More or less.

Dear Word Detective: My mother (a full blooded Italian) used to say “come si come sa” (not sure of spelling), and I never knew what that meant. I’ve searched everywhere to no avail. Could you please enlighten me? — Clint.

Take a seat, Clint. I have some possibly rather shocking news. Based on what you’ve told me, there are serious doubts about your mother’s supposed Italian heritage. Believe me, I know just how you feel. For years I presumed I was German because people in my family routinely said “Gesundheit” whenever someone sneezed. It wasn’t until I discovered my dislike of sauerkraut and affinity for cheese on toast that I realized I must be largely Welsh. But I adapted to the news quite well, and now I can quote Dylan Thomas on nearly any occasion (“Time held me green and hey, how about those Mets?”), so I’m sure you’ll be fine.

Anyway, I hope this doesn’t affect your security clearance, but it sounds to me like you’re actually at least part French. “Comme ci, comme ca” (pronounced “kohm see, kohm sah”) is a French phrase meaning, literally, “like this, like that.” In common usage, it means “so so” or “fair to middling,” a term of mild but qualified (and definitely lukewarm) approval, as in “The restaurant got a rave in the Times, but the pan-seared Twinkies the reviewer loved so much were definitely comme si, comme sa.” That which is “comme si, comme sa” is barely adequate, better than nothing but not by much. To use the phrase properly, by the way, you’ll need to extend your palm just above your waist and tilt it from side to side while saying “comme si, comme sa.”

Incidentally, to be absolutely serious for a moment, the fact that your mother used the phrase doesn’t mean that she even knew it was French. While “comme ci, comme ca” is definitely French in origin, it has been in common use in English for long enough (just after World War II, in fact) that it is now considered an established English phrase. Judging by the timing of its appearance in English publications, “comme ci, comme ca” was probably popularized by American GIs returning from service in France.

So, now that you’re in touch with your inner French person, why not sprinkle your speech with a few more “bon mots”? A good French phrasebook will have your friends either green with envy or dialing the funny farm in no time. “Chacon son gout” (shac-un son goo) is a good one, the French equivalent of “tastes vary” or “whatever floats your boat.” But my favorite, for which there is no real English equivalent, is “esprit d’escalier” (literally “wit of the staircase”), meaning the perfect witty reply that pops into your mind just after the opportunity to say it has passed.

Still running.

Dear Word Detective: In a recent column you gave an explanation of “on the lam” as originating from a radio newscast in the 1920s. I disagree that this is the origin of the term. I think that the expression of being “on the lamb” originated with the Odyssey of Homer, and more specifically with the section of this epic story in which Odysseus and his men were being held captive in the cave of the one-eyed Cyclops. If you will recall, the men had blinded the Cyclops by putting out his one and only eye. He kept sheep and lambs in the same cave where he kept the captive soldiers imprisoned. The sheep and lambs were let out to graze on a daily basis. They had to pass by the blinded Cyclops in order to leave the cave. He felt the lambs’ woolly bodies and determined that they were sheep or lambs and let them pass by unimpeded. The soldiers, being ever so alert and clever, took ropes and tied themselves to the underside or belly of the lambs. The Cyclops felt the woolly hides of the lambs and let them pass. Therefore the soldiers were able to escape from the cave of the Cyclops by quite literally being tied “on the lambs.” This is the more plausible origin of the term and one which has over 2,000 years of historical precedent. — David M.

Hmm. This is a bit awkward, but as far as I can tell, I have never suggested that “on the lam” originated in a 1920s radio broadcast, although if you were searching on the net for the origin of the term, you may well have found someone who did.

What I did say was that the term “on the lam” first appeared in print in the late 19th century, and that “lam” (from the Old Norse “lamja”) has meant “to beat” in English since the 16th century. “To lam it” in the underworld slang of mid-1800s was the exact equivalent of “to beat it,” i.e., run away so fast that your feet seemed to “beat” the pavement. So to be “on the lam” simply meant to be “on the run,” a fugitive from justice.

Given the phonetic similarity between “lam” and “lamb,” the story of how Odysseus and his men outwitted the Cyclops does furnish an intriguing sidelight to “on the lam.” But there is no evidence that there is any actual connection to the phrase, and a good deal of evidence that there isn’t. There’s the little matter of that 2,000 year gap between Homer’s epic (written between 800 and 600 B.C.) and the appearance of the phrase. There’s also the fact that, to my knowledge, the phrase “on the lamb” or anything similar doesn’t occur in any other language. More importantly, the form “on the lamb” does not appear at any point in English, which would be expected if it had been the original form that later mutated into “on the lam.” But “lam” in the “beat” sense has a long, documented history in English which can be traced in citations right up to the appearance of “on the lam.”