Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-03-01

we're written by Bishop Berkeley. Il
Is usually misquoted, Westward the
star Of empire takes Its way"
Ten.penny.-The word penny, when
used to mark the sign OF nails, is sup.
posed to be q corruption of pounds;
thus, a four-uenny nail was such that
1000 of them weighed four pounds. a
ten-penny nail such that 1000 weighed
ten pounds.
What He Said Was Mere Gibberish.
lin the eighteenth century there was
a famous professor of occult chemistry
whose name was Geber. He held that
all metals, except gold, were liable to
disease, and that this in them was
cured by gold, which also was a pana-
cea for the maladies Of the human
family. BE wrote 500 treatises on
this subject, so learned and unintelli-
gible that they were ridiculed as
Geberish, whence it is concluded came
gibberish in our own vocabulary.
Tut Internationally, and in
most of the European colleges, and to
this day in tho universities of Oxford,
Cambridge and Dublin, each student
who was a nobleman's son wore a dis
tinguishing tuft or tassel on the square
cap which collegians wear while at
college. Hence, persons who fawned
upon these scions of aristocracy OBJ
tanned the very ineligible title of
"tuft hunters"
Mind Your P's and Q's-This ex-
preston comes from the printing office
where the similarity in form of the
lower case or small "p" and "a" in
a font of Roman letter is always per-
picking to the typographical novice.
especially in distributing" or throw
ing into case" a mixed heap of type
technically known as 'pi." 1t is erro-
neously supposed by some that the ex-
preston came from the score chalked
in public houses of P's and P's (mean-
ing pints and quarts), not paid for by
bibulous customers.
Usufruct-This term is once used in
civil law, and is a compound Of two
Latin words, use, fructus, fruit, and
means the right OF using and reaping
OF fruits or things belonging to Others,
without destroying or wasting the sub
jeot over which such right extends.
This was the sense in which the word
"usufruct" was used by Samuel j.
Tilden in his letter of acceptance as
the Presidential nominee of the Dem
ocratic party in 1876.
Putting Your Foot In It-This ex-
preston, like many other slang phrases
Of the present day, has a legitimate
origin, and was suggested by the GUS
tom in Hindostan, that when the title
to land in that country is disputed
two holes are dug in the ground, and
used to encase a limb of each Iawy yer
engaged to settle the controversy, and
the n who tired first lost his clients
case.
Topsy-turvey-When things are in
disorder, they are often said to be
"topsy-turvey." This expression is de-
rived from the way in which turf used
for fuel is placed to dry, the turf being
placed downward; and the expression
then means top-side, turf way.
Cockney-The term was originally
applied to a resident Of London. In
1917 Henry VIII made an order in
reference to the feast Of the King of
the Cockneys, held on Childermas
day. The term 'cockney school, was
also applied to a coterie of writers,
consisting of Hazlitt, Keats, Hunt,
Shelley, and some others. In popular
slang the word ~"cockney' is used to
designate a dandy of the lower classes
of society.
As Mad as a Hatter-In the old
time, when felt hats were made by
hand, it was the custom to beat up the
felt with two sticks, one held in each
hand. Dipping the mass of wool and
hair, from which his fabric was to be
formed, frequently into hot water, the
halter was then wont to fly at it as i'll
in a passion, and giveit a violent beat
ing, till it was matted together into
the felt which, in time, after numer-
Gus combings, dressings and shearings,
became the stylish beaver worn by the
men