Origin Stories: Neck of the Woods

The first time I heard the expression “your neck of the woods” was from Al Roker on NBC Today when I was very young. Since then, it’s probably one of my most frequently used sayings. Only recently, I realized that it wasn’t just an expression common among people in the North East, but can be heard in English speaking countries around the world, so I started thinking… where did this expression come from?

Unlike some of my previous investigations in this blog series, this one isn’t so clear. Despite the expression being used across the globe, early American colonizers are credited with its introduction to the everyday vernacular. Sources say the expression started in the 1550s, while others claim its start hundreds of years later. One early documented example comes from the Richmond Indiana Palladium in 1838, where a contributor used the saying to express their identity. Another source dating back to 1637 sees the use of “neck” to describe a part of a meadow.

The meaning of the expression is as simple as whatever context it serves. From property documentation to Al Roker’s catchphrase, the general definition can be understood as a narrow section of woods or a place where someone lives. Some people speculate that the expression came from the Scottish word “neuk” which means “nook” or “corner,” while others suggest it comes from the Algonquian word “naiak” with the same meaning, though there’s no concrete evidence to support either hypothesis. 

Though my research couldn’t provide me a clear answer, it did pull me down another rabbit-hole: the use of body parts to describe the environment. There’s the “neck” of the woods, the “eye” of the storm, the “mouth” of the river, and more. Humans have been making sense of the world around them through bodily comparison for centuries, and while there’s no straightforward reason for that, I can’t help but wonder. Maybe part of the reason is that people and trees both grow, or that storm clouds seem to cry endless tears, or that the river is capable of spewing water from its banks like a child who can’t contain their laughter while drinking a glass of milk.