chains, plural noun

Forms:
Frequently with initial capital.
Origin:
Named for the chains at each end of Simmonds Street which formerly closed the area to traffic.
historical
1. in the phrase between the chains.
a. As an adverbial phrase: In the chained-off portion of Simmonds Street, Johannesburg (alluding to stock dealing).
1888 in Story of Jhb. Stock Exchange (Comm. of Jhb. Stock Exchange) (1948) 20One of the sights in the afternoon is that to be witnessed ‘between the chains’...It is between the chains, too, that the larger part of landed property for sale in the town is put up for auction.
1940 F.B. Young City of Gold 417When the stock-exchange was closed, excited brokers gathered ‘between the chains’ still buying and selling.
1940 F.B. Young City of Gold 58Dealing ‘between the chains’ and street dealing elsewhere was finally prohibited in May, 1902.
1967 E. Rosenthal Encycl. of Sn Afr. 56‘Between the Chains’ came to an end about the time of the Boer War, and was never revived, because of the new Stock Exchange built in 1903.
1983 J.A. Brown White Locusts 70The crowd between the chains was shouting the odds of shares when he drove up and dismounted.
b. As n. phr.: The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (see JSE). Also attributive.
Note:
Used as a name for the Johannesburg Stock Exchange from 1887 to 1902. See note at JSE.
1958 A. Jackson Trader on Veld 50The old ‘Corner House’, a three-storey building with a wooden verandah opposite the famous ‘Between the Chains’ Exchange.
1972 Sunday Times 23 Apr. 4Another attraction was the Stock Exchange, known as ‘Between the Chains’ — the stretch of Simmonds Street between Market Street and Commissioner Street, which was cordoned off at both ends by chains and thus closed to vehicular traffic.
1990 C. Laffeaty Far Forbidden Plains 28Because of the special chained-off portion in the street the Exchange is often spoken of as ‘Between the Chains’.
2. The chains: That portion of Simmonds Street where the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was at one time situated. Also attributive.
1900 H.C. Hillegas Oom Paul’s People 296The popular gathering place in the city is the street in front of one of the stock exchanges known as ‘The Chains.’
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 119Chains, The, That portion of Simmonds Street, Johannesburg, which is closed to vehicular traffic, and reserved for the operations of stock and mining speculations.
In the chained-off portion of Simmonds Street, Johannesburg (alluding to stock dealing).
As n. phr.:The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (see JSE). Also attributive.
The chains:That portion of Simmonds Street where the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was at one time situated. Also attributive.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18881990

Browse Related Words

By Category

Economics and Commerce
Architecture and Buildings

By Usage

historical
chaff, verb transitivev.chalkdown, nounn.
Copyright © 2023 Dictionary Unit for South African English.