Derring-do

Derring-do means heroic action or chivalry and dates in this form from the late 16th century. It is a corruption of ‘daring to do’ and in the form of ‘dorryng do’ was used by Chaucer in the late 1300s. During the 1500s it appeared as ‘derrynge do’ and was misinterpreted by Edmund Spenser to mean chivalry. Derring-do was then taken up by Sir Walter Scott and popularised in his 19th century novels.