Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-01-21
Mi.Sil01nGrS.
How the Use 0C Some Words varies from
their Primitive Meaning.

The word misnomcr is defined by
Worcester as :" Il wrong name" 1t
is surprising to notice how many of
tho objects and events familiar to us
all are thus miscalled. DR.. f. Cob
ham BIZ wer, IN his invaluable "Dic-
tionary OF Phrase and Fable" de-
votes q considerable space to the
consideration Of this subject, and
he is mot the only distinG Guished wri-
ter who has considered it worthy OF
his attention. 4 few of the most
common errors are these:
I,ish stew Is dish never seen III
Ireland.
Turkeys DO not come from Turkey
but froia North America, through
Spain or India. The French call
them " dindon," /. e. d'lnle or cog
d'Indc, II term which is equally i'll
correct.
Turkey rhubarb neither grows in
Turkey nor is 1t exported from Tur-
key. 1t grows in the great noun
tain chain between Tariary and 81
IBERIA, and is Russian monopoly.
Turkish baths are not Of Turkish
origin, nor are they baths, but hot
air rooms or tbermT.
In the code to a Mummy" is the
query, " Is pomper's Pillar really a
mi~nomer | will answer that the
noted Alexandrian shaft was neither
erected by Pompcy nor ye. to Pom
pcv, but either TO Scptimus Severus
or one OF tho Caliphs.
The tuhelosc is no rose, bat the
tuberous polanth Polianthes tube
rosa.)
Again, even the great John Mil
ton was in error when lo wrote
Thick a$ Au,umnal leaves.
That sirrw tn o"ke in Vail Imnrosia.'
The tees Of Nallambrosa, boing
pines, do not fall thick in Autumn,
and the brooks, consequently, are
not strewn with them.
l am now writing with a pen, and
vet pen means Il feather, from the
Latin word penna, which signifies a
wing. The expression, ga steel
ren," is not by any means a choice
one.
German silver is not silver at al! :,
nor was the metallic mixture invent
ei by u German, but has been Ill
asa in China time ont OF mind.
japan lacquer contains 40 lac at
,ll but IS made from the resin of a
kind of nuttree called anacardiaceas.
Brazilian grass does not come
from Brazil, or even grow III Brazil,
nor is it grass at all. [; consists
.of strips of IL palm lcIs (ChamTrops
arget:r) and IS chiefly imported from
Cula.
Cutyut 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 shellac, Venice
turpcntine and cinnabar. The last
substance gives it its deep red color,
and the turpcntine renders the shell
luc soft and brittle.
TO the lovers of cigarettes | would
say that rec paper is not made from
rice, but from the pith of Tuns-tsau,
or hollow plant, 50 called because it
is hollow when the pith has been
pushed out.
Meerschaum is not petritied " sea
foam,' as the word implies, but it is
composition of silica, water and
maguesia.
Gothic architecture is not the
architecture Of the Goths, but the
ecclesiastical style employed in Eng
land and France before the Renais-
sancc.
Dutch clocks are not of Dutch,
but German Dcu;schD manufacture,
This is very common mistake.
Arabic figures were not invented
by the Arabs, but by the Iudians.
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 III q FAR different sense
than tue" were formerly employed.
Idiot means simply apriya'e person,
one not engaged in any p0hlic office.
Hence, Jeremy Taylor says HUI
nility is duty IN great ones, as
well as in idiots" QiivA,e persons
The Greeks have the expressions,
"a priest or an idiot (layman), &" a
poet or IDIOT (prose writer. As
idiots were not employed in public
Offices, the term hocamc Synonymous
with iucompetcncy to f''Ilil the du-
ties thereof. (Grcck, ioio;cs).
Baron properly means IL dol,
from the Latin baro IA thorough
fooD 1t WAS q tclrn applied TO l.
,5ervian soldier, then ia II military
chief, and ultimately TO "A l"rd. The
reverse Of this is seen in our word
slave "a aervi!e meniaD, which IS the
| Salvonic wold " slay' (uoble, Illus