins (b 1945), 1965 PotY with her 1965 Sunbeam Tiger Mark I.  All Tigers received the pruned fins, the once raked elliptical taillights assuming a vertical aspect.

The US was a receptive market for the little hot rod and one featured in the Get Smart TV series, although it’s said for technical reasons (the V8 version not having space in the engine compartment for some of the props), a re-badged Alpine was used for some scenes, the same swap effected for the 2008 film adaptation, a V8 exhaust burble dubbed where appropriate, a trick not uncommon in film-making.  Seeking a greater presence in Europe, Chrysler had first taken a stake in the Rootes Group in 1964 and assumed full control in 1967.  Although the Tiger was a low-volume line, it was profitable and Chrysler's original intention had been to to continue production of the Tiger (by 1967 powered by the 289) but with Chrysler’s 273 cubic inch (4.4 litre) LA V8 substituted.  Unfortunately, while 4.7 Ford litres filled it to the brim, 4.4 Chrysler litres overflowed; the Windsor truly was compact.  Allowing it to remain in production until the stock of already purchased Ford engines had been exhausted, Chrysler instead changed the advertising from emphasizing the “…mighty Ford V8 power plant” to the vaguely ambiguous “…an American V-8 power train”.  Still a popular car in the collector community, so easily modified are the V8s that few survive in their original form and many have been fitted with larger Windsors, the 302 (4.9 litre) the most popular and some have persuaded even the tall-deck 351 (5.8) to fit though not without modifications.

Sunbeam Tigers: 1965 model with “Powered by Ford 260” badge (left), 1967 model with “Sunbeam V8” badge (centre) and 1965 French market model with “Alpine 260” badge (right).

It wasn’t unknown for the major US manufacturers to use components from competitors, something which happened usually either because of a technology deficit or to do with licencing.  However, they much preferred it if what was used was hidden from view (like a transmission) so Chrysler’s reticence about advertising what had (through M&A (mergers & acquisitions)) activity become one of their cars being fitted with Ford V8 was understandable.  Not only was the advertising material swiftly changed but so were the badges: “Powered by Ford 260” giving way to “Sunbeam V8” for the rest of the Tiger’s life.  Unrelated to that however was the curious case of Tigers sold in South Africa or some European markets where they were designated variously as “Alpine 260”, “Alpine 289” or “Alpine V8”.

On the silver screen.

Sunbeam Alpine 260 opposite Simca Aronde and behind Renault 16 in the Italian film Come rubare la corona d'Inghilterra (1967) by Sergio Grieco (1917–1982).  The title translates literally as “How to Steal the Crown of England” but in the English-speaking world it’s better known as Argoman the Fantastic Superman.  The film garnered mixed reviews.

The reason the “Tiger” name never made it to the largest European markets was because Panhard in France was then selling a Tigre and Messerschmitt in the FRG (Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany; the old West Germany) 1949-1990), offered a Tiger.  The German Tiger can be visualized as something like the cockpit of a World War II (1939-1945) Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighter aircraft fitted with four wheels and a 500 cm³ engine; it was as entertaining as it sounds.  Apparently on advice from Rootes’ French distributers (Société des Automobiles Simca), it was decided just to use the Alpine name and the car thus was advertised in France, Germany Austria & Switzerland variously as the “Alpine 260” or “Alpine V8”, the latter making marketing sense in countries not used to cubic inches as a measure although the imperial measure may have been used to emphasize the US connection, Detroit's V8s deservedly enjoying a reputation for smoothness, power and reliability.  However, in places such as Sweden and Monaco where there was no concern with violating trademark law, the “Tiger” name was used, as it was for vehicles ordered by US citizens for delivery in Europe.  Typically these were armed forces personnel able to buy through the military’s PX (Post Exchange) stores and they enjoyed the benefit at the end of their deployment of the car being shipped to the US at no cost.  Volumes into Europe were always low and the sketchy records (assembled by Tiger owners clubs) suggest as few as seven Mark II models were exported to Europe, three of which went to France and by then the operation known as "Rootes Motors Overseas Ltd" had for all purposes switched their advertising to “Sunbeam Alpine V8”.

