If someone is asked a question about an area they know nothing about, they might reply that it’s “not in their bailiwick”. Nowadays, at least, it also carries the connotation that “it’s not my job”. For some reason, there doesn’t seem to be a corresponding phrase “yes, that’s right in my bailiwick” — maybe this is a tacit recognition that nobody knows much about anything, really. But we can find out more about bailiwicks, at least.
Originally the word “bailiwick” had to do with the scope of your authority. It’s made up of two words. “Bail” is based on the Latin “bajulus”, which meant a carrier in the sense of a person; a porter. That’s where “bailiff” comes from — back in the 1300s the “bailiff” was a Sheriff’s aide; he would be responsible for his own district, which was probably the area where he lived. In Old English a “wic” was a home, so the “bailiff” was responsible for his “bailiwick”.
“Bailiff” is still in use as a legal term for the person who’s responsible for keeping order in a courtroom, which is directly related to the old Sheriff’s assistant. But “bailiff” had a more general meaning centuries ago. Remember that “bail” was somebody who carried something. In addition to the legal responsibility for carrying the Sheriff’s authority to a community, “bailiff” also meant anyone who carried almost anything. A bucket of water, for example — which is what you’d be carrying if you were “bailing” out a boat or ship. Or money, which you’d carry to a jail to “bail” someone out. Or a baby; back in the 1400s pregnant women were called “bailiffs” before the baby was born. After the baby was born, the nannies who cared for them (and bore the responsibility) were also known as bailiffs.
Nannies “bore” the responsibility after the mothers “bore” the children. Those are only two of the dozens of senses in which the word “bear” is used. There’s “bearing with” something (having patience), “bearing out” (confirming), “bearing off” (steering away, particularly with boats), “bearing up” (enduring), and “bearing down” (not the opposite of enduring; it’s either approaching rapidly, pressing on something, or trying very hard at something). The list goes on and on.
“Bear” is quite an old word; it comes from the Old English “bera”, and there are very similar words in Frisian (bar), Old Norse (bjorn), Lithuanian (beras), and Old High German (bero). That usually means all of those words originated in Proto-Indo-European, and they did; they call come from “bher”. The interesting thing about “bear” is that its cognates (related words) in other languages tend to have different meanings. The Russian version, “beret”, means “he takes”. The Old Irish “berid” means carries. Several of the Germanic versions mean the color brown. And the Old Norse “bjorn” is a bear, as in the animal.
It’s easy to see the connection between the animal and the color brown, of course, but it’s doubtful that bears were ever really used to carry much of anything, and it’s not at all clear that bears were known for their sense of responsibility or duty. It’s possible there are subtle connections buried deeper in etymological texts, but I’m not going to ask you to bear with me while I bear down at bringing those to bear; I’m not sure I could bear it myself. It’s not really in my bailiwick, after all.
