etymology - How and when did "bash" and "do" come to mean party?



I am on my way to a faculty party at the university. The Head of Sciences is retiring and is throwing a huge bash, all his staff, selected external examiners like me and various scientists from private institutions and funding bodies. The Head of Sciences is married to a French wine merchant and caterer and expectations of this party are unusually high for a faculty do.
page 102, Apple Tree Yard



I like this passage from an English language point of view. The author Louise Doughty includes two synonyms for party; a bash and a do. Bash is slang, it conjures a wild type of party, possibly impromptu, raucous and loud.


Etymonline says On a bash "on a drunken spree" is slang from 1901, which gave the word its sense of "party." Does that mean the first time "bash" was used to mean party is in 1901? I understand that the expression on a bash is from 1901, so bash must have come later.


A do on the other hand, sounds as if the party is quite formal, where one is expected to dress up and behave in a socially acceptable manner. Dos are, typically, weddings, landmark birthdays or grand social events. In this case a faculty party can be called a do.



mainly UK informal a party or other social event:
Colin's having a bit of a do for his 50th birthday.
It was one of those dos where nobody really knew each other.




  • Are the distinctions I made between between bash and do correct?

  • How (and when) did "bash" and "do" mean party?




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