The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1880-06-25
YAMILIAR PnaAsEs.

tanned the appointments they desired
and solicited, Is nearly \ century old.
and was one OF the sayings OF T. ii. ID.
wyndhim in 1874.
The common phrase, Castles in the
air, " was used by Robert Burton In his
ANATOMY OF Melancholy" over $50
years ago, and has since been used by
Dean swift, Henry Fielding, Philip
Sydney. Colley Cibber, Charles Church.
III, william Shenstone and innumerable
others, until II has become q very CON-
mon expression
"Going the whole hog" This phrase
originated In Ireland. where a British
shilling has been called a ''hog" time
out OF mind. In Ireland, II n fellow
happened TO have n shilling, when he
met his friends he would announce the
fact that he would stand treat, even II
the expense reached the whole amount
i'm plain words, that he would "go
the whole hog'' to crafty them.
81 have a bone TO pick with you" Is n
phrase that is uncomplimentary TO the
ladies' at starting. II means. as is well
known, having an unpleasant matter TO
settle with you; and this is is the ORR
gin OF the phrase: At the marriage
banquets Of the Slcillan poor, the BRIDES
father. after the meal, used to hand the
bridegroom n bone, saying: "Pick this
bone, for you have undertaken n harder
task"
"As dead n a herring" has n simple
origin. That fish. which, when fat, is
called n ''bloater." dies Immediately
upon its removal from the sea. II
wants air, and can live only in salt
water; whereas an eel lives a long time
after leaving Its native element. Swim
ming so near the surface Of the water as
It does, the herring requires much air,
and the gills when dry cannot perform
their function-that Of breathing.
dead rs a d~oor-nail." This pro-
verbal expression is taken from the
door-nail-that Is. the nail on which, in
old doors, the knocker strikes. 1t is
therefore used rs n comparison to any
n i~rrevocably dead; mi who has fall
len (as Virgil says) multa morte-i. e.,
with abundant death, such as reitera-
tion Of strokes on the head would nat
urally produce.
Faistan-what, Is tho old King dead7
Pistoi-Asa nail In door.
Shakespeare.
The phrase putting the cart before
the horse" a boast of great antiquity,
having first been quoted by Lucian, the
great Greek writer, nearly LEO years
ago. Francis Rabelais, the French
satirist and wit, whose "~Gorgantua"
was published in the year 1888, has the
phrase ''He placed the carriage before
the steed." No derivation Of It can be
given. but the meaning is very obvious,
and refers to those who begin to do o
thing at the wrong end.
"No great shakes" Is n contemptuous
expression when applied to any one. 1t
has been supposed that this phrase
might be traced to the custom Of shak-
ing hands, the shake being estimated
according to the value Of the person
giving It, and hence offered to the per.
son Lord Byron, writing to his pub
Usher In September, 1870, said: ~ had
my hands full and my head, too. just
then"-when he wrote Marine Faliero
$50 1t can DO no great shakes"
1.-The familiar phrase, 1.-THE school.
master is abroad" was uttered by Lord
Brougham about fifty years ago. In n
speech in the house OF lords, in replying
to the Duke Of Wellington, he said:
LET the soldier be abroad IL he will.
He a do nothing in this age. There
is another person abroad-a person less
imposing-in the eyes Of some, perhaps,
Insignificant. The schoolmaster Is
abroad, and I trust to him, armed with
his primer, against the soldier in full
military array"
There are some quotations that are
perverted. For example, 1t Is common
to find the couplst: L
"a man convinced against his will
Is of the same opinion STILL"
repeated as taken from Buffers ssHudi-
bras" The fact is, Butler never wrote
those two lines-neyer could have writ
ten anything so foolishly laundering.
How n man could be convinced against
his will would puzzle most every one.
What he did write in "Hudibras"
runs thus:
.He that complies against his will
Is Of his own opinion still."
There is a mode Of declaring by the
words ''he has kicked the bucket" that
a person 10 dead. There Is a tradition
that Balsover, having hung himself to
a beam while standing on the bottom
Of q pail Or bucket, kicked the vessel
away in order TO pry into futurity, and
It vas up with him from that moment.
There Is a story Of q dairy maid who,