The Volcano lubricator. (Volcano, W. Va.) 1871-1879, 1874-01-13
VOLCANO. WEST VA, TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1874

TO pay taulr SlIs iIC thOuSE| tiF~
moon was made Of green cheese"
The familiar adage, EVIL conmu-
nfcations corrupt good manners, was
quoted by St. Paul, and is found in a
fragment Of one OF the comic poems
OF MeRander.
| Many of the tritest and seemingly J
most national Scotch and English pro-
verbs have been borrowed from the
East, and even the famous old saw,
ITO carry the Goals to Newcastle"
has prototype, not only in the Per-
sian saying, ITO carry the pepper to
Hindostan," but also in the Hebrew
ITO carry oil to the city Of Olives"
| Erasmus defines proverb as being
"a well-known saying remarkable for
some elegant novelty" Cervantes
says it is IA short sentence drawn
from long experience" and Lord John
Russell declares it to be "The wit OF
one and the wisdom Of many" while
Howell describes the Ingredients Of a
good proverb to be "Sense, sbortness,
and salt"
1t is believed that Spain carries off
the palm in point Of originality and
elegance. as she certainly must in num-
Der, as onc person has made a coliec-
ton Of twenty-four thousand, and Re-
pulcs has since published six volumes
Of proverbs!
The common expression, "Mind
your p's and q's" had its origin in the
ale.houses in the olden time, when it
was customary to keep each mans ac-
count upon the wall or door. At the
head Of the bill would be ihe initials
P and Q which stood for pints and
quarts, and as the numbers mounted
up we can imagine one kindly rustic
saying to another, mind your p's and
q's man; mind your p's and q's."
The origin Of the phrase, "a feath.
er in ones cap" is accounted for in
the Lansdowne manuscript in the
British Museum. Here may be found
description Of Hungary in 1899, in
which the writer says Of the inhabit-
ants: ut hath been an ancient custom
among them that none should wear
feather but he who had killed Turk,
to whom vt was lawful to shcw the
number Of his slaine enemy's by the
number Of fetlers in his cappe"
How frequently we see child jump
from a retreat and shrek boo" at his
frightened little playmates. The word
is corruption of Bob, the son Of O.
din, so fierce general among the
Goths that the mere mention Of his
name spread panic during his life
time, and stranger still, has continued
to do so ever since.
The word bank is derived from Ian.
co, bench. These benches were erec.
ted in the market places, and there
the exchange in money took place -
The first public bank was established
ny Jews in Venice, in the year 1850.
The word skedaddle, the writer had
always supposed to be slang Of the
worst type. An article, however, up
on the word says that it may be readi-
ly traced to Greek origin, ant that
Thucydides and Herodo.us frequently
used the word in speaking Of routed
army.
The Swedes and Danes have sim
liar word bearing the same significa
tion. An old version of the Irish New
Testament contains the passage: 81
will smite the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be Sgcdad or Gall scattered. y
This word was probably Y used by some
Irishman at Bull Run, and, being very
expressive, was soon taken up by
everyone.
The expression Getting into a
Scrape," has its origin in Scotland.-
Upon the seashore in that country the
game Of "gol7' is much played, some
what resembling croquet or billiards,
being played with balls and mallets.-
The hole which the rabbit makes is
there called a "scrape," and as rabbits
are many in number, burrows or
scrapes abound, and balls frequently
fall into them, when the players call
out, "You are in a scrape" AS, OF
course, getting in a scrapc ruined that
stroke, it was considered an unpleas-
ant position to be in, and since we
have applied the. phrase to all dilem-
mas.
"It willibe done before ~ ou can say
lack Robinson" Such remarks we
frequently hear, and one authority
says that the individual so frequently
mentioned is one Mr. Tohn Robinson