Everything2
Near Matches
Ignore Exact
Full Text
Everything2

Clean bill of health

created by LaggedyAnne

(thing) by LaggedyAnne (4.6 hr) (print)   ?   (I like it!) Thu Sep 19 2002 at 1:40:31

To receive a clean bill of health is to be declared healthy, satisfactory or in upstanding condition.

"After two weeks recovery, my doctor gave me a clean bill of health."

This idiom actually originates in the 19th century, when travel abroad was done by ship. Before a ship was allowed to dock, the city of arrival would send health inspectors on to the ships to make sure there were no communicable diseases among the passengers. If the inspector found the ship free of disease, he would give an official document called a "bill of health" to the ship's captain, who was then free to dock.

Similarly, some etymologists say that the "bill of health" was issued to the captain of the ship prior to departure to certify that the port of origin, rather than the ship, was reporting no epidemic when the crew set sail.


printable version
chaos

E2 Nodegel Visualizer Talking like a pirate is fun but annoys people Caramelized onions Health Inspector
ripcord Quarantine 19th century idiom
healthy Under the table upstanding English idioms on Everything
epidemic
Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.
  Epicenter
Login
Password

password reminder
register

Everything2 Help

Cool Staff Picks
Look at this mess the Death Borg made!
The Terminator
Fried eggplant rounds
The threat of freedom
bookbinding
William of Orange
bestiary
Discovery
root log: February 2001
Pallas Athena
The Backyardigans
EveryGame
The Wild Ass and the Lion
2100010006
New Writeups
octillion369
Frost wyrm(person)
kalen
Three "T"s(idea)
octillion369
Undead(idea)
archiewood
Ico(fiction)
Heisenberg
Why I love Everything2(log)
octillion369
Death Knight(person)
XWiz
Are you hoping for a miracle?(review)
santo
The Host(review)
LostPsion
"Shut the Fuck Up" Theaters(idea)
beatrice
You've been slowly taking me over for nearly a year, do you know that?(idea)
Berek
YouTube(thing)
shaogo
How to Pretend to Have a Job(idea)
hapax
Les Provinciales(review)
zoeb
The Scene(review)
aneurin
Telephone Numbers for drama purposes(idea)
This affordable entertainment brought to you by The Everything Development Company