Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1881-01-29
slfElistellallp.
70
NlSNOHERS.

| Worcester as "a wrong name" 1t is
surprising to notice how many of the
objects and events familiar to us all
are thus miscalled. DR.. E. Gotham
Brewer, in his invaluable Dictionary
CT Phrase and Fable" devotes consid-
erable space to this subject, and he is
not the only writer who has esteemed
it worthy of attention. A few of the
most common errors are these
Irish stew is a dish never seen in
Ireland.
Turkeys do not come from Turkey,
but from North America, through
Spain or India. The French call
them "dindom," !. e., a Inde, or cog
d Inde, term equally incorrect.
Turkey rhubarb neither grows in
Turkey, nor is 1t exported from Tur-
key. 1t grows in the great mountain
chain between Tartary and Siberia,
and is Russian monopoly.
Turkish baths ale not of Turkish
origin, nor are they baths, but hot air
rooms, or thermae.
In the "Ode to a Mummy" is the
query, "Is Pompey's Pillar really a
misnomer ?" I will answer that the
noted Aleyandrian shaft was neither
erected by Pompey, nor yet to Pom
pey, but either to Septimus or one of
the Caliphs.
The tuberose ia no rose, but the tu-
berous polianth.
Again, even the great John Milton
was in error when he wrote
Thick as autumnal leaves that strcw the
brooks in Vallambrosa.
The trees of Vallambrosa, being pines,
do not cast their leaves thick in au-
tumn, and the brooks, consequently,
are not strewn with them.
| am now writing with pen, and
yet pen means a fe tber, from the
Latin werd, penne. which signifies a
wing. The expression, "a steel pen,"
is not by any means choice one.
German silver is not silver at all,
nor was the metallic mixture invented
by German, but has been in use in
China time out of mind.
japan lacquer contains no lac at
all, but is made from the resin of
kind of rut tree called anac wdiaces.
Brazilian grass does not come from
Brazil, or even grow in Brazil, nor is
il a erase at all. 1t consists of strips
of palm leaf chiefly imported from
Cuba.
Catgut is not the gut Of cats, but of
sheep.
Sealing wax is not wax at all, nor
does it contain single particle of wax
1t is made OF shelac, Venice turpen-
tine and cinnabar. The last substance
gives it Its deep red color, and the
turpentine renders the shellac soft
and brittle.
To the lovers of cigarettes I would
say that rice paper is not made from
rice, but from the pith OF Tung- -tsau,
or hollow plant, so called because it
is hollow when the pith has been
pushed out.
Meerschaum is not petrifed "sea
fcam,' as the word implies, but a
composition of silica, water and mag
nesia.
Gothic architecture is not the ar
chitecture of the Goths, but the eccle-
aiastical style employed in England
and France before the Renaissance.
Dutch clocks are not of Dutch, but
German (Deutsch) manufacture. This
is a very common mistake.
Arabic figures were not invented
by the Arabs, but by the Indians.
Blind worms are no more blind
than moles are they have very quick
and brilliant eyes, though somewhat
small.
BARON, IDIOT AND SLAVE.
These are very common words, and
yet we now use them in far differ
ent sense than they were formerly
employed.
Idiot means simply private per-
son, one not engaged in any public
office. Hence, Jeremy Taylor says
"Humility is duty in great ones, as
well as in idiots" (private persons.)
The Greeks have the expression, "a
priest or an idiot" (laymsn,) "a post
or an idiot" (prose writer.) As
idiots were not employed in public
offices the term became synonymous
with incompetency to fulfill the du-
ties thereof. (Greek adscseS.
Raron nronarly means a dolt from