On the silver screen, with back projection.  Cary Grant (1904–1986, left) with (pre-princess) Grace Kelly (1929–1982; Princess Consort of Monaco 1956-1982, right) behind the wheel of 1953 Mark I Sunbeam Alpine (in Sapphire Blue) in To Catch a Thief (1955).

In 1955 Sunbeam did release an Alpine Mark III but there was never a Mark II, “skipping numbers” something not uncommon in aircraft and software but rare in automobiles.  For students of technology, the long scene of her driving (appearing to be filmed through the windscreen) is an example of the RPT (rear projection technique) used before CGI (computer-generated imagery) became possible.  While much of the film was shot on-location in Europe, the Alpine was shipped to the US for some of her driving scenes because only in Hollywood were there the big studios outfitted with the rear-projection equipment able to emulate 360^o settings.  RPT obviously created new possibilities for cinematographers but for directors there was the advantage of the driver not being compelled to “keep their eyes on the road”, however bad an example this may have set for impressionable audiences.  In the age of CGI, the RPT looks obviously fake but it was at the time state-of-the-art.

When first pondering the name to be used in Europe, within Rootes there may anyway have been awareness of the French manufacturer Peugeot in 1964 forcing Porsche to rename its new 901 to 911 (something which worked out OK) on the basis of the argument they had an “exclusive right in France” to sell cars with three numeral designation in France when the middle digit was a “0” (zero).  That seems dubious given Mercedes-Benz had for years been selling 200s & 300s and was about to release the 600 but the EEC (the European Economic Community, the Zollverein which would evolve into the EU (European Union)) wasn’t at the time governed by the “give way to the Germans” rule which would come to characterize the EU (European Union) so defer Porsche did.  Rootes was thus wise to avoid the inevitable C&D (cease and desist letter) which may have been anticipated.

1965 PotY Jo Collins with her pink Tiger.

Stranger however is that Tigers sold in France were called “Alpine 260” despite (1) the French manufacturer Alpine having first sold cars there in 1954 and (2) the “260” being a reference to the V8 displacement in cubic inches (cid), imperial measurements not used in wholly metric France (where a 4.2 (litre) badge might have been expected).  Sunbeam was able to use the Alpine name because their original version (the one driven by Grace Kelly) had first been sold in France in 1953, thus pre-dating the French venture Automobiles Alpine, the corporate identity of which wasn’t formalized until 1955.

1965 French market Sunbeam Alpine 260 with after-market 14" Minilite wheels.

So the Alpine name could in France be used, despite the existence since 1954 of the sports cars produced by Dieppe-based Automobiles Alpine, presumably on the basis of the corporation’s prior use.  Whether the decision to append an imperial “260” rather than a more localized 4.2 was the British adding insult to injury isn’t known.  While that may sound improbably petty, that’s a quality not absent either in international relations or commerce and not only were London and Paris then squabbling over whether the Anglo-French SST (supersonic transport) airliner should be called “Concorde” or the anglicized “Concord”, in 1963 Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970; President of France 1959-1969) had vetoed the UK’s application for membership of the EEC (European Economic Community, the Zollverein which (for better and worse) eveolved into the modern-day EU (European Union).  For that last diplomatic setback, the British may have had themselves to blame because when in 1940 they offered de Gaulle sanctuary in London after the fall of France, the Foreign Office allocated him offices on Waterloo Place and overlooking Trafalgar Square.  A sensitive soul, neither Le Général nor Le Président ever forgave or forgot a slight.

Carroll Shelby, Sunbeam publicity shot, 1964.

