M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1858-07-29
Mltst&llaR&Ons.
ODDS AND ENDS,
OR, EXTRACTS FROM "AILLEDULCIA." ."
[Gathered for the Ohio Farmer.l

[Gathercd for the Ohio Farmer.l
Brown STUDY.
Surely a corruption of brow study,
brow being derived from the old Ger.
ma9 bgaloR-iu It's compound form,
dNgstSas0H, an eyebrow. ~. ..
LUNCHEON.
Our familiar name of luncheon il
derived from the daily meal of the
Spaniards at eleven o'clock, termed
once or lOnee, pronounced p0nchey)
HIP, HIP, HURRAH!
Originally a warcry, adopted by
the stormers ola German town, where
in a great many Jews had taken theil
refuge. The place being sacked, they
were all put to the sword, under the
shouts of HjerOsolyma est per dita!
From the first letter of those words
! I(H, G. P.) an exclamation was con,
trived.
Mrs. PARTINGToN.
The "original Mrs. Partington"
was a respectable old lady, living at
Sidmouth, in Devonshirc. Her cot.
tage was on the beach, and during an
awful storm, Chat, it IS thought, Of
November, 1924, when some fifty or
sixty ships were wrecked at Plymouth
the sea rose to such hight as every
now and then to invade tie old lady's
domicile; in fact almost every wave
dashed in at the door. Mrs. Parting
ton, with such help as she could com
inand, with mopS and brooms, as fast
as the water entered the house, mop
ped it ont again; until at length the
waves had the mastery, and the dame
was compelled to retire to an upper
story Of the house. The first allu.
sion to the circumstance was made by
Sidney Smith, in speech on the Re-
form Bill, in which hc compared the
Conservative opposition to the bill to
be like the opposition of "Dame Par,
tington and her mop, who endeavored
to mop out the waves of the Atlantic" "
JkGs HARP.
1t is believed by many that the
Jews Harp derives its name from the
nation of Jews, and is one of their in
struments of music. But no such
musical instrument is mentioned by
old writers, treating on jewish music
1t is in fact nothing more than child's
ploything, and incapable in itself ol
being Joined either with q voice oil
| any other instrument, and its present
name is nothing more than a corrnp.
tion of the French Jem-trOmpe, liter
ally, a toy trumpet.
GRoG.
Jack loves to get pet nickname to
his iavorite officers. The gallant Ed
ward Vernon was not exempted from
the general rule. His gallantry and
ardent devotion to his profession en-
deared him to the service. In bad
weather he was in the habit OF walk,
ing the deck in rough grOgram cloak,
and thence had obtained the nick
name of old Grog. Whilst in com
mand of the West India station, and
at the hight OF his popularity, OH &C
count Of his reduction of Porto Bcllo
with six men.of-war only, lie intro
duced the use Of rum and water by
the ships company. When SCI we'd
out, the new beverage proved most
palatable, and speedily grew into such
favor that it became as popular as the
brave Admiral himself, and in honor
of him was surnamed by acclamation
I"Grog."
By Hook OR Crook.
This saying is probably derived
from a forest custom. Persons enti,
tied to fleetwood in the Kings forest
were only authorized to take it Of the
dead wood or branches of trees in the
forest, "with a cart, a hook, and 6
crook"
MIND Your P's AND Q's.
There are several explanations Civ
en- as to the origin of this term. Some
have thought it to be derived from
the ancient custom of hanging a slat
behind the alehouse door, on which
was written P. or O., ii, e. ptn,t o
quar0 against the name of each Gus
toner, according to the quantit,
which he had drunk, and which wa
not expected to be paid for till the Sat
urday evening, when the wages wer
settled.
Others have thought that thi
phrase was, originally, "mind you
tOupees and your queues" ,"-the ton
pee being the artificial locks of hair o1
the head, and the queue the pigtail o
: olden time.
But the most plausible explanation
as to its origin, seems to be the fol
lowing, by Chas. Knight, who says:
| have always thought that tn
phrase, "Mind your p's and Q's," WA
derived from the school,room or th
printing office. The forms of tn
small "p" and 90" in the Roman type
: have always been puzzling to the chill,
. i.nJ tbo ,,r;,tor>o onDroDt;oo l. a.