champ vs. chomp (at the bit). A short history.
In this post, I survey the history and meanings of the verbs champ and chomp.
In an earlier post on champ/chomp at the bit I talked about the relative frequencies of each in current use.
In summary:champ is older as a verb in its own right, by anything between 51 and 247 years (depending on which source you go by);‘the dictionaries’ agree that chomp is a by-form of champ;three major English dictionaries define chomp by reference back to champ;chomp in conjunction with bit is actually recorded earlier (1645) than champ at the bit, and the subsequent OED citation for chomp also includes the word bit; andMerriam-Webster shows an intransitive chomp meaning – ‘to be eager (to do)’ – that neither Collins nor the OED does.Which is older?The earliest OED citation for to champ is from 1530, in that Teach Yourself French of its day with knobs on, John Palgrave’s L’esclarcissement [sc. éclaircissement] de la langue francoyse (‘The Elucidation of the French Tongue’):
I champe a thing small bytwene my tethe, je masche.
[Modern French je mâche]
The earliest OED citation for to chomp is from 1645 – already, however, with reference to the bit, though not with at.
The Cittadell here,..serves as a shrew’d Curb unto her [sc. the town], which makes her often Chomp upon the Bit.
J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ i. xi. 22
Merriam-Webster Unabridged makes to champ considerably older (before 1398; see below) by referring it back to Middle English. M-W also gives an earlier date for chomp – 1581 – than the OED.
Where does champ come from?Collins suggests it’s probably imitative, ergo onomatopoeic – imagine the noisiest eater, chewer or chomper you know, and that might give you the idea –, as does the OED.
In support of that origin, the OED [1889 entry] states that “Cham (chawm, chamb), champ, and the dialect chamble (Halliwell), appear all to belong to a primary chamb, apparently closely connected or identical with jam v.1 (jamb), and jamble, to squeeze with violence, crush.”
In addition, the OED refers to evidence that in languages far removed from English cham(b) represents the chewing sound.
The Merriam-Webster Unabridged intriguingly refers champ to Middle English champen and chammen. The Michigan Middle English Compendium gives two quotations for chammen and assigns to it the meanings ‘to bite upon something; to gnash the teeth.’
The earlier of its citations is from the oft-cited John Trevisa’s On the Properties of Things and dates to before 1398:
It is ful hard and may nouʒt be chewed, and while men chammeþ [L masticatus] þer on. XVII, 5.
The ‘It’ here is the fruit of the ‘tree of aloes’ – presumably Aloe vera – ‘The trée of Aloes comforteth the stomacke, and maketh good digestion, & helpeth against féeblenesse of the heart, & the braine.’
Image by Bishnu Sarangi from PixabayWhere does chomp come from?Collins, the OED and M-W Unabridged all agree that chomp is an alteration of champ. In support of this hypothesis, the OED proposes the parallel case of to stamp producing to stomp.
What do they mean?to champCollins doesn’t separate transitive from intransitive:
1. to munch (food) noisily like a horse
2. (when intr, often foll by on, at, etc) to bite (something) nervously or impatiently; gnaw
3. champ at the bit
OED
The meanings it gives seem to parallel the Collins ones.
1. transitive. To crush and chew by vigorous and noisy action of the jaws; to munch. Also with up. (cf. Collins 1)
2. transitive. To bite upon (anything hard); said especially of a horse which impatiently bites the bit in its mouth. (cf. Collins 2)
3. intransitive or absol. To make a biting and chewing action or movement with the jaws and teeth. (cf. Collins 2)
Merriam-Webster Unabridged echoes the other two dictionaries while subdividing 1 into a and b and adding different transitive meanings 2 and 3. It assigns champ (at) the bit its own meaning category.
