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

!" No advance" says Max Miller, I" was
possible in the Intellectual life of man with
out metaphors" and he admirably shows
how words multiply and language in
creases its capacity through the tendency
OF men to observe resemblances. "Thus
from roots meaning to shine, to be bright,
names were formed for sun, moon, stars,
tne eyes OF men, gold, silver, play, joy,
happiness, love. With roots meaning to
strike, 1t was possible to name an axe. the
thunderbolt, fist, q naralytic stroke. q
striking remark, 8,ad stroke Of business
from roots meaning TO 20. names were
uerIved Ior Clouds, for ivy, for creepers,
sserpehCs cattle and chattel, movable and
lnLho .able property" Metaphorical syno-
h ms became prevalent, as when the sun
was called the bright, the golden, the pre-
server, from its qualities or when clouds
were called mountains, and rain clouds
cows with heavy udders.
Metaphor, it is thus seen, is the we'll
spring from which are drawn the in
Vulnerable synonyms which swell our
language. If our words were divested of
all but their original, literal meanings, half
OF what is written from day to day would
be unintelligible. We should receive no
vivid idea from the description of man
OF mettle with iron frame and nerves of
steel.
the language is full of ,Shis metaphori.
cal use OF words. TTne fact has been
especially nolceG by the iokers of the
G.' pgaiou' wno ,s,roduce some of their easiest
sneces :.a oi cdt by wrenchlng phrase from
~! iIs ~ p.slrative to its literal meaning. For
D-stance, we hear of man who made q
shoe for the foot of a mountain and a
hat for the head of discourse, though it
taI 4hak Q~. -.
would have been as well. We are told of
apoor old gentleman who sat down cn
the spur of the moment; of gardener
who planted blow on his employers
face; of young lady who tainted at q
bare idea, who wore spectacles to cover
her naked eyes, who refused to sit in the
i zap OF luxury, even blushing at
the mention of the lapse of
ages forgetting that lapse is not the
plural OF lap), and who would not go to
the sea shore lest her waist should be en-
c1rcled by an arm of the sea.
Among list of curiosities might be
mentioned tne hook and line with which
nsc crman caught cold; the hammer
which broke up a meeting; a fiuke from
the anchor of hope; one of the spurs of
the Rocky Mountain; hinge from
the gates of death; a story which melted
heart of oak buttons from a coat of
paint spectacles for the eyes of q potato |;
braces for shoulder of mutton; dye for
the beard of an oyster earrings for an
ear of corn; cheese made from the milk
of human kindness, butter from the cream
of a joke, and eggs got from a nest Of
thieves. A1 =
3y But it is more especially our purpose to
note how the talk of the commonest class
es develops increasingly new metaphors
and grotesque fancies There is an odd
illustration of this in some of the names
for articles of apparel. The common black
hat never had respectable name, proba-
bly, on account of the inherent absurdity
4 of the thing itself-stiff, heavy, unventi-
lated, hot as Dutch oven, and towering
up to an unnecessary height 1t used to
z be called beaver, but that name is no
& longer correct, the hat being made of silk.
Its most common title is the metaphorical
one of "stove-pipe," which suggests not
only its shape, but the heat generated in
side oft. In some sections a dress coat
is scarcely known by any other name
than q Swallows tall" The title !" shad-
belly " had particular reference to a shane
of the front that is now out of vogue; the
synonym "claw- hammer" gives an ex-
cellent idea of the tails. But perhaps none
of these is as expressive of the present
shape of this article of full dress, as the
name given by the West Point cadets of
steel-pen." The narrow standing collar
which was at one time fashionable was
called "cut-throat," which was peculiarly
5 appropriate and suggestive. The white
neck-tie used by some clergymen
has generally the appearance of being tied
very tight and seems to acquire from this
circumstance the designation of " choker. =
The "waterfan, L. worn by ladies, was named
from the appearance of the curls first used,
s. flowing as it were over the back of the
head. = The Pail Mall Gazette insists
that chignons should be called chouS, OF
cabbages. The earliest definition of the
chignon in our language, given by Col
grave in 1911, runs thus: "Chignon, the
chyne or chynepeece of the neck; also, a
knot or knurre in a peece of wood or
tymber." The earliest description is
found in the Nundus Mulie5fis, 1890.
Behind the noddle every baggage
Wears bundle eh0HI, in English, cabbage.
4 faI~ he