Okay. I have used this phrase for years, and to many people, they have never heard it before. I have always taken it to mean that I (As the sayer of the phrase) am asking the Sayee to prove a statement he or she has made.
While doing an idle search on the internet recently, I see it having a few different meanings, one being close to mine and one stating it is a reprimand from a boss-like figure.
So, my question is two-fold.
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[li]What exactly, does this phrase mean?[/li][li]Where, exactly, does this phrase originate from?[/li][/list=1]
Really, really, wild guess would be that it’s an old goverment term (from some country or other).
I’m thinking maybe that the current speaker would be called to the center of the floor to make a point, or defend a position and that’s the only part that has carpet ?
However this reference seems to indicate a military origin, since it says “Calling a general on the carpet”.
So same idea but military procedure ? Court Martial ? Promotion ? Being awarded a medal ?
I’ve actually never heard the second or third uses, just the first, but more in the sense of being called to task for a problem, with the chance to explain yourself.
Ditto–like being called to the Principal’s office. You’re in the hot seat for your actions, and are being asked to explain yourself (with major threats hanging over your head if you fail to provide a satisfactory defense). I have not heard your particular usage of it, though clearly it’s related.
I’ve always understood it to mean that you are being reprimanded. You might also be given an opportunity to explain yourself, but that is secondary to the fact that your superiors are expressing their disapproval and most likely also are letting you know what the consequences of your transgression will be.
The first appearance of the phrase was in 1888 in Scribner’s Magazine where it was called “dancing on the carpet.”
It appears in 1889 in a slang dictionary as “to be called on the carpet…to be scolded, reprimanded, to have to give an account of oneself.”
The above is from LIghter(Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang).
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms says “This term began as on the carpet, which in the early 1700’s referred to a cloth(carpet) covering a conference table and therefore came to mean “under consideration or discussion.” In 19th-century America, however, carpet meant “floor covering,” and the expression,<snip> alluded to being called before or reprimanded by a person rich or powerful enough to have a carpet.”
is an excellently done site and agrees with the AHDI.
When I saw the thread title ‘Calling on the carpet’, I expected it to be yet another Australian euphemism for vomiting (they do have quite a range of these), but I am clearly mistaken.
I’d posit a somewhat more sinister derivation. Some Abbasid Caliphs kept an executioner standing by at all times. If the Caliph decided to execute someone, he would be beheaded forthwith on a leather carpet in the audience chamber.
Perhaps “being called on the carpet” is a jocular reference to being “handed your head.”
The Book of Golden Meadows has a reference to it. This was written about 940 but recounts events of about 150 years earlier. I’m sure Tamerlane could reel off any number of other primary sources. Perhaps someone ought to call him over here.
