Talk:give up the ghost

where did this originate?

Origin of the term
The Etymology lists the term springing from the King James Version, but in 1599, it appears in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar:


 * [T]heir shadows seem
 * A canopy most fatal, under which
 * Our army lies, ready to give up the ghost.
 * (Julius Caesar V.i.88-90)

It also appears in the 1582 Old Testament of the Douay-Rheims Bible:


 * Then some of the friends of Heliodorus forthwith begged of Onias, that he would call upon the most High to grant him his life, who was ready to give up the ghost.
 * (2 Mac. 3:33)

It also appears in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales:


 * And he yaf [gave] up the ghost full softely.
 * ("The Prioress's Tale 185)

So the expression is quite a bit older than 1611, though just how much older, I'm not sure. SonPraises 23:51, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Need past tense entry
Need entry for gave up the ghost. 24.29.228.33 02:07, 30 December 2009 (UTC)


 * The page for that wrongly redirects to give up the ghost. That needs to be fixed. --75.71.17.28 05:09, 8 October 2018 (UTC)
 * Fixed. SemperBlotto (talk) 05:14, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

French linkages
In French, we say "rendre l'âme" meaning "rendre son âme" meaning exactly "gāst mīnne āġifan" or "ghost/spirit mine to give back"

The "up" has arised for complex reasons, probably a collusion of "to give up" = "to give oneself to anyone" and the idea that "ghost mine to give back ... up to the skies".

Finally, it seems that some writers left the "back" out and decided to emphasize the "up".

The problem with leaving the "back" out is that your soul is not conservative anymore, which is a bit shocking for religions. You give your soul like if you own it? No, you give it back, hence "rendre" in French and "agifan" in old English.