Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1869-12-08

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some derisiOn who should make such
a derivation as Boz from Moses; but
Dickens has told us how his fancy
name was first Noses then Bosses,
then Boz. The Latin word piLus has
been transformed in the mouths Of
men into wig; Latin, plus Spanish,
peLued French, perTuque; Low
Dutch, perUik Old English, peT10iek.
For euphony an 1 was introduced,
then ch was changed to q, then the
word was abridged, as caravan has
been. Thus it passed into the success
sive forms perwic, periwiek, peri
wig, wig.
Our dandeIion is the French dent
dc lion rendered easier Of prOnuneia-
tion; rosemary, which fiourishes by
the sea, is from TOs DldriIllfS; our
tuberose is the pOlydnthes tuberosd, the
French tlibereuSe; our belly-bound
apple as the French belle ct boRHe :
and our gillyflower the French cLou
de girOfe. The word "saunter" is
curious instance of phonetic corrup-
ton and Of wori-making. In the
times of the Crusades, whenever q
lettering fellow was asked where he
was going, he said, "a Ia SO1lte Terre."
These people came therefrom to be
called "iSdnte TeyTers, /" and then sGUR-
terers.
A false form Of words occasionally
gets introduced by phonetic eorrup-
tion. Such phrases as II had rather,
''yOu bad better,n are common with
good writers, although it is quite use
less to attempt to parse the chad, or
to give a good reason for its use in
such a position. The fact is, that the
original and correct forms, ''I would
rather" and 'iyou would better,n were
contracted in common conversation
to "I'd rather" and you'd better ~
and somebody, STRENGTHENING out the
expression into writing, interpreted the
ID as "had" instead of would"
The common people are all amateur
etymolygist and they like to put in
to every word some familiar glimmer
Of sense. They make sad work at il
sometimes, however. Thus the Welsh
rarebit becomes a rabbit gorseberries,
goose6eTries; the soUris dormeltse, or
sleeping mouse, a dOTmOitse; aspara-
gus, sp0roICgrdSs +; the redingOte, a
riding coat !, the German wermuth,
tOOTDlIUOOd; triacle, tredcLe, pronOun-
ced trickle; and sbamefast, a word of
similar construction to steadfast, be-
comes shdmetdced. The ancient mar
riage service used to be "tyl dethe us
departe''-that is, seperate, which,
when depdrte went out of use, was
changed 10 ''dopart," /" the sound being
preserved. -.--.. r-.
There is nothing in language more
1rotesQue and ludicrous than the man
ner in which some ancient words,
phrases and mottOes are transpOsed
into familiar conversation. This is
peculiarly shown in the names fsome
old inns in England. In the times OF
Cromwell, when such heroes as God
be-praised BarebOnes, and Fight-the-
goodnight White, and Faint-nOt HeE-
lit, drank their ale, an inn was named
"God encompasseth u.s." But when
the nation became profane again, the
words were corrupted to the "GOat
and Compasses,n and a picture of a
goat and compasses was used as sign.
There was a house near Oxford which
was once called the "Plume of Feath-
ers," from the crest of the Prince of
Wales, but afterwards became popu-
larly known as the 'Phun and Feath-
ers." The inscription "CdtOR fdete," "
gave the name "The Catand Fiddle"
aud LA rose deS 9ltQtT6 SdisOJts" be-
came 1.-THE Rose of the Quarter Ses-
sions." The "Satyr and Bacehanalsh
became the "Satan and BagO' Nails"
the "Costr DOre" Golden Heart, the
"Queer Door :" the "St. GATHERINGS
Wheel" the ''Cat and Wheel )" the
"Boulogne Gate" (eommemOrating
the taking of BOulogne by Henry
VIII the Bull and Gate; the Peg
and Wassail Bowl,n the "Peg and
Whistle; :" the George Canning"
the George and Cannon" and the
"Battle Axe ~ the i'Axe and Bottle"
Admiral Porter, in his defence OF
the change in the names of our war
vessels, fidicules the idea OF calling q
ship the 'Agy-meant-tO-cusn (Aga-
menticus), "Quince-I--GammOnN-
Quinsigamond), or ''My-Aunt-dOn't-
know-me' s(MiantO1omoh). But is he
certain that he has gained anything
by changing from Indian to heather
or other nomenclature? ? The English
sailors call the BellerOphOn the BILLY
RuffiRn," the Hirondelle the "Iron
Devil" and Vile de Milan the
Wheel 'em alOng.n Will not the
Achilles become the "Kill-us,n the
EOlus the "Hold-us," ;" and the Str9In-
boll the .'Steam-boiler?1 The Terror,
which he fondly imagines will convey
an idea Of something of which to !
stand in awe, viii no doubt be just as
awful when transformed to the Tear |
er," the Heeate just as terrible when !
called the "Hea-Cat and the Ajax 1
just as formidable when spoken of as I
the 'BOOt-jacks." But the Castor will |
hardly suggest to the ''old-salt" mind /
more than kind of oil, or |
the Bologna anything but sort of
sausage. The Amphitrite and the /
Nemesis will sound somewhat frivol-
Gus when rendered 'I'm-for-Tripe"
and ''Norsme-sis, and even the Poly
phemus, instsd of conveying lively
image of the terrible giant with one
eye in the middle of his forehead, may /
only remind the venerable tar of some
female of his Affections rejoicing in
cognomen of "Pelly Mivins." We /
TO think that there are very
few of Admiral Porter's new names
which will not
Suffer a sea change
into something rich and strange.
GEORGE WAKEMAN.