Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1870-05-13

United States bills have no popular name
but "greenbacks" The title of stamps
for fractional currency was used at
the time, during the civil war,
when the scarcity Of small change neces.
STATED the use of postage stamps -includ.
ing the gum---in it's stead. The name OF
"shin- -plasters" !" was applied to the old
Continental bills, it is said, for the reason
that they were so plenty and worthless
that the soldiers used them as plasters
for slight wounds ON their legs.
A grotesque fancy has named food
" belly timber" and its receptacle the
bread basket 1t would not be satisfac
tory to some to speak Of locomotive or
an engine, but join the idea. OF an infu.
rated animal to the syllable "gine,n and
the word "bullgineo becomes very popu-
lar. The dentist has received the title OF
tusk- holster" and tooth.carpenter." In
the Southwest, during the war, the un-
educated people spoke generally of q de-
tachment of cavalry as "critter. com
pany," of infantry as walk-soldiers, -
and OF artillery as cannon-wagons.
The young men of Chicago are classified
as to their skill on the velocipede, it is
said, into thea tinlid. toddlers, !" the "wary
wabblers," the "go.it-gracefuls" and the
"Efancy few Still more grotesque was
the fancy of young man who always re-
terred t0a stone house as one in which the
under pinning reached clear to the roof,
and who, when asked if he would have
milk and sugar in his tea, replied, "No,
lgen'ly take my tea barefoot"
In the same way flowers get such names
as shepherd's-dial, because of it's suscepti-
70 Oh Of %Har h
and cuckoo-fOwer, which blossom when
ladys-smock, call silver white" as Shak-
speare sings, because it resembles white
linen laid out upon the meadows; lady's
ear-drop, lady's-slipper, morning-glor
youth and old age, loYe-lies.a-bleeding,
and many more which might be mentioned.
In the eastern part Of England, evening Is
called crows time, because of the gathering
Of the rocks to rest. The word "fall," for
autumn, which is usually called an Ameri-
canism, though it is used by Dryden in
that sense, is pretty metaphor by itself.
Local circumstances suggest idiomatic
metaphors and descriptive terms. In the
Southwest, where people wear colored
woolen Shirts, they speak with great con-
tempt of person with white one as the
u.
lander talks of whiting through the
world, and when he gets the best of a man
he makes him "whittle down." In a
country where the raccoons ar common,
the people say that thing "won't be done
ties where rabbits or comics abound. sandy
land is called conyland, because it is only
fit for breeding and feeding rabbits, and a
common jest is that it may be plowed
with two rabbits and knife. From this
it will be seen how appropriate is the
name of that sandy place of resort in New
York harbor called Cony Island.
All occupations contribute to our fund
of metaphorical phrases. Thus, when a
sailor wishes to shake hands with you, he
says, "Tip us your fin D; when he wishes
to procure money, he says he wants to
"raise the wind ": when he is pursuing
an uncertain course, he is "OH sound
ings"; when he is the worse for liquor,
he is "half seas over" or "three sheets
in the wind" . Such phrases get not only
into common conversation, but into the
finest speeches of the orators. Burke in
his eulog1um on Charles Townshend said,
ellis style of argument was neither dry,
nor vulgar, nor subtle and abtruse; he
hit the house just betaoee,a aos7ad and sOGter."
The phrase to which we have drawn at
tention might remind the reader of the
mystical song in Swinburne's "Atalanta
in Calydon," beginning
Between the sunset and the sea. ags.
A correspondent says of common con-
versation at Nantucket, that the boys in
the street never throw stone; they
"heaye" it, o People out walking or driv-
ing are "gone on a cruise" They don't
stop or rest; they clay by" A place is
not so many rods but so many "ship's
lengths" away. Clothing and knick-
knacks generally are "tackle" and "rig-
ging." To go from side to side, or from
room to room, is to "gam." They put
things aft, (" they " stow them away" or
"haul them over" they "shOw light"
and every man is captain.
When dying, a sailor says he is about
to slip his CABLE" but California stage
driver on his death-bed was still more ex-
pressive. "Bill," said he, to a brother
"whip," "I am on the down grade, and I
can't reach the brake" "TLen," said his
friend, mindful that he had made no dis
position of his property, " hadn't you bet
ter hand in your checks?"
In view of the word canord, meaning
duck in French, it is noticeable that in
many parts of the United States a com
mon remark, when person is telling an
improbable story, is, 81 hear ducks. ="
Among fishermen such an exaggerated
narrative would be fish story" but in
a locality where rumors of sea-serpents
were prevalent it might be called a
snake. story" In Trench, it is a duck
story, and the original /" canard {" is said
to be that of person who related that he
had eighteen of those voracious fowls
that he cut up one of them and fed it to
the remaining seventeen he cut up an
other, and fed it to the remaining sixteen
another, and fed it to the fifteen; and so
on until there was but one left, which had
consequently eaten all the. other seven
teen ducks. ~ EI 3 g
This subject is further illustrated by the
thousands of homely metaphorical prov
erbs which have gained currency in all
parts of the world. How expressive OF
penury to say of man, " He is out at the
elbows;" of compulsion to say, His nose
was brought to the grindstone;" of hui
mility and repentanoes to say, He was
brought to bones ;"Aof receiv-
ing a strong hint to say, He went away
with flea in his ear" of sudden energy
to say, He took the bull by the horns,
or : He took time by the'forelock; :" 3of
useless repining to say, "He is crying for
spilled milk" or He is shivering for last
years snow" What could be better to
say of a boaster than, He is awful great
among eggs with stick" unless it is the
Scotch proverb, "He is q hard man to
draw a sword at haggis?" To those ia.
miliar with that dish there must be some
az. 1,1rl =