Distances we keep, and the ones we bridge
Maybe it was just a desire for some counterprogramming to my news browsing, but I found myself musing recently about three idioms for distance, literal and figurative.
First, striking distance: 鈥渁 distance from which something can be easily reached or attained,鈥� according to , which dates the phrase to 1751.听
Thus the Dow Jones industrial average has been 鈥渨ithin striking distance鈥� of the 20000 mark. Sports teams are often said to be within 鈥渟triking distance鈥� of this or that victory. At this time of year, a Google News search of 鈥渟triking distance鈥� brings up lots of basketball images.听
is 鈥渢he distance within which it is possible to hear someone who is calling out,鈥� according to Merriam-Webster.听
M-W gives no first-use information, but the Oxford English Dictionary cites 鈥淭wo Years Before the Mast鈥� (1840), in which Richard Henry Dana wrote, 鈥淭hey passed to leeward of us, and out of hailing distance.鈥�
Today, hailing distance may be simply a less aggressive striking distance. See reference to basketball photos, above.听
The usage of both idioms has been on a gentle downward slope since about 1940, albeit with a modest rise since 2000, according to .听
As I noodled, a third 鈥渄istance鈥� came to thought. Hmm, isn鈥檛 whistling distance a recognized idiom? 鈥淚sn鈥檛 that a thing?鈥� as some would put it. (Indeed, 鈥淚sn鈥檛 that a thing?鈥� is well on its way to becoming a recognized idiom itself.)聽
Yes and yes. It can be simply another synonym for 鈥渁lmost there,鈥� as in this cautiously worded newspaper editorial from July 1972: 鈥淸T]here are suggestions that a boom is almost within whistling distance.鈥�
But of these three 鈥渄istances,鈥� whistling distance may be the one most closely tied to its concrete meaning: the distance across which the sound of someone鈥檚 whistling can be heard. A well-trained horse, for instance, will remain 鈥渨ithin whistling distance.鈥�
A 1978 book called 鈥�,鈥� edited by Irwin Altman, touched on, among other things, the 鈥渞ange鈥� of children and their play. It had this tidbit from research on rural kids: 鈥淸T]he whistling call of fathers was used as a signal for children to come home, who irrespective of sex were allowed to play 鈥榳ithin whistling distance.鈥� 鈥�
In his 1996 book, 鈥淭he Making of a Country Lawyer: An Autobiography,鈥� Wyoming lawyer Gerry Spence had this to say about his own father鈥檚 whistling calls to his family in the outdoors: 鈥淲hen he was separated from my mother as they walked through the timber, they would keep in touch with each other by an occasional soft, low whistle that, if put to words, sounded like 鈥楽weetheart.鈥� 鈥楽weetheart,鈥� my mother, forever afraid of being lost, would whistle back. Soon my father could be heard whistling, low and sweet, 鈥楽weetheart,鈥� and if I was with my mother I knew we were not lost. We would never be lost, not if Daddy was within whistling distance.鈥�
