Q: As a young airman in Japan during the 1950s, I often heard locals (and GIs) use the expression samo, samo to mean the same. Did this usage give us the expression “same old, same old”?
A: The use of samo, samo in Asia apparently predates the appearance of American GIs by quite a few years.
An English buccaneer noticed this use of the phrase among the people of Mindanao in the 1600s. Back then in the Philippines, it didn’t exactly mean “same old, same old,” but it did refer to sameness.
We came across this information in an 1862 reference book, A Dictionary of English Etymology, by Hensleigh Wedgwood, with notes by George P. Marsh.
In a bracketed note, Marsh cites this passage from A New Voyage Round the World (1703), by the much-traveled adventurer and explorer William Dampier:
“They would always be praising the English, as declaring that the English and Mindanaians were all one. This they exprest by putting their two fore-fingers close together, and saying that the English and Mindanaians were samo, samo, that is, all one.”
Marsh, in his note, wonders whether samo in that quotation was “a native word, or had the people of Mindanao borrowed it from earlier English visitors?”
(Dampier, who lived from 1652 to 1715, really should be the subject of a splashy Hollywood spectacle, but that’s another story.)
So did those 17th-century islanders have their own word samo, or did they adapt “same” from English explorers? We’d guess that the usage was influenced by earlier explorers.
In checking a few modern Filipino dictionaries, we find the verb sámò (to cry or plead) and the noun samò (an entreaty), but no indication that either word could refer to sameness.
In a 2001 posting to the Linguist List, Douglas G. Wilson says samo doesn’t appear in Japanese dictionaries either, but samo, samo apparently exists as a dialectal variant of a Malay term meaning same or together.
Perhaps this dialectal variant is related to the samo, samo that Dampier heard in the Philippines on his round the world trip. But we suspect that the Malay term may have been influenced by English-speaking visitors.
Our word “same” entered English in about 1200, probably influenced by the Old English swa as well as similar words in Scandinavian languages.
It has cousins in Old Saxon, Old High German, Gothic, Old Irish, Latin, Greek, Lithuanian, Old Slavic, Russian, Sanskrit, and the prehistoric language families proto-Germanic (reconstructed as samaz) and Indo-European (reconstructed as somos).
But back to “same old, same old,” an expression suggesting that nothing has changed in one’s life.
The usage first showed up in the 1970s in American black English, according to Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang.
Did it originate in the phrase samo, samo that you heard while stationed in Japan in the 1950s?
Maybe it did … and maybe it didn’t. Here’s the story.
In “Bamboo English,” a 1955 article in the journal American Speech, Arthur M. Z. Norman suggests that samo, samo originated in the Japanese tendency to use reduplication when speaking pidgin English. (In linguistics, reduplication is the repetition of the root of a word or part of it.)
“The changey-changey samey-samey phenomenon heard among the Japanese,” Norman writes, “is responsible for samo-samo ‘the same’ in American Slang.”
But Wilson, in another 2001 posting to the Linguist List, raises the possibility that samo, samo may have been coined not by the Japanese but by US soldiers – as baby talk the GIs used in an attempt to communicate.
“It is possible that ‘samo’ or even ‘samo-samo’ was simply a nonsense augmentation of ‘same’ by American servicemen,” he says.
Channeling a ’50s GI, Wilson adds: “That’s how we used to say ‘same’ in Tijuana, maybe it’ll work here too,” or “I think these people will understand English if you repeat each word slowly, with ‘o’ or ‘a’ on the end; they understood me fine that way in Manila.”
In answer to your question, the 1950s phrase samo, samo, meaning the same, may have evolved into the 1970s expression “same old, same old,” meaning nothing’s changed, but this isn’t certain.
Although some word sleuths see a connection between the two expressions, Cassell’s describes “same old, same old” as merely a slang version of the standard English “same old thing.”
Buy our books at a local store, Amazon.com, or Barnes&Noble.com.
Subjects>Jobs & Education>Education
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Best Answer
Copy
Viejo, Anciano (this one can be said as «elder»)
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
This answer is:
Study guides
Add your answer:
Earn +
20
pts
Q: What are some words that have the same meaning as old?
