Home Page | Owners Registry | Discussion Forums | ProwlerMall | Event Scrapbooks | About |
Click here to return to the Prowler Online Board Main Page |
ProwlerOnline, Plymouth/Chrysler Prowler Discussion Forum
Political Off Topic Interesting trivia...Where did the term "vetting" come from?
|
Bottom of Page | next newest topic | next oldest topic |
Author | Topic: Interesting trivia...Where did the term "vetting" come from? |
bjprowler POA Site Supporter Prowler Junkie From:Clarksville,Ohio,USA |
posted 10-27-2008 07:47 AM
To vet was originally a horse-racing term, referring to the requirement that a horse be checked for health and soundness by a veterinarian before being allowed to race. Thus, it has taken the general meaning "to check." It's a figurative contraction of veterinarian—the fancy word for animal doctor originated in the mid-17th century. The colloquial abbreviation dates to the 1860s; the verb form of the word, meaning "to treat an animal," came a few decades later—according to the Oxford English Dictionary the earliest known usage is 1891—and was applied primarily in a horse-racing context. ("He vetted the stallion before the race," "you should vet that horse before he races," etc.) By the early 1900s, vet had begun to be used as a synonym for evaluate, especially in the context of searching for flaws. |
All times are CT (US) Top of Page Previous Page | Return to Political Off Topic next newest topic | next oldest topic |
All material contained herein, Copyright 2000 - 2012 ProwlerOnline.com
E-Innovations, LP