Talk:gin up
Where does the term "gin up" come from? — This unsigned comment was added by Abritten12 (talk • contribs) at 19:53, 22 February 2009 (UTC).
Doesn't the term come from prohibition era and the manufacture of so-called "bathtub gin?" This would make the definition more akin to manufacture this, or put this together "...gin up a roster with all the folks out on working parties..." This seems also to be similar to the expression "...gen up" where gen is a shortened use of generate. — This unsigned comment was added by 69.143.1.75 (talk).
I think it comes from the word djinn, or Genie; like Genie from a bottle. When you gin something up, you make it out of nothing like magic; such as the wishes a Genie grants
- I smell a folk etymology... --Μετάknowledgediscuss/deeds 16:52, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
More likely comes from Jin Pole or Gin Pole - being a temporary crane atop a structure to lift things onto the structure. One builds a tall structure (antenna today, steeple way back when) by building a bit, putting on a Gin Pole, using the gin Pole to add to the top of the structure, moving the Gin Pole up to the top of the new structure and repeating the process. It seems this process goes well with the common usage of 'gin up'. Now, why is it called a Gin Pole? :-)
"gin up" etymology[edit]
I did a Google search on the phrase & found this etymology which sounds plausible, albeit a grey area. Maybe the gin drink etymology should be included secondly as a "chaser".
The Oxford English Dictionary finds the phrase "gin her up" as far back as 1887 in U.S. slang. The meaning was "to work things up, to make things 'hum,' to work hard." This gin was based not on the drink but on the ginning of cotton - the removal of seeds from the fluffy white stuff.Jul 28, 2007
Now that's a loaded expression - The Globe and Mailhttps://www.theglobeandmail.com › arts › article690391 Koh Flugilo (talk) 18:38, 12 March 2022 (UTC)