Write your answer…
Submit
Still have questions?
Related questions
People also asked
same old — перевод на русский
Same old story.
Та же старая история.
He still loves you, but it’s the same old story
Он любит вас по-прежнему, но это все та же старая история.
Which means the same old song…
Та же старая песня.
It’s the same old story hoping that Master Teng can forget about the past
Всё та же старая история. Надеюсь, что господин Тенг может забыть о прошлом.
It’s the same old story for the Cardassians.
Для них это все та же старая история.
Показать ещё примеры для «та же старая»…
Oh, same old Bishop.
О, старый добрый Бишоп.
You haven’t changed, the same old Charles.
Совсем не изменился! — Старый добрый Шарль!
Same old Gabe.
Старый добрый Гавриил.
I’m sure deep down he’s still the same old Jesus.
Я уверен, что в глубине, он — старый добрый Иисус!
Same old Tony, huh?
Старый добрый Тони…
Показать ещё примеры для «старый добрый»…
Same old cork still floating.
Все по-старому.
— The same old thing.
— Да все по-старому.
— Same old shit.
— По-старому.
No, same old stuff.
Все по-старому.
You’re at a new school, but it’s the same old thing.
Ты пошла в новую школу, но все было по-старому?
Показать ещё примеры для «по-старому»…
— Same old thing.
Как обычно.
— Same old.
— Как обычно.
Most of the time, it’s the same old thing… some mixed-up relative snatches a kid ’cause of some stupid argument.
В большинстве случаев, все как обычно… Кто-то из запутавшихся родственников похищает ребенка по какой-нибудь глупой причине.
Same old story…
Да, как обычно:
Um, same old.
Все как обычно.
Показать ещё примеры для «как обычно»…
Same old Claire.
Всё та же прежняя Клэр.
Same old Amy.
Все та же прежняя Эми.
Same old Cara.
Все та же прежняя Кара.
Not a bit You’re the same old you
Ни капли. Все тот же прежний ты.
It’s the same old Michael.
Это все тот же прежний Майкл.
Показать ещё примеры для «всё та же прежняя»…
Be good. Don’t pull the same old tricks.
Капризничаешь, как всегда.
Same old story!
Как всегда!
Same old lies.
Как всегда врете.
No, that’s pretty much the same old Buffster.
Нет, она такая, как всегда.
— Same ol’—
— Да как всегда.
Показать ещё примеры для «как всегда»…
Come on. Behind the Ray-Bans, I’m still the same old Clark.
Да, ладно, я все тот же старина Кларк.
Same old Reed, always stretching, reaching for the stars with the weight of the world on his back.
Все тот же старина Рид, тянущийся к звездам, но с грузом земных проблем на спине.
Same old Jack O’Neill.
Тот же старина Джек О’Нилл.
He’s blogging out of his basement in Forest Hills now, but he’s still the same ol’ Jerry, telling it like it isn’t.
Он сейчас ведет блог из своего подвала в Форест-Хиллз, но он всё тот же старина Джерри, как всегда всё перевирает.
He thought I knew about it and I just didn’t care, that I was being, you know, same old Jimbo.
Он думал, что я знаю об этом и что мне всё равно, что я всё тот же старина Джимбо.
Показать ещё примеры для «тот же старина»…
Same old politics?
— Опять политика?
The same old one about a good-time father to whom responsibility is a dirty word.
Опять какая-нибудь чушь про гулящего отца, для которого ответственность — это пустой звук.
Same old story.
Ну вот, опять.
Always the same old song.
Опять ты про мужа!
— I know… same old story!
— Всё ясно. Опять эти же разговоры.
Показать ещё примеры для «опять»…
— Same old Clive, I see.
— Ты совсем не изменился.
Same old Tim.
— Да Он не изменился.
Same old Paul.
Он не изменился.
Kitchen hasn’t changed much, same old rocker.
Кухня совсем не изменилась.
She’s a redhead now, and she’s dating Herbert Love, but other than her looks and her belief system, — Oh… — she’s the same old Lindsay.
