Even if you’re feeling perfectly healthy, it might not take much to render you rigwelted. I mean, one simple case of the flu and you could be reduced to lying in bed. Rigwelted! (like I said the first time).
“Rigwelted” comes from the early 1800s, and originally meant lying helplessly on your back. But only if you were a sheep. It was pretty clear in 1828: “When a sheep is laid upon its back, and unable to turn itself, it is said to be …rigwelted.” It took about fifty years before people were included, but by 1877: “A person is said to be ‘rigwelted in bed’ when confined there by severe illness.”
“Rigwelted” doesn’t make much sense until you discover that it’s a combination of “rig” and “welt,” and both words used to have meanings that have disappeared by now. “Rig” used to mean the back or spine of a person or animal. It probably came from “ridge,” and it was used from about the 1300s up until about the 1700s. You can still find it once in a while, but now it’s limited to local dialects in England. “Rig” is still in common use, but it doesn’t refer to anyone’s back any more.
“Welt,” between about 1300 and about 1550, meant to fall over backward, as in “…an’ we com welting into t’ gutter.” Sometimes it just meant swaying or tottering as if you were about to fall over backward. Just like “rig,” “welt” is still a word, but hasn’t anything to do with that old meaning. Instead, it can be a strip of leather around the sole of a shoe, or a strip of material on any sort of border, or a raised scar, or the flange of a horseshoe, or…it just has quite a few meanings.
“Rig,” of course, has even more meanings than “welt.” I’d start listing them, but since you’d shortly be rigwelted by sheer boredom, I’ll find a different approach. I’m sure it won’t take long to rig one up.
