Re: Stay the course / stay on course


"Chuck Riggs" <chriggs@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ngvlh497b5rjtesavjtjps8rn8okv7bmn4@xxxxxxxxxx
On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:44:50 +0100, trio@xxxxxxxxxx (Donna Richoux)
wrote:

Derek Turner <frderek@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:52:43 -0500, Raymond O'Hara wrote:

stay the course
to continue doing something, even when it is difficult. I will stay
the
course and finish the job I was hired to do. Etymology: based on the
literal meaning of a ship continuing in the same direction, even in
bad
conditions

Interesting, I'd have put money on the etymology being from
horse-racing.
A 'stayer' is a horse that just won't give up, no matter how bad the
'going'. 'Course' would be self-explanatory if this were the case.

I believe we found that "stay the course" was quite a muddle when we
looked into it a few years ago. Although it sounds nautical, I don't
believe there was any evidence of it. I don't remember about
horse-racing.

Its actual *old* meaning was to stop or delay something, such as these
quotes from Google Books show:

1803
What a profusion of objects of curiosity !... .but the time was gliding
by so fast, that I wished to Stay the course of the sun.

1830
This manner of dialogue-writing, beside an unnatural air, has another
bad effect : it stays the course of the action, because it is not
productive of any ...

1832
It was Joshua, one of our great prophets, who stayed the course of the
sun and moon

It's the same transitive "stay" we see in: ""Neither snow nor rain nor
heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion
of their appointed rounds."

...The Google Groups archives are working well enough for me to find
earlier discussions in 2004 and 2003... Matti Lamprhey said:

"Stay the course" ... and its sibling "stay the
distance", mean:

a) hold out to the end of a race, boxing match, etc.;
b) (fig.) pursue a course of action or endure a
difficult situation to the end.

These are from NSOED ...

It would be nice to have a sense of how old the sporting use is.

I don't know, but I agree that a nautical connection is unlikely.
"Hold your course" is commonplace, which means "maintain a constant
compass bearing", but "stay the course" means nothing to me from
either a piloting or a navigational POV.
--

Regards,

Chuck Riggs
Near Dublin, Ireland

I disagree and think the nautical reference is the most likely origin.
It's similar to "steady as she goes".


.

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