<P> George Orwell wrote in his 1946 article "Politics and the English Language" that the term "cul de sac" is another foreign word used in English as pretentious diction and is unnecessary . </P> <P> The word "cul - de-sac" and its synonyms or near synonyms "dead end" and "no exit" have inspired metaphorical uses in literature and in culture, often with the result that a word or phrase seeming to have a negative connotation is replaced in street signs with a new coinage . ("No outlet" is another alternative name used on street signs .) </P> <P> The expression cul - de-sac comes from French, where it originally meant "bottom of the sack". It was first used in English in anatomy (since 1738). It was used for dead - end streets since 1800 in English (since the 14th century in French). The often heard erroneous folk etymology "arse / ass (buttocks) of the sack" is based on the modern meaning of cul in French, Catalan, and Occitan, but cul doesn't have that meaning in cul - de-sac, which is still used to refer to dead ends in modern French although the terms impasse and voie sans issue are more common in modern French . </P> <P> J.R.R. Tolkien used the name Bag End as a translation of "cul - de-sac" to poke fun at the British use of French terms . </P>

Where does the term dead end come from