Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-08-25
,rnrds nnd phrnses-Nn. 2.

| Inc grammatical proprlety OF TWO cOnStruc.
tions-"Keep off the grass" and Keep off
from the grass''-has recently been the subject
OF a spicy discussion in the columns of the Spy.
Both these locutions are undoubtedly correct;
but they are quite synonymous, and a skill
full writer would hardly in any instance fail to
| discriminate, in favor of one or the other, in
| careful composition. For the purposes of the
| sign boards of the Commissioners of Public
| Grounds the former being the more concise and
forcible is certainly preferable; and the Com
missioners, by using the other form, would
have exposed themselves to a criticism less
puerile than that of your stranger" cores
pendent. This briefer form of the sentence
would also be employed by the government of
any Englishspeaking country, in giving in
structions to a naval officer: keep off the en-
emys coast, mot "off from" assuredly.
English verbs are not only regular, or irregu-
lar, but many Of them, as keep, &c" are used
transiIively, or intransitively. In the sentence
keep off the grass"-keep is an ntransitive
verb, meaning remain, or stay; and OF is a
proposition, meaning not on, or distant from
Whoever is not prepared to dispute the author
ity of both Worcester and Webster, must, we
bHluhy dCquiCSCC ia lhls vi uhtJ ihSs nv
knot that your correspondents, Stranger" and
sWare Hawk" tried their teeth upon so fercely,
a short time ago.
Our verbs, however, take an abnormal range
far beyond this point. Not only are transtive
verbs used intrausitvely, but active verbs some
times have passive sense, and vice versa. 1t
WILL for instance, hardly be denied that good
usage begins to sanction the advertising FORMS
GA house to lease" Rooms to let," &C., &c.
In regard to this latter phrase, especially, Mr..
b. II. Smart, a most eminent English lexicogra-
pher, says,-"The terse breyity of this is i'll re-
placed by the apparently more correct form, ito
be let" In this sentence,-'1 am mistaken if
he is inclined Ito go), &c., meaning mistake
if he inclines Ito go, &c., the verbs are passive
in form and active in Specification.
The propriety of the phrase, ga licensed dog"
has recently been called in question. man is
licensed to keep dog, clearly; and it would
seem hypercritical beyond reason to object to
that fguratve expansion of Specification, by
which ga licensed dog has come to mean
dog authorized or permitted to run at large, by
virtue of license, granted to his owner. 1t
is only figuratiyely that a ship can be said to
be Commissioned" to make reprisals, but Dr.
Worcester decides that this is good English.
1t is not uncommon for gentlemen of the jury,
and others attending courts in Massachusetts,
to hear the Latin word scilicet-meaning to nit,
or ndmely-pronounced like the English solicit;
whereas the correct pronunciation, silly set,
would not ouly be scholarly, but frequently very
| appropriate for the place and the occasioni
| A great many names are misapplied. What
| we call buffalo is bison, the buffalo not be-
| ing an Americ an animal, but native of India
and southern Europe.
| Curious traces of the old days when Norman
French was the court language of England,
may be found, here and there, as in the I'M
couth name OF the bridle-way in Hyde park,
"Rotten w,"-rOute dH roland IN Charing-
cross,-chere refine cross-the site Of the cross
erected by Edward LIST to Queen Eleanor, as the
last place at which her coffin rested, on its way
to Westminster Abbey
A great deal of Latin material is interviewer
with the texture of our English speech. On the
authority of IillOtson, the words, "Hocus po-
Gus, are mere corruption of "hoc est corpus"
this is the body-used by way of ridiculous
imitation of Romsh priests, in what he styles
ter" in like manner, is probably a corruption of
"hilariter, sceleriter,' Latin adyerbial express
sion, meaning Sin quick boisterous way"
"He was nOnplussed" is phrase current
among lawyers; but although most queerly
formed from the Latin, it is a convenient and
expressive phrase, not likely to he laid aside.
The Persian word, sheik, means king; the old
Arabic, or Moorish term, mat, or mate, means
dead or killed; hence the Mexican term, Mata-
moros, or Matamoras, were its name translated
into English, would be "Killed Moors." Shek
mate, or check mate, is, therefore, "kng dead"
equivalent to "beaten," in the game of chess
The word "nostril," is from A. s. na$tIlrW
meaning nose hole. Threshold, from Saxon
herscda, to thresh, or beat, and aodid, wood is
the name of the piece of timber, trodden or
beaten upon by the feet, on entering or leaving
house.
A man is said to enjoy good health, but sure
~ it would be very singular to find any speci-
men Of animated nature, human or animal,
that does not enjoy good health, whatever
"bdd health" may mean.
RigmdrOle, ragmans roll, rageman's roll, are
the same thing; ragmaa, in the time of Chaucer,
meant devil. The term was probably first APP
piled TO an odious law.
Our word, Omelet, is from the French,
oneLette, and that, from eUfS nleles, /. e. mixed