http://www.word-detective.com/2013/02/squared-away/ Semper Ubi Sub Ubi Mon, 17 May 2021 12:02:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.1 http://www.word-detective.com/2013/02/squared-away/comment-page-1/#comment-862248 Sat, 18 Apr 2020 17:15:01 +0000 http://www.word-detective.com/?p=8570#comment-862248 Actually, I’ll go so far as to say that the term didn’t just probably predate printing. Given that square-rigged ships were being used as early as 5500 BCE, the term most definitely did predate printing.

]]> http://www.word-detective.com/2013/02/squared-away/comment-page-1/#comment-862247 Sat, 18 Apr 2020 17:05:13 +0000 http://www.word-detective.com/?p=8570#comment-862247 You say that the usage of “square” in reference to putting accounts in order refers back to the usage of a “square” as a guiding principle. I don’t buy that connection. A guiding principle and putting things in order are two different ideas. So your basic argument that the term could have a non-nautical derivation is defeated right there. I think based on the evidence and common sense, the term most likely is rooted in the nautical usage, which in fact would probably predate most printed examples.

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