Between April 1964 and August 3763 Mark I Tigers were built.  The 2706 “Mark IA” models which followed between August 1965 and February 1966 were based on the Alpine Series V which had a number of detail changes (most obviously the doors, hood (bonnet) and truck (boot) lid having sharper corners and a vinyl rather than metal top boot for the folding soft-top); while these now universally are listed as “Mark IAs”, that was never an official factory designation.  The first Mark IIs weren’t built until December 1966 with production lasting only until June the next year when Sunbeam’s stocks of Ford V8s was exhausted and just 536 (although 633 is oft-quoted) were made.  Although there were detail differences between the Mark IA and Mark II, the fundamental change was the use of the 289 cubic inch (4.7 litre) engine and all but a few dozen were exported to the US.

Tigerish: Lindsay Lohan imagined in cara gata (cat face) by Shijing Peng.  

Carrol Shelby invoiced Rootes US$10,000 to develop the original Tiger prototype and had expected to gain the contract for production on the same basis as Shelby American's arrangement with AC to produce the Cobra (ie he'd receive engineless cars into which he'd insert the V8s) but the process instead went the other way with Sunbeam importing the engines, contracting final assembly to Jensen.  Shelby instead received a small commission for each Tiger sold and appeared in some of the early marketing material.  He understood that despite (on paper) being superficially similar, the Tiger was a very different machine to the Cobra and, aimed at different markets, the two were really not competitors.  Amusingly, Shelby's US10,000 fee was paid in a "back-channel deal", the funds coming from Rootes' US advertising budget rather than the engineering department's allocation.  That slight of hand was necessary because it was known to all the company's conservative chairman, Lord Rootes (1894–1964), would never have approved such a project.  He changed his mind after test-driving the prototype and ordered immediate production, living long enough to see it enjoy success.      

1972 Hillman Avenger Tiger Mark 2.  The early Avengers are remembered for their distinctive "boomerang (or hockey stick)" tail-lamps, a style later used by Mazda for the Cosmo (1975-1981 and sold in some markets as the RX-5).  It's believed the rear spoiler was not wind tunnel tested.

While not quite the sublime to the ridiculous, the third and final Tiger certainly lacked the luster of its predecessors and was sold as a Hillman rather than a Sunbeam, the old Rootes group now owned by Chrysler.  Based on the Hillman Avenger (1970-1981), a competent if unexciting family car, the Avenger Tiger was initially a one-off built for motor shows (they used to be a thing) but such was the reaction a production run was arranged and, based on the Avenger GT, it was a genuine improvement, fitted with dual Weber carburetors on a high-compression cylinder head with larger valves and improved porting.  The power increase was welcome but wasn’t so dramatic as to demand any modification of the GT’s suspension beyond a slight stiffening of the springs.  On the road, the well-sorted RWD (rear wheel drive) dynamics meant it was good to drive and the performance was a notch above the competition at the same price point although Chrysler never devoted the resources to develop it into a machine which could have been competitive with Ford’s Escort in racing and rallying.  Despite that, when sold in the US as the Plymouth Cricket (1971-1972) the car won the demanding “Press on Regardless” rally although that wasn't enough to convince many Americans to buy the thing.  The first run of 200-odd Tigers early in 1972 were all in “Sundance” yellow with a black stripe (and in case that was too subtle, a “Tiger” decal adorned the rear quarter panels) but “Wardance” red was an option when an additional batch of 400 was made to meet demand.

Ginger

Ginger (pronounced jin-jer)

(1) Any of several zingiberaceous plants of the genus Zingiber (especially Zingiber officinale of the East Indies), native to South Asia but now cultivated in many tropical countries and noted for the pungent, spicy rhizome used in cooking and medicine (Ginger is one of the oldest known “anti-seasickness treatments).

(2) The underground stem of this plant, used fresh or powdered as a flavouring or crystallized as a sweetmeat.

(3) The rhizome of Zingiber officinale, ground, chopped etc, used as a flavoring.

(4) In informal use, piquancy; animation; liveliness; vigour.

(5) A reddish-brown or yellowish-brown colour

(6) A female given name, form of Virginia or Regina (also used of red-headed men as a nickname).

(7) In zoology, a given name for animals having ginger- or orange-coloured fur or feathers.