Она теперь рыжая и встречается с Гербертом Лавом, но помимо внешнего вида и мировоззрения она не изменилась.
Показать ещё примеры для «изменился»…
Same old Henry. Afraid of your own shadow.
Все тот же старик Генри, боящийся собственной тени.
Same old Johnny.
Все тот же старик Джонни.
Same old Bobby.
Все тот же старик Бобби.
— Still the same old Benjamin.
— Все тот же старик Бенджамин.
Because I see the same old guy who’s used to getting whatever he wants.
Потому что я вижу всё того же старика, который добивается всего, что захочет.
Отправить комментарий
-
#1
Hi Group,
What does «Same old» mean? When you say hello to someone, some people not all, answer with this phrase.
-
#2
Antonio said:
Hi Group,
What does «Same old» mean? When you say hello to someone, some people not all, answer with this phrase.
I think it comes from «It’s the same old story» = something that you say when a bad situation has happened many times before.
Probably these people are not very happy when they say «same old».
-
#3
Antonio said:
Hi Group,
What does «Same old» mean? When you say hello to someone, some people not all, answer with this phrase.
I think it means nothing new, the same old stuff.
Ex.
«How’s it going?»
«Same old, Same old, you know, the usual.»
-
#4
Hi Jlanguage,
Where does this phrase come from? Is the an old phrase or a brand new one?
-
#5
I agree with Artrella, the phrase has connotations of monotony, or dissatisfaction with the routine, but it’s possible to use it in a more «upbeat» way by making your tone more positive.
-
#6
Artrella said:
I think it comes from «It’s the same old story» = something that you say when a bad situation has happened many times before.
Probably these people are not very happy when they say «same old».
Hi Jlanguage,
Let me quote you what Art said, she said, this phrase is used when «something that you say when a bad situation has happened many times before» First off, I don’t think this has nothing to do with bad situations. I agree with you Jlanguage, is only a way of saying, nothing new has happend lately.
If I’m right or wrong, please let me know, because I’m not a native English speaker.
-
#7
Antonio said:
Hi Jlanguage,
Let me quote you what Art said, she said, this phrase is used when «something that you say when a bad situation has happened many times before» First off, I don’t think this has nothing to do with bad situations. I agree with you Jlanguage, is only a way of saying, nothing new has happened lately.
If I’m right or wrong, please let me know, because I’m not a native English speaker.
Antonio, I think you’ve got it about right. If you were to casually say that in response to someone if they ask you how it’s going, they probably wouldn’t infer that you’re dissatisfied with your life. It’s tone-dependent, add a sigh and drag the expression out, and it might have more of a boredom connotation. Say the phrase jovially, and it’s just a standard reply.
-
#8
I don’t thinkit’s VERRY standard. I would use it to someone who asks me what I’ve been up to and they already know, or nothings changed at all. I.E. no new news to report -you know it all already.
I would never think to use it in an upbeat tone — it just woulden’t sound right.
-
#9
You can use it for people too: the same old crowd were there at his party.
Technically, «same old, same old» is a reduplication, a repetition for the purpose of emphasis. It is an idiom, and is usually used alone, e.g. You know. Same old same old. (or, It’s the same old same old.) As such, I suppose it could be two adjectives, repeated. It means same old thing.
The etiology is unclear. The usage first showed up in the 1970s in American black English, according to Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang.
In “Bamboo English,” a 1955 article in the journal American Speech, Arthur M. Z. Norman suggests that samo, samo originated in the Japanese tendency to use reduplication when speaking pidgin English.
However, in A New Voyage Round the World (1703), by explorer William Dampier:
“They (the people of Mindanao) would always be praising the English, as declaring that the English and Mindanaians were all one. This they exprest by putting their two fore-fingers close together, and saying that the English and Mindanaians were samo, samo, that is, all one.”
In a 2001 posting to the Linguist List, Douglas G. Wilson states that samo, samo may have been coined not by the Japanese but by US soldiers – as baby talk the GIs used in an attempt to communicate, repeating each word slowly, with ‘o’ on the end: same-o, same-o.
— in for a dime, in for a dollar.