"At length being at Clapham, where there is on the common a large pond which I observed one day to be very rough with the wind, I fetched out a cruet of oil and dropped a little of it on the water. In 1762, Benjamin Franklin repeated an experiment first performed by Pliny, which he reported in A Letter from Benjamin Franklin to William Brownrigg, 1773: The calming effect of oil was known to the ancient Greeks. 'Oil spread on water can become as thin as a few hundred nanometres.
Cast out into the waves of the sea skin#
The surface tension of the oil layer has an effect similar to that of a thin skin and is highly effective at calming 'troubled' water. Very small quantities of oil can cover a surprisingly large area as it spreads into a layer just a few molecules in thickness. This phrase alludes to the calming effect of that oil has on wave action as it spreads over the surface of the sea. In earlier times, the pouring of modest quantities of oil into the sea was done deliberately in order to forestall rough seas. The spillage of oil into the sea hasn't had a good press in recent years following the many ecological disasters caused by wrecked tankers discharging thousands of tons of crude oil into the world's oceans. "Ffiij, It is troubled water when we mingle our workes and righteousnes with Gods."Įven earlier than that we can find references to 'troubled sea/flood' etc, as in John Wyclif's translation of the Bible, 1388: Walker in A true report of the disputation or rather priuate conference had in the Tower of London, with Ed. We now more commonly say 'troubled waters' but earlier references stick to the singular 'troubled water' for example, J. In their use of the singular 'water', rather than 'waters', as the title of their 1970 album and single Bridge over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel harked back to the original usage. 'Troubled' has been used to mean agitated and disturbed, either of mind or in reference to physical elements like water or sky, since at least the 14th century. What's the origin of the phrase 'Pour oil on troubled waters'?
The natural world What's the meaning of the phrase 'Pour oil on troubled waters'?Īttempt to calm a problematic situation.