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Mang and its Origin,
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I There- are many-- curious forms of exprès-,
I sion, old and quaint, sayings, and slang
í terms, more, of less in daily.juso, the dorl-,
vations of which/, are very little known. I.
I ".Jolly':' is a word to ,which*;ono's elderly i
i relatives aro wont to /objcct ^as(being mod- j
ern slang,. yct-, '>as:-a matter.{ot- fact, two j
'hundred'-years*.and . inore...ago*: it was in j
commoiv use as an adverb,; vrpt an udject- ¡
Ivo, and-simply 'monnt ''.vcry;^ In a com-
mentary on -tho Bible, published - in tho
-'seventeenth", century tho; following passage,
illustrating tins' , meaning,'- "occurs. : ; VAU
was jolly quiet- at lOphesus- boforo 'St.--Faul:
cuino thither." 3n"nnv words ' and - phrases
arc: now considered most vulgar _ which
were once the acme of correct/diction.
.To-"bono" in old times-among all "lassies
incant to-steal, .and in the-time of Henry. ,
\ tit. - 'fcrack.'J* - 'monning.-" excellent, or
'"crack up" : to1' boast or -praise,, was not
considered a vulgarism ; ..while it wns tho
ordinary)- occurrence for a clergyman
preaching: at. Paul's Cross toi request any
noisy iniembor oO hie congregatjon ,to "shut
up Ins gob''-certainly-in".such., cases tlie
reverend gentleman had no~in'tention of be-
ing more'forcible than.poltto j and tho re-
nowned Francis, I.ord Hncon/j.spoko of the
lower part of a man's face as lils "gills,"
without , any of the contemptuous meaning
winch would attach to such an epithet
nowadays. -,
Thc rose used anciently to -bo a symbol
of -silence, perhaps from the closeness with
winch its petals 'aro folded ? fyi tho bud,
and -jrom.-: this we. havtí.« .tho, , expression
"under.:tho roso,";.oivits Latin equivalent,
sub rosa, monning under the . obligation of
si lenco or secrecy;" Cupid, it-is said, gave
ithe Hose of'..Venus to: Harpocrates, tho
God of Silence, as a bribe not to toll
laics- of the Goddess's love affairs. \This
flower.used, lo be sculptured on tho ceilings
pr bu Depicting rooms ns n sign that tho
conversations curried ? on there should not
puss the threshold, and in tho early part
I of the sixteenth century, it was placed over
I tho Hoinun confessionals ns a symbol-, of
i secrecy. The white rose was-the emblem^
I of tho Pretender whose : health his secret:
i adherents used to 'drink "under the rose.''
I Tho word "quandary" used to bo de
1 scribed in dictionaries ns slang ; neverthe
I loss,, meaning as it does, doubt or clifll
1 cutty, its origin is the! French "Qu'en
1 dirni-jo V" ? To "show tho white" feather"
tis to evince cowardice; and. in times'
when great attention - was: paid . to: thc.
breeding of game-cocks, ti white feather in
. tho tail was considered a sign of cross-
breeding, and would therefore detract from
i tho valuo of tho bird. -To say a parson is
"down in the dumps'; does not appear a.
very elegant expression, and yet it has a
royal derivation, for ? there was once a king
of Kgypt named Dunlops,. whet suffered from]'
and died of melancholia. He built a pyrar
mifl before ho left this weary world, but
otherwise does not seem to have distin-
guished himself. Thc word "dun," with
which unfortunately too many people aro
acquainted in tho flesh, Is supposed to bo
derived from tho French "donnez" (give)
though some say it is from Joe Oin, the
notorious bailiff-: of .Lincoln,- and others
again that it is a corruption of tho Anglo
Suxoii^dunnn, to .clamour, .fudging from
personal oxperience, the writer is inclined
.to, adopt tho. Inst suggestion ns to its ori-
gin. To "fork out,'" which is now used
merely in tho sense of paying up, has a
decidedly'-curious derivation. »In"tba- carly
part of tho eighteenth century' a smail
book was published dealing with tho latest
methods ofj purloining. "Forking," as it is
there termed, was the newest method ; to"
employ it, tho thief had to thrust two
fingers, held .sillily open', in^o tho pocket
of his victim, then, quickly closing them',
withdraw the article thus obtained. . "By
hook or by crook'.' is also lu-reference to
a method of stealing, being an illusion'
to tho hook with/fwhich footpads uved to
steal from open i windows. ,
.There is a difference pf, opinion as ¡.0 Hie
origin of tho'term-to ''mind one's p's ami
q's." Some think it was tho warung cf
tho--oltl dame in tho village schools -,o he>'
scholars on account of the < similarity .of
tho p's and q's in tho old horn-books ;
others, nenin. SUV ir. u-ntl (lin rnmiiirlni- nf
.tho'French?-dancing-mastor-to hismupils to
mind their plods (feet) and queues (wigs).
.Moro than likely it is tho latter,- ns -so
many o(_ our quaint words and expressions
originated in:the Krench language. '"Kow,"
in the sense> of a disturbance, was first
written "roue," a ? profligats or disturber i
of the peace; while "rip" ris a -corrup- |
.ttoni:of reprobate. Tn connection with this
the story,goes thai, tho inscription. B.I.I'.
(Uoquiescat in'Pace)., being on tho tomb
of a notoriously fast character, a, nia'n
Tending it-as one word remarked, "Hip!
Well, ho was an old rip, and . no .-jitls-.
lake." Tho word "fal-lals," often used
.laughingly-of .a woman's frills .and furbe
I lows, is supposed .by some to be derived
! fron-., tho Latin phalerno-horse-trappings.
"Topsy-turvy,'"-or, bottom1 upwards, is
another word that hus been given quite an.
ingenious etymology, viz., top-sido turf
ways, turf being always laid the wrong
sido upwards. To get an articlo -".on
tick," or trust, is'supposed to be a cor-
ruption of "ticket," ns formerly trades-,
mon's bills were written on ? tickets : or
curds. This.expression is found in Docker's
."Gull's Hornbook," published so far back
as KiOS). To "suit to a. T" is-., another
very old expression; and is probably in
? reference to tho T-squaro used by enrnen
tors lo test the accuracy 'of 'their work.
Yet another old phrase is "in-full fig,''
i.e., full dress, and it is generally supposed
to refer to tho ílg-lenf costumo worn .by
our first parents.
pne often 'hears? it ns".<od, .." Where does
so-nnd-so "hang, out?" without thinking
that-ilia expression ? ls an allusion to tho
old custom of hanging out a sign to de-
note one's- trado und-abode. - , Anciently,,
tho unibles, or entrails of a dcor, were
ninile into a dish-for tho servants,- while
their master and bis guests feasted on tho
haunch. From this hus como . tho .terni
"to cut. humble pie," moaning .to'bo 'very
submissive. -An ' irresoluto- person is> sniid
to* "shilly-shally," mid', curiously.: enough,
this is supposer] to originate in.tho repeti-
tion of "Shall T-shaU'l ?" by nn undecid
I ed person.. ? . , :
i '.rho source Vlf such words as "seedy,"
! "catch-penny,," "slavey,-" etc., - are ? too
obvious to need explanat ion in a short, nrt
icls like this, but anyone ot a curious and
inquiring turn of. mind would find ? much
that is interesting in tho origin, and-dila-
tory of some of our so-called slang words
and phrases.
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