Phrase Origins: In the Nick of Time

When I hear the phrase "in the nick of time," I know that it means "just in time" or "just at the moment needed." However, I don't know the origin of the phrase. Nick, to me, is a boys name or a small cut. It can also be short for Nickelodeon. Yes, I am speaking of the television channel, although I also know that a nickelodeon was like juke box. I know that it would play a song for a nickel and that is how it got its name.

I can try to apply all of these to time, and the one that makes the most sense is a small cut. There's that one little piece of time where something was needed, and it happened. However, I don't think I'm correct, and if by change that I am, I'm certain that there's much more to the phrase.

It turns out that I am partly right. However, there's more history to it than simply the word "nick" meaning a small cut.

The first phrase used for this type of thing was "pudding time." It meant that a person arrived just as or while the pudding (such as haggis '" like the pudding in the phrase "the proof is in the pudding") was being served. The pudding was the first dish served in medieval times. This can be found in John Heywood's 1546 work, "A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue ." He wrote, "This geare comth euen in puddyng time ryghtly."

The Tudors changed the phrase, because they wanted something to show more accurate timing than "arriving near the beginning of a meal."

Tally sticks were used to keep score or to measure things because the Tudors wanted to be precise. Each mark made was called a nick. It is these nicks to which the phrase "in the nick of time" is referring.

An example can be found in the 1615 work, Festivals by Arthur Day. It says, "Even in this nicke of time, this very, very instant."

Source:

Martin, G. (n.d.). In the nick of time. The meanings and origins of sayings and phrases . Retrieved May 6, 2011, from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/in-the-nick-of-time.html