(8) Flavored or made with ginger, the spicy rhizome of the Zingiber officinale plant.

(9) In informal use, someone with “red” hair (a range which includes the various shades of ginger).

(10) In cockney rhyming slang, a bit of a homosexual (based on “ginger beer” (ie “queer”)).

(11) In slang, Ginger ale, or can or bottle of such (especially if dry).

(12) In colloquial use in Scotland (prevalent especially in Glasgow), any fizzy soft drink, or can or bottle of such (especially the famous Iron Brew).

(13) To treat or flavor with ginger, the spicy rhizome of the Zingiber officinale plant (to add ginger to).

(14) In informal use, to impart piquancy or spirit to; enliven (usually in the form “ginger up”).

(15) As a regionalism, very careful or cautious (also, delicate; sensitive).

Pre 1000: From the Middle English gingere, an alteration of gingivere, from the Old English ginȝifer & ginȝiber (gingifer & gingiber) (influenced by Old French gingivre & gingembre), from the Medieval Latin gingiber & zingiber (the Latin zingiberi from the late Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis)), from the Prakrit (Middle Indic) singabera, from the Sauraseni Prakrit śr̄ngaveram, the construct being śr̄nga- (horn) + vera- (body), an allusion to the typical shape of the plant’s root when harvested which may be compared with the Old Tamil iñcivēr and the Tamil இஞ்சிவேர் (iñcivēr), the construct being இஞ்சி (iñci) (ginger) + வேர் (vēr) (root)).  Not all etymologists agree with the orthodox derivation of śr̄ngaveram, suggesting it may be Sanskrit folk etymology and the word may be from an ancient Dravidian word that also produced the modern name for the spice used in the Tamil.  The dissidents argue the Tamil iñci must at some point have had an initial “ś” and the Sanskrit śṛṅgabera was an imitation of the (supposititious) Tamil ciñcivēr with the European zingiber coming from the Tamil name.  Ginger is a noun, gingerness & gingerliness are nouns, gingering is a verb, gingered is a verb & adjective, gingerish, singersome, gingerlike & gingerish are adjectives, gingerly is an adjective & adverb and gingerliness is an adverb; the noun plural is gingers. The adjectives ginger-free & gingerless are non-standard but have appeared on menus and in the software in restaurant PoS (point-of-sale systems).  The adjectives gingerer & gingerest do exist but are now so rare as to be archaic.

It’s believed the word re-entered Middle English under the influence of twelfth century Old French gingibre (which in Modern French endures as gingembre).  As a reference to coloring, the first recorded use was of fighting cocks, dating from 1785, extended to persons exactly a century later (although of hair alone it was used thus in the 1850s).  The sense of “spirit, spunk, temper” was a creation of mid nineteenth century US English. Ginger-ale was first advertised in the early 1820s, the term adopted by manufacturers to distinguish their product from ginger beer (on sale since 1809 and the central exhibit in Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562, a landmark case in tort law, heard before the House of Lords) which sometimes was fermented.  The ginger-snap was a hard cookie (biscuit in UK use) flavored with ginger, the product on sale by at least 1855.

Arnott’s Ginger Nuts.

