A statemment elsewhere got me thinking. "I'm just not going to be too eager to visit the chiropractor who is so unaware that he puts that up on his shingle."

I think of a shingle as something that goes on a roof. How did shingle come to be used in this context?

I believe the expression is "hang out his shingle," meaning to put up a sign over his door indicating that he's in business. I know I've heard it in the medical profession, but don't know about other vocations.

e.g., "He finished law school, moved back home, and hung out his shingle."

I've always seen it used as Wally mentioned. It's not a phrase used here in the UK, but I have assumed that (presumably in the past) people used roof tiles as handy objects to turn into signs.

From the Online Etymology Dictionary

quote:

shingle (1)
"thin piece of wood," c.1200, scincle, from L.L. scindula, altered (by influence of Gk. schidax "lath" or schindalmos "splinter") from L. scandula "roof tile," from scindere "to cleave, split," from PIE base *sked- "to split." Meaning "small signboard" is first attested 1842; that of "woman's short haircut" is from 1924. The verb meaning "to cut the hair so as to give the impression of overlapping shingles" is from 1857.

Yes, I would have guessed it was an Early American term from the time when thin wood signs were hung along the street, outside the doors of the shops, indicating what was inside each. Those same thin slices of wood were also used as roof tiles. Sometimes you could have slate shingles, too . . . but usually just for the roof, not for signage. I have, however, a mother who paints on slate roof tiles after they've been discarded and makes them into beautiful welcome signs, so perhaps we've come round to that again.

A few things trouble me about the explanation of "using literal shingles" as sign-boards to hang.

• Is there any evidence that shingles were actually used this way?
• Why would a term arise based on the unusual type of sign which is 'hung'? Typically, a sign identifying a business is not hung; it is attached flat against the front elevation of the building.
• The idiom 'hung out his shingle' typically is used only for professionals: doctors, dentists, lawyers. But the explanation given suggests that it would apply to all kinds of people.

Still, I can't come up with any other explanation.

A "shingle" is simply a very thin piece of wood - perfect for signs or roofs. There are split shingles, where the surface is rough according to the where the grain of the wood was split (likely with a froe), and there are sawn shingles - more likely to be used in the sign context. And not all shingles have to be tapered in thickness.

Bob
(who hung out a tile on the theory that it would withstand the elements better)

The word shingle is only used in the UK in the sense of 'coarse gravel, stones or pebbles'. Usually you'd find it on a beach or a riverbed.

Is the word used in that way in the US?