1a: to chew on with noisy vigor
<champing his food with the gusto of a healthy young animal — MacLean’s Magazine> (cf. OED & Collins 1)
b: to bite on repeatedly or grind the teeth forcefully against
<champing the stem of his pipe in his teeth — Marcia Davenport> (cf. OED & Collins 2)
2: to open and close with force and noise : gnash
champing enormous claws — I. L. Idriess>
3: mash, trample
<champing soil and water into mud>
intransitive verb
1: to make biting or gnashing movements or gestures : bite
champing behind a barrier — Upton Sinclair>
champing on leaves — Peggy Bennett> (cf. Collins 2 & OED 3)
2: to show restive impatience of delay or restraint
champing to apply scientific methods — W. H. Whyte>
champ at the bit or champ the bit
1 of a horse : to bite or gnash a bit in unruliness or impatience
champed the bit … ready to bolt — Zane Grey>
2: to be impatient of restraint or inactivity
champ the bit and foam in fetters — Lord Byron>
Collins:
to chew (food) noisily; champ
Collins Cobuild defines it thus: ‘If a person or animal chomps their way through food or chomps on food, they chew it noisily’ and labels it informal.
OED:
Like Collins, cross-refers it to champ:
“Formerly only dialect and U.S. Now a widespread variant of champ v. (esp. in senses 1, 2 and 3)” (which are the senses shown above in this post.)
A draft addition (2007) notes “intransitive. figurative. Chiefly North American. to chomp at the bit: = to champ at the bit at champ v.’
Merriam-Webster Unabridged conflates transitive and intransitive uses in its first category and, like the other two, cross-refers chomp to champ:
1 transitive + intransitive : to chew or bite on something : champ
chomping on a bone>
chomp bigger bites out of broadcast network budgets. — Inside Media, 12 Sept. 1990>
2 intransitive : to feel or show impatient eagerness to do something
chomping to hit the playing diamond. — Ronald Waldo, The Battling Bucs of 1925, 2012>
What’s interesting here is that Merriam-Webster alone notes that to chomp works on its own, without at the bit, in the meaning illustrated in the example at 2, ‘a group of players who were chomping to hit the playing diamond.’
Several corpus examples bear this out, e.g. ‘Ivy League schools were chomping to sign the egghead kid with the rocket arm.’
What about the relative ages of champ/chomp at the bit?The earliest OED citation for chomp at the bit is from 1937:
Apparently very dejected but perhaps merely ‘chomping at the bit’ because of his suspension,..Dizzy Dean, star St. Louis Cardinal pitcher, is shown as he sat in the stands.
Salamanca (N.Y.) Republican-Press 4 June 8/4 (caption)
The earliest OED citation for champ at the bit is from 1885:
‘Little breeches’ has been tramping down all the tall timber in his vicinity and champing at the bit tremendously, in his impatience..to tackle Gov. Hoadley in a political discussion.
Newark (Ohio) Daily Advocate 1 Oct.
However, as mentioned earlier, chomp appears in the same clause as bit way back in 1645.
Though many will disagree with me, all in all there seems to me a very strong case for arguing that chomp at the bit should just be accepted as an alternative to champ at the bit.
What’s the difference in age between the first two citations of each?I won’t use the dreaded “How long is a piece of string?” As mentioned earlier, the mininum is 51 years, if you take the OED‘s 1530 for champ and M-W’s 1581 for chomp. If instead you take Middle English chammen (a1398) as the root for champ, and the OED’s 1645 for chomp, you end up with a minimum of 247 years. And there are other permutations.
References:
“Champ.” Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/champ. Accessed 25 Feb. 2021.
“Chomp.” Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/chomp. Accessed 24 Feb. 2021.
“champ, v.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2020, oed.com/view/Entry/30383. Accessed 25 February 2021.
“chomp, v.” OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2020, oed.com/view/Entry/32193. Accessed 25 February 2021.
Middle English Dictionary. Ed. Robert E. Lewis, et al. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1952-2001. Online edition in Middle English Compendium. Ed. Frances McSparran, et al.. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Library, 2000-2018. <http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/>. Accessed 25 February 2021.
