Would you like to indicate that something was discouraged, deterred or kept away from something else? The phrase 'at bay' is a common English saying that can be used to indicate this, though it can confuse speakers who have never heard it before. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this saying.
Meaning
The phrase 'at bay' is a common figurative saying in the English language. The phrase has a longer form, which is said as '[to] keep something at bay'.
Saying 'at bay' implies that something is discouraged, deterred or kept away from something else.
There are several ways to use the phrase for the appropriate tense, including to say that something 'has been kept at bay' or that something 'should be kept at bay'.
The phrase can also be used in the denial form to say that something is or has not been 'kept at bay'.
The saying is often used as part of a longer sentence that implies the longer context of what the phrase means.
The phrase can mean anything, though generally refers to something that should be restricted or limited.
The phrase is figurative and 'bay' just means that something should be kept away from something else. Original use of the term might have been literal, thanks to its possible origin as a nautical term.
As a saying, it is most popular in English and does not translate well to all other languages as a direct phrase.
Example Usage
“If you wear that dress to prom tonight, then your dad is going to have to take the shotgun to keep the guys at bay.”
“Just keep the zombies at bay with this golf club. If they get into this barn, we're all screwed right down to our last teeth.”
“You're going to have to do something to keep the bees at bay, or they're going to get right into the Hall of Mirrors and sting all of the children. That is obviously not a good thing.”
“You have to finish the whole course of antibiotics if you want to keep the infection at bay and stay healthy. Don't take any chances with your health now.”
Origin
The origin of the phrase 'at bay' is agreed to come from somewhere during the late-1500s, where the phrase would have had potential origins as a seafaring term.
The word 'bay' would first be used to refer to the bay in which ships docked, with the implication that something would be kept literally 'at bay'.
Whlie the exact first use of the phrase in English would be difficult to track down, the early use of the phrase is apparent to most linguists as around the 1500s when it first appeared in diaries and texts of the time.
The word 'bay' might have emerged a century earlier, though first meant the cry of animals before it was a term that referenced seafaring.
As the phrase evolved, its meaning would no longer refer exclusively to seafaring but branch out to the meaning of something general that is being kept away from something else.
The phrase was first listed on Urban Dictionary in 2007, even though the first use of the phrase was apparent long before this. Urban Dictionary also lists a less common meaning of 'at bay' as a sex position.
Phrases Similar to At Bay
- At arm's length
Phrases Opposite to At Bay
- Close
What is the Correct Saying?
- [to keep something] at bay
Ways People May Say At Bay Incorrectly
There are several ways in which someone might use the term 'at bay' in the wrong way, or misunderstand the meaning of the phrase.
The phrase is used to imply that something is 'kept at bay' or 'not kept at bay', though since the phrase origin is in English it does not always translate well to other languages.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase At Bay
The correct way to use the saying 'at bay' is to imply that something is either being kept distant, or that something is not.
The phrase is used as 'kept' or 'keep' at bay, and can also be used as the denial of 'not [being kept] at bay'.