Sunday, June 25

On primates and toothcombs

A story on the collapsed Jet-Sahara merger in DNA offers this odd neologism:

… when a corporate enters into a deal worth Rs 2,300 crore, it goes through all the implications, especially the financial ones, with a toothcomb. [Link]

What’s a toothcomb — is it a mutation of the idiom ‘with a fine-tooth comb’?

… you still hear people say it “fine toothcomb”, when it should be “fine-tooth comb”! Similarly, camel hairbrush, or camel-hair brush, was an old variant of this. [Link]

The commenters on a language blog explain:

I like the popular usage (UK, at least) of “fine toothcomb” (as opposed to “fine-tooth comb”). The idea of not only brushing, but also combing your teeth or having to make do with a toothcomb of inferior quality has always amused me… – David H.

… the word “toothcomb” actually exists, and means the set of lower incisors that pottos, lorises and other prosimians use to groom themselves. So a meticulous strepsirrhine primate really would go over something with a “fine toothcomb”! – Laura Brown [Link]

So what we have here is a British variant, ‘fine toothcomb,’ which DNA has further condensed by dropping the adjective. Google shows that only a few pages use the phrase ‘with a toothcomb,’ so unless this news story claims poetic license, DNA wins a round in the language Paralympics


2 comments

  1. 1Sin

    See, I always thought that the original phrase was meant to be “a fine-toothed comb”, because of the whole tines of the comb being referred to as teeth…?

  2. 2manish

    Either fine-tooth or fine-toothed would be correct in American English, I believe.


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