Know Your English (Jan 2002)-9

Know your English

What is the meaning and origin of the expression "trail blazer"?

A trailblazer is someone who is the first to do something. For example, he or she could be someone who has discovered or developed a new method of doing something. Here are a few examples.

*Jambu will always be remembered as a trailblazer in cancer research.

*Padma was a trailblazer in the field of AIDS research.

One can even talk about an individual or an institution of having "blazed a trail". When someone blazes a trail what you are implying is that he/she has done something, which no one has done before; something, which will benefit a lot of other people.

*The company has blazed a trail in developing new medicines for curing AIDS.

*He has blazed a trail in developing awareness among people about cancer.

The word "blaze" is generally associated with "fire". So "trailblazer" should be someone who develops something new by destroying everything that is old. This however is not the origin of the expression. The expression came into being in the late 18th Century when the American settlers were pushing further and further west — towards Oregon, California, etc. Since they were exploring uncharted territory and didn't want to get lost along the way, they used to mark the trail that they had taken. One of the ways that they used to indicate the route they had taken was to remove the bark from some of the trees. This method of marking trees was known as "blazing". And since they were marking a trail, we get the expressions "blazing a trail" and "trailblazer".

Source:

The Hindu daily, Tuesday, Jan 08, 2002