Definition 1a of Substantive (noun): "A chest or box for money; a cash-box, till."
First appearance dated to 1598 and attributed to FLORIO and then in 1611 to COTGR. Googling Florio 1598 gives Giovanni Florio while searching for COTGR 1611 redirects to Cotgrave and gives the wikipedia page Randle Cotgrave. The selection of names is based off of the evidence found.

Adapted French [casse]: "a box, casse, chest, to carrie or keep wares in, also a Marchants cash or counter", Cotgrave.

Or its origin through Italian [cassa]:

"a chest,.. also, a merchants cashe or touner", Florio

Definition 1b: "A sum of money." Obs.

As for the second definition for the substantive with the first date of 1596:

"Money; in the form of a coin, ready money"
"a. Formerly in literary and general use; but now only commercial (see b), or consciously used as a sort of commercial slang"
"b. As a term of banking or commerce, used to signify, in its strictest sense, specie; also, less strictly, bank notes, which can at once be converted into specie, and are therefore taken as 'cash', in opposition to bills or other securities. Also in the phrases [these phrases are bold] hard cash, ready cash, cash in hand, cash on delivery: applied to the forwarding of goods to order, payment being made to the carrier or postman when the goods are delivered. Abbreviated C.O.D."

1596 Nashe Saffron Walden, 106[:] "He put his hand in his pocket but... not to pluck out anie cash." (Definition 2a.)

1599 Shaks. Hen. V, II. i. 120[:] "Nym. I shall haue my Noble? Pist. In cash, most iustly payd."

Although there is a discrepancy in Henry V, 120 is the stated line but when cross-referencing it with

http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/characters/charlines.php?CharID=nym&WorkID=henry5

Perhaps, this is because the paper was larger than the ones used now.

Definition 2c dated 1614: "Minted coin, current coin." Obs.

1614 T. Adams Devil's Bang. 205[:] "To buy leaden trash, with golden cash."

Definition 2d dated 1651: "It is also the regular term for 'money' in Book-keeping. See cash account in 3."

1651 in Index Royalists (Index Soc.) 18[:] "The said treasures or their clerk of the cash."

2e. "Phrases. out of cash, in cash."

1593 Peele Edw. I (1830) 57[:] "Now the Friar is out of cash five nobles, God knows how he shall come into cash again."

2f. "cash down (Down adv. 12): ready money." orig. U.S.

[1722 P. Lloyd Let. 28 Jul in Maryland Hist. Soc. Publication (1804) XXXIV. 31[:] "A reserve was made of Almost all the Lands upon the Western shore, for the Value of £120 p^d downe."]

2g. cash and carry, a system whereby the purchaser pays the cash for goods and takes them away himself. Usu. attrib. Also elliot., a shop or supermarket operating on this system. spec. used with reference to purchases of arms from the U.S. in the period immediately before 1941. Also, cash and carry away. orig. U.S.

1917 Ladies' Home Jrnl. July 27/3, "I would recommend to every women that you follow the 'cash and carry' plan of buying in preference to the 'credit and delivery' plan."

1937 Ann. Reg. 1936 204[:] "The President should be given some measure of discretion to permit, say, the victims of aggression to buy, pay for, and transport at their own risk such supplies, not actually munitions of war, which they might need. This policy was described by its proponents as the 'cash and carry' policy."

With that, I'll end and give you some time to digest the material.

@Warsaw Will,

But the question remains: are those men who do use it using it correctly?

I have never heard stripes being used solely vertical. Stripes essentially mean lines that are parallel. Horizontal, vertical, or diagonal describes their angle (0 degrees, 90 degrees, or 45 degrees or alternatively, 0 radians, π/2 radians, or π/4 radians), but for an accurate definition of a stripe: "a long[,] narrow band or strip, typically of the same width throughout its length, differing in color or texture from surface on either side of it" from my computer's dictionary program. Bands and hoops are the same with a slight difference in that they round back upon themselves thus giving a three dimensional aspect, but in terms of clothing, stripes have the implied meaning that it's around the entire shirt regardless of direction. However, when I think of bands, my mind gravitates towards something that goes on wrist and, with hoops, something you jump through.

I've never heard someone call stripes bands; where did you hear/read it?

Looking at the date of your post, Hairy Scot, I'm sorry that it became a "cold case" until now.

I don't know what it is, but "snuck" to me sounds better than sneaked. The "uck" part has that pernicious sound when paired with "sn".

To Warsaw Will, I feel as though the archaic second person singular pronouns (thou, thee, thy, thine) should be resurrected for the sake of clarity. Whenever I read you, I think which you? You singular or you plural?

Whoops, didn't realize it was pun; I was thinking of it as dull and what not. That went over my head pretty well.

*In the first paragraph, static should stative.

@Warsaw Will

I disagree. Bored can act as adjective and thus can act predicatively in a static relationship with a copula.

In the case of the question originally posed in David L's post, I do not see bored as an acceptable response to dropping something. The question "what happened when you dropped the power drill" is ill-formed because if you're bored with something, you set it down; you don't drop it. If I did that, I might receive a reprimanding from my brother

And arguably you could say, "I was bored, so I dropped the power drill". There is not enough evidence to irrefutably suggest that "what he was doing bored him" to the point of dropping the drill.

You could get bored regardless of the activity. For example, I have been reading the Silmarillion, almost finished, and if start thinking about something more exciting, then what I am doing now is not as appealing. It is not that the book is boring me, but that I desire to something else that is more stimulating.

But I will say that my original response is little ignorant, especially this sentence: "...nothing was trying to..." I may be wrong, but I think that was my thought process when I originally posted.

Bored is acting as an adjective here. This is because nothing was trying to bore him, but that what he was doing was boring, i.e. monotonous, dull, dreary.

I find the use slightly innovative because it takes an old (relatively), well-established idiom that, in this context, uses a not too outdated word and revivifies it with the metric ton, i.e. tonne. Both are heavy (ton: 2,000 lb vs. tonne: 2,205 lb) and the idioms meaning remains intact.

I don't however think that it should supplant the original entirely. A quick search in the dictionary can easily remedy what a ton is.

I think this is one of your many assertions of how languages change and is very similar to your gripe with the 'if... think..., then you have another think/thing coming'.

My family, myself included, might once in a while say pretty penny.

@AnWulf,

I will take you up that offer about providing quotations whenever possible. I checked Oxford's entry on peace, and the earliest date that I found was 1154. That fact about Oxford English Dictionaries disconcerts me because I was hoping that it would be very comprehensive, as it is Oxford. I am a little concerned that the dictionary lacks completeness and thoroughness because of some dearth of diligence on the lexicographers' part.