Jen in Edinburgh wrote me to say she’d been wondering “why we say that we’re going to ‘wing’ something […] I have actually looked it up in the OED and found out – but it wasn’t a reason I expected at all, so if it surprised me, maybe it will surprise other commenters!” I looked it up and it surprised me too, so I herewith share it. OED s.v. wing v.:
II.11. Theatrical slang. transitive. To study (a part) in or about the wings, having undertaken it at short notice; also intransitive. Hence in to wing it; now usually in slang use (originally and chiefly U.S.), to improvise; to speak or act without preparation, to make statements on unstudied matters (see also quot. 1950).
1885 ‘To wing’..indicates the capacity to play a rôle without knowing the text, and the word itself came into use from the fact that the artiste frequently received the assistance of a special prompter, who..stood..screened..by a piece of the scenery or a wing.
Stage 21 August 12/21886 In the event of an artiste being suddenly called upon to play a part of which he knows nothing..he frequently has to ‘wing’ the part.
Stage Gossip 701933 He must give a performance by ‘winging it’—that is, by refreshing his memory for each scene in the wings before he goes on to play it.
P. Godfrey, Back-stage iii. 391950 Wing it, vb., to lay off an approximate 90° angle by eye.
American Speech vol. 25 238/1
[…]1979 Mr. Trudeau came without notes, choosing to wing it, and struggled..unsuccessfully to establish Mr. Leger’s resemblance to an owl.
Globe & Mail (Toronto) 22 January 8/2
It makes sense, but I don’t think I would ever have guessed it. Thanks, Jen!
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