Question: When did “dead end” replace “cul de sac” as a street with an entrance but no outlet, and is this usage traditionally American?
Answer: The term “dead end” is not an Americanized version of “cul-de-sac.” In both the US and the UK, either term can be used to describe a street that is closed at one end.
Originally, “dead end” was a plumbing term referring to the closed end of a pipe, while “cul-de-sac” was an anatomical term for a pouch branching off a hollow organ. Over time, both terms evolved to also describe a street with no outlet.
English borrowed the term “cul de sac” from French, where it meant “bottom of a sack” literally and “street without exit” figuratively.
The first instances of these terms in English were in the 18th century, with “cul de sac” originally used in a medical context to describe an abnormal pouch near the colon, and later developing the street sense. The term “dead end” emerged in the mid-19th century, initially used in a report on sewers and drains in Halifax, Yorkshire.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, “dead end” took on figurative meanings, such as describing a policy or plan that leads nowhere. Both “cul de sac” and “dead end” continue to be used in English to refer to streets with no outlet.
The post On ‘cul de sac’ and ‘dead end’ first appeared on Grammarphobia.
