Thanks Harold. I really had NO idea and never bothered to look it up! I thought it was obvious about its etymology too. I was probably off there as well, but since its origins are NOT really known, just PERHAPS I am right on the money. In fact, if the two were given as a choice on a game show before you brought it to my attention, I would have blown it.
In case you are interested in my thoughts of its etymology. It is as follows...
In the UK there has been a serious problem of the theft of sheep, lamb. Sheep is the adult. Lamb is the more tender young. Even today in the 21st century there still exists crimes of this nature. In the olden days most thieves stole the younger lambs to stave off hunger - meat much more tender, juicier, tastier and cooks much faster. Therefore, evidence gone. Centuries ago, theft was met with severe punishment - an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, thrashings, floggings - you get the idea. As I said, the crime is still rampant even today. Incidentally, I had read the following site quite some time ago. Took me a while to find it.
[*1]
Rural thefts
On the lamb
A revival of an old crime (link at bottom)
Crime has been falling in Britain since the mid-1990's, with a few exceptions. Police fret about rising online fraud and phishing scams perpetuated by sophisticated global criminal networks. And then there's sheep rustling.
Between 2010 and 2011 the cost of theft of farm animals shot up by 170 %, according to NFU mutual, which insures three-quarters of Britains farmers.
I very much think that the original phrase went far back to at least the 14-15th centuries and was actually "On the lamb." I would hazard an educated guess that the phrase originally meant, specifically, someone who has rustled, is in the act of rustling and perhaps also on the run or even in the act of being punished. Somehow, I think the b was intentionally dropped for whatever reason, perhaps to distinguish from lamb, or just plain lost in adoption. Or perhaps the b is just - on the lamb. lol[*3]
Interesting (to me at least): I was visiting some very dear friends in Ireland. I was there to help support a native of their village, Janet Devlin, of Gortin. County Tyrone. The mother of my friend knew the family well. All of Gortin know of them now. The little lass single-handedly put her remote village of Gortin on the map. She auditioned for X Factor. You may remember her. I shall include a link at the bottom of the page. Anyways, while I was there was the first time I heard the word lambaste. Mostly as a threat to little rambunctious lads. When enquiring about it, I was told with much emotion that it is used to describe the punishment of sheep rustlers. In Ireland, with so much beautiful green grazing land, full grown sheep are stolen. In other words, the problem also exists in Ireland.
lambast: to beat or whip severely. Flog. Castigate. Thrash. Thresh.
lambaste: To hit heavily or repeatedly with violent blows.
lam + baste:
lam: 1590-1600, To beat or thrash.
lam: Not until late 19th century has it come to mean to escape or flee. (perhaps fleeing from the floggings.)
baste: To beat with a stick; thrash; cudgel. 1425-75 Late Middle English
basten, also of obscure origin.
Etymology 2
From Old Norse lamb.
lam n (singular definite lammet, plural indefinite lam)
lamb
⦁ Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch lamp, lam, from Old Dutch *lamb, from Proto-Germanic *lambaz. Cognate with lamb, German Lamm.
lam n (plural lammeren, diminutive lammetje n)
1. A 1. lamb, the 1. young of a 1. sheep
2. (2. metonymically) The meat - or fleece/wool produce of a lamb; a dish prepared from lamb's meat.
Then there's this...
The World's Most Coveted Masterpiece
('The Just Judges' panel is still missing - still on the lam(b).)
[*2]
The Ghent Altarpiece (also called the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb or The Lamb of God, Dutch: Het Lam Gods) is a very large and complex early 15th-century Early Flemish polyptych panel painting. The altarpiece comprises 12 panels, eight of which are hinged shutters. Each wing is painted on either side, giving two distinct views depending on whether they are open or closed. Except for Sundays and festive holidays, the outer wings were closed and often covered with cloth. It was commissioned to Hubert van Eyck, about whom little is known. He was most likely responsible for the overall design, but died in 1426. It seems to have been principally executed and completed by his younger and better known brother Jan van Eyck between 1430 and 1432.[1] Although there have been extensive attempts to isolate passages attributable to either brother, no separation has been convincingly established. Today, most accept that the work was probably designed and constructed by Hubert and that the individual panels were painted by Jan.
-snip-
The altarpiece has been moved several times over the centuries. Art historian Noah Charney describes the altarpiece as one of the more coveted and desired pieces of art, the victim of 13 crimes since its installation, and seven thefts. After the French Revolution the altarpiece was among a number of art works plundered in today's Belgium and taken to Paris where they were exhibited at the Louvre. It was returned to Ghent in 1815 after the French defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.[97] The painting's wings (not including the Adam and Eve panels)[97] were pawned in 1815 by the Diocese of Ghent for the equivalent of £240. When the diocese failed to redeem them, they were sold by the dealer Nieuwenhuys in 1816 to the English collector Edward Solly for £4,000. The pieces spent some months in London, during which time the new owner unsuccessfully sought a buyer. They were later bought by the King of Prussia for £16,000, an enormous sum at the time, and for many decades they were exhibited in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.[98] The panels still in Ghent were damaged by fire in 1822, and the separately hinged Adam and Eve panels sent to a museum in Brussels.[89]
During World War I, other panels were taken from the cathedral by German forces. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and its subsequent reparations transfers, Germany returned all the panels,[5] and, in 1920, after a century of separation, all the panels were again in Ghent. In 1934, the panels of 'The Just Judges' and 'Saint John the Baptist', were stolen. The panel of 'Saint John the Baptist' was returned by the thief as a goodwill gesture, but the 'The Just Judges' panel is still missing.[89] The Germans "bitterly resented the loss of the panels" and, at the start of another invasion by Germany in 1940, a decision was made in Belgium to send the altarpiece to the Vatican to keep it safe.[5] The painting was in France, en route to the Vatican, when Italy declared war as an Axis power alongside Germany. The painting was stored in a museum in Pau, and French, Belgian and German military representatives signed an agreement which required the consent of all three before the masterpiece could be moved.[5] In 1942, Adolf Hitler ordered the painting to be seized and brought to Germany to be stored in the Schloss Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria. After Allied air raids made the castle too dangerous for the painting, it was stored in the Altaussee salt mines.[99] Belgian and French authorities protested against the seizing of the painting, and the head of the German army's Art Protection Unit was dismissed after he disagreed with the seizure.[99]
The altarpiece was recovered by the Allied group Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program after the war and returned to Belgium in a ceremony presided over by Belgian royalty at the Royal Palace of Brussels, where the 17 panels were displayed for the press. No French officials were invited, as the Vichy French had allowed the Germans to remove the painting.[100] The altarpiece and its recovery were featured in the 2014 movie, The Monuments Men.
*1
http://www.economist.com/news/britain/2 ... crime-lamb*2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghent_Altarpiece*3
https://youtu.be/f4EE4bIFixQI was at that audition of little Janet Devlin. There were close to thirty of us there for her support. She's the loveliest, most shy girl you'd ever want to meet. BUT THAT VOICE! I could listen to her talk and sing for hours.
Stealing Sheep is so common in the UK that there's even a pop band by the same name from Liverpool.