In various forms and sold under several names (ginger-snap, ginger biscuit, ginger cookie, gingernut etc), ginger snaps are one of the planet’s most popular cookies (biscuits) and while ginger (usually powdered because it’s most suited to the industrial production of food) obviously is the common flavoring, other ingredients sometimes used include cinnamon, molasses and cloves.  The recipes vary although all tend to produce hard, brittle cookies and are much favoured by those who lie to dunk the things in their tea or coffee (softening it) which does seem to defeat the purpose but dunking really is a thing.  Between countries ginger-snaps differ greatly but even within markets there are culinary regionalisms: The Griffin’s Gingernut is New Zealand’s biggest selling biscuit and the whole country is supplied using the same recipe but in Australia, Arnott’s Ginger Nuts vary in size, color, hardness and taste between states and that was not a deliberate corporate decision but the product of M&A (mergers & acquisitions) activities beginning in the 1960s when the Arnott’s Group was created, a number of previously independent local bakeries absorbed; fearing a revolt, it was decided to retain the long-established recipes.  All Ginger Nut biscuits are sold in 250g packages but while WA (Western Australia), SA (South Australia) and the NT (Northern Territory) share a common “sweet” mixture, those living in Victoria and Tasmania enjoy an even sweeter flavour (closer to similar biscuits sold overseas which are both larger and softer in texture).  In NSW (New South Wales) and the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) a “thick and hard” Ginger Nut is sold and Queensland (always different) enjoys a unique “thin, sweet and dark” product.  Arnott’s also revealed as well as differences in the mix, the baking time varies between varieties, accounting for the color and hardness.  For those wishing to make comparisons, there’s a choice of comparatives: (“more ginger” or (the rare) “gingerer” and superlatives: “most ginger” or (the rare) “gingerest”.

Lindsay Lohan (b 1968) and her sister Ali (b 1993) making gingerbread houses on the Drew Barrymore (b 1975) Show (CBS Media Ventures), November, 2022.

The noun gingerbread was from the late thirteenth century gingerbrar (preserved ginger), from the Old French ginginbrat (ginger preserve), from the Medieval Latin gingimbratus (gingered,) from gingiber.  It was folk etymology which changed the ending to -brede (bread) and in that form the word was in use by the mid-1300s; by the fifteenth century it had come to mean “sweet cake spiced with ginger” although the still popular confection “gingerbread man” wasn’t known until circa 1850.  The figurative use (indicating anything thought fussy, showy or insubstantial) can be regarded a sort of proto-bling and emerged around the turn of the seventeenth century; in domestic architecture or interior decorating it was used as a critique by at least the late 1750s, use possibly influenced by the earlier “gingerbread-work” which was sailor’s slang for the often elaborately carved timberwork on ships.  Bling not then being in use, the term “gingerbread” often was used of the increasingly rococoesque detailing being applied to US cars by the late 1950s and it was revived as the interiors became “fitted out” in the 1970s although stylists (they weren’t yet “designers”) preferred “gorp”.  Decades before, as a noun, becoming Detroit styling studio slang, gorp was (as a verb) defined as meaning “greedily to eat” and it’s believed the alleged acronyms “good old raisins and peanuts” & “granola, oats, raisins, peanuts” are probably backronyms.  What the stylists were describing was the idea of “adding a bit of everything to the design”, the concept illustrated by creations such as the 1958 Buick, the design imperative of which was "combine as many as possible differently-shaped chrome bits & pieces".  Gorp intrinsically was "added on gingerbread" and shouldn't be confused with something like the 1958 Lincoln which was relative unadorned (ie un-gorped) and gained its distinctiveness from the design imperative "combine as many as possible shapes, curves, lines & scallops.  Of course, the two approaches can appear in unison, witness the 1961 Plymouths.

Some of Detroit's guesswork about public taste: 1958 Buick Limited (gingerbread, left), 1958 (Lincoln) Continental Mark III (shapes, right) and 1961 Plymouth Fury (everything, right).

The phrase “gin up” (enliven, make more exciting) is now often used as “gee-up” but the original was first recorded in 1887 (“ginning” (the act of removing seeds from cotton with a cotton gin) in use by at least 1825) and while it’s been speculated there may be some link with “gin” (in the sense of “engine”, the best known being the “cotton gin”) most etymologists think it improbable and think it more likely the origin lies in the characteristics if the root of the plant as used in food (spicy, pizzazz) and most compelling is the entry for feague (used in its equine sense): “...to put ginger up a horse's fundament, and formerly, as it is said, a live eel, to make him lively and carry his tail well; it is said, a forfeit is incurred by any horse-dealer's servant, who shall shew a horse without first feaguing him.”  The figurative use of feague (encouraging or spiriting one up) has faded but “gee up” remains common.”  So, for dressage or other equestrian competitions in which the judges liked to see a horse’s tail elegantly raised (al la the high ponytail perfected by the singer Ariana Grande (b 1993)), a stable-hand’s trick for achieving this was to insert an irritant (such as a piece of peeled raw ginger or a live eel) in its anus, an additional benefit being it “increased the liveliness of the beast”.  That means when modern young folk speak of “geeing up” or a “a gee up”, they’re referring (figuratively) to shoving some ginger up someone’s rectum; presumably, most are unaware of the origin of the phrase but definitely, they should be told.

Ariana Grande and her equally famous ponytail, on stage, Coachella, November, 2018.

According to Ariana Grande, the “snatched high ponytail” she made her signature look was better described as a “high extension ponytail” because extensions were used for added length and volume.  It’s a dramatic look but the health and beauty site Self cautioned wearing the style is not risk-free and for some wearers pain may be unavoidable.  Interviewed, dermatologist Dr Samantha Conrad explained hair follicles are the “little pockets of skin that surround the root of a hair” while the “nerves and blood vessels in the scalp feed those roots”.  What happens when hair is pulled tightly back and elevated, it puts the hair “at a sharp angle”, placing “tension on the follicles”, causing “some strangulation of the unit”.  Because this tension is exerted on the nerve endings, there can be pain, something exacerbated if the hair is long and thick (or augmented with extensions) because the extent of the tension is so influenced by weight, physics dictating additional mass will induce greater “traction on the hair follicle”.  Pain obviously can be an issued but the consequences can be more serious, dermatologist Dr Joshua Zeichner explaining “chronic traction on the hair follicles can cause permanent thinning of the hair”, a phenomenon described as “traction alopecia”.

1970 Ford Mustang Grandé in New Lime Metallic with Ivy Green Corinthian Vinyl & Houndstooth Cloth trim with houndstooth vinyl roof in green & black.

Helpfully, in 2018 Teen Vogue published excerpts from the transcript of a radio interview in Ms Grande clarified the pronunciation of her surname, apparently something which had for some time baffled a few.  What she revealed was that within her family, historically “Grande” had not been pronounced Grahn-day (a la the famous Starbucks coffee cup).  Her grandfather had pronounced it Gran-dee with the emphasis on the second syllable because that was an “Americanized version” of the Italian form which “made it more chill”.  It was her brother who adopted Grahn-day, simply because he preferred the sound.  Clearly, Teen Vogue is an under-appreciated source of linguistic tips.  In 1969, when introducing the Mustang Grandé, Ford attempted to remove any ambiguity by using an “é” with a l'accent aigu (acute accent), indicating the pronunciation should be Grahn-day, despite the spelling not being used in any language where “grande” exists.  Introduced in 1969, the Mustang Grandé was the range’s “luxury” version and its addition to the line was a harbinger for the trend of the 1970s as high-performance was, for many reasons, put on-held.  The Grandé used a standard mechanical specification but included a long list of “convenience” and “dress-up” items and was a success; it was the spiritual ancestor of the “Ghia” versions which for decades would be among the most elaborately equipped Fords.  Surprisingly, despite being aimed at a demographic not interested in going fast, the Grandé could be ordered with almost any engine in the catalogue, including the 428 cubic inch (7.0 litre) Super CobraJet, designed for use on drag strips and some really were built so configured; only the unique Boss 429 was not available.  A vinyl roof was standard but the rarely ordered houndstooth option cost an additional US$28.

No extensions needed: Lindsay Lohan with snatched high ponytail, Paris Fashion Week, 2024.

Ominous as all that sounds, the doctors say it’s not necessary entirely to abandon the high ponytail because the issue isn’t the style but the implementation, the critical factor being how tightly the hair is pulled from the scalp.  Tension alopecia can occur with any tightly-pulled ponytail, plait or braid so the trick is to avoid excessive tension, the recommended approach to create a “high pony” and then gradually loosen the area in front of the elastic.  Obviously, the greater the mass of the hair, physics  dictates it will be less inclined to retain a shape tending from the vertical at the scalp so those handling much volume will probably have to resort to some sort of at least semi-rigid tubular device through which the strands can pass to be supported.

