‘Hay day’ never had a heyday (well, maybe in a barn)

Today’s question: Where did the term “hay day” come from, such as “in his hay day?” There will now be a moment of embarrassed silence until I politely point out it’s not “hay day.” It’s “heyday.” It started out centuries ago with “hei,” a word of challenge or anger.

I’m sure you remember the line from “St. Katherine of Alexandria” when someone says, `Hei! hwuch wis read of se icudd keiser!’

Actually, I have no more of an idea what that means than you do, but it was the example given at etymologyonline.com so I thought I would throw it in.

Sometime around the 1520s, it became “heyda,” which was a word of cheerfulness or surprise, sort of like our word “hurrah.” There were similar words in Dutch, German and Danish.

A century or so later it evolved into “high-days,” meaning a time of the greatest strength or vigor and eventually arrived to us as heyday.

I’m just finishing my ninth year of spring training in Arizona and have a question. Where do all of the millions and millions of stones, rocks, pebbles and boulders that are used in landscaping come from? I’ve asked several Arizona natives and no one can give me an answer.

First of all, thanks you for coming to visit us for nine years. A lot of visitors can’t take it for that long.

Next, remember that Arizona is not blessed with the rich black topsoil of the Midwest you are here to get away from.

Instead, geology graced most of the state with stony, sandy soil. What we don’t find on the surface we dig up from quarries.