Roland DG's 50 Shades of Ginger illustrates the extent to which the spectrum can spread (centre).  Natural redhead Lindsay Lohan (b 1986, left) in 2012 illustrates a classic implementation of what most probably think of as “ginger hair” while Jessica Gagen (b 1996; Miss England 2022, Miss World Europe 2023 & Miss United Kingdom 2024) appears (during heatwave, right) with what would be classified by many as a “light copper” rather than some hue of “ginger”.  Interestingly, reflecting the often disparaging use of the word (in the context of hair) “ginger” appears only infrequently on manufacturers' hair dye color charts.

Ginger can be used to describe those with “red” hair (a term which covers quite a range including shades of ginger in the conventional sense that is used of color) and such may be jocular, in disparagement or neutral.  In slang, a “ginger minger” was “an unattractive woman with ginger hair” and their “ginger minge” was their pubic hair; the male equivalent was a “ginger knob”.  In the hierarchy of vulgar slang, fire-crotch (a person who has red pubic hair) probably is worse but it should not be confused with “lightning crotch” (in obstetrics, the condition (suffered late in pregnancy), of having intense pain shoot through the vaginal area, induced especially by the baby's head lowering and bumping into the pelvis).  While a “normal symptom of pregnancy” and not typically a cause for medical intervention, it can be unpleasant; what is happening is the fetus is applying pressure on the cervix or the nerves surrounding the cervix (the cervix the lowest part of the uterus where a fetus develops).

One with a preference for ginger-haired souls could be said to be a gingerphile while one with an aversion would be a gingerphobe.  The matter of gingerphobia was explored by the US television cartoon show South Park (on Paramount+'s Comedy Central since 1997) in the episode Ginger Kids (season 9, episode 11, November 2005) in which was introduced the noun gingervitis (a portmenteau word, the construct being ginger +‎ (ging)ivitis); in pathology, the condition gingivitis is an inflammation of the gums or gingivae.  What South Park’s writers did was provide the gingerphobic with something of a rationale, gingervitis treating red headedness as if it were a disease or affliction.  Linguistically, it could have been worse: in German the synonym for gingivitis is the compound noun Zahnfleischentzündung and “zahnfleischentzündungvitis” sounds an even more distressing condition.  Neither gingerphobia nor gingervitis have ever appeared in the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM, in nine editions 1952-2022). 

In Cockney rhyming slang (a cant used by Cockneys in which a word or phrase is replaced by a rhyming word or phrase, this word or phrase then often being abbreviated to its first syllable or syllables, or its first word with the word chosen as the rhyme sometimes sharing attributes with the word it replaces) “ginger” meant “a bit of a homosexual” (based on the “beer” in “ginger beer” (ie “queer”)).  If that didn’t please, there was also (1) “Brighton Pier” (queer from “pier”), (2) “iron” (poof from “iron hoof”), (3) “perry” (homo from “Como”) (this was purely phonetic, the popular singer Perry Como (1912-2001) was not gay) and (4) “haricot” (queen from “haricot bean”).  However, the guides caution “stoke” (bent from “Stoke-on-Trent”) references “bent” in the sense of both “gay” and “criminal” so it should for obvious reasons be deployed with care.

The modest root of the plant (partially sliced, top left) and some of the packaged confectionery which are ginger-based.

For a variety of purposes (culinary, zoological, botanical, geological etc, dozens of derived forms have been created including: African ginger, aromatic ginger, baby ginger, black ginger, bleached ginger, blue ginger, butterfly ginger, Canada ginger, Chinese ginger, Cochin ginger, common ginger, dry ginger, Egyptian ginger, gingerade, ginger ale, ginger beer, gingerbread, ginger bug, ginger cordial, gingerette, ginger grass, ginger group, ginger-hackled, Ginger Island, gingerism, gingerlike, gingermint, ginger ninja, ginger nut, gingernut, gingerol, gingerous, gingerphobe, gingerphobia, ginger-pop, ginger root, gingersnap, gingersome, ginger wine, gingery, gingette, green ginger, Indian ginger, Jamaica ginger, Japanese ginger, kahili ginger, knock down ginger, knock-knock ginger, limed ginger, mango ginger, new ginger, pinecone ginger, pink ginger, race ginger, red ginger, sand ginger, sea ginger, shampoo ginger, shell ginger, Siamese ginger, spiral ginger, spring ginger, stem ginger, stone-ginger, Thai ginger, torch ginger, white ginger, wild ginger, yellow ginger & young ginger.

In De materia medica (On Medical Material), his five volume encyclopedic pharmacopeia on herbal medicine and related medicinal substances, the Ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides (circa 40-circa 90) included an entry for ζιγγίβερις (zingiberis) (ginger) as treatment for stomach and digestive ailments, in addition to its properties as “a warming spice”.  The historian Pliny the Elder (24-79) also discussed zingiber, noting its origin from Arabia and India and the use in medicine, especially for the stomach and digestion.  The use was picked up by physicians (officially recognized and not) in many places, both as a stimulant and acarminative (preventing the development of gas in the digestive tract) but despite the persistent myth, no document has ever been unearthed which suggests in Antiquity ginger was ever recommended as “sea-sickness medicine”.  Despite that, in the modern age, ginger is sometimes promoted as a cure (or at least an ameliorant) for nausea suffered at sea, in flight, while driving or motion-sickness in general and there appears to be some evidence to support the use.

Google ngram for Ginger group: Because of the way Google harvests data for their ngrams, they’re not literally a tracking of the use of a word in society but can be usefully indicative of certain trends, (although one is never quite sure which trend(s)), especially over decades.  As a record of actual aggregate use, ngrams are not wholly reliable because: (1) the sub-set of texts Google uses is slanted towards the scientific & academic and (2) the technical limitations imposed by the use of OCR (optical character recognition) when handling older texts of sometime dubious legibility (a process AI should improve).  Where numbers bounce around, this may reflect either: (1) peaks and troughs in use for some reason or (2) some quirk in the data harvested.

In another example of why English (in some ways simple and logical) must seem bafflingly inconsistent to those learning the tongue, while “ginger up” and “ginger group” are phrases related to “imparting piquancy or enlivening someone or something”, to speak of proceeding “gingerly” means “acting hesitantly; with great caution”.  The explanation is the divergence is not the result of a word shifting meaning in two directions but instead two different etymologies converging phonetically in modern English.  The figurative sense of “ginger up” (familiar to the young as “gee up”) meaning “add energy or enthusiasm) emerged in the nineteenth century and came from the equestrian practice of putting ginger (or so some other irritants) in or near a horse’s anus so it would be more “spirited” (performing with greater verve or liveliness) and appear with its tail held high.  From this (the expression rather than stuff shoved in the rectum) came “ginger group” which described a (usually) small and energetic faction within a larger organization which aimed to stimulate or invigorate change or action.  The first known use of the term was in 1920s British politics.

Confusingly “gingerly” is unrelated to “ginger” and has nothing to do with novel uses of spice in equine management.  Developing in parallel with but separately from Middle English, gingerly was from the Old French gensor & gencier (which endures in Modern French as gentil (delicate; dainty), from the Latin gentilis.  Appending the suffix -ly turned adjective into adverb and by the sixteenth century gingerly came to mean “delicately, with grace or refinement” and by the early 1900s the idea of a “refined or dainty manner” evolved into “cautiously; with care”.  Gingerly is thus a “false cognate” with ginger (the spice).  There the linguistic tangle should end but because of the development of modern slang, “ginger” has established an (informal) link with “gingerly” through “gingerness” which can be both (1) a synonym for “gingerliness” (a gingerly state, attitude or behaviour and (2) in informal (sometimes derogatory) use: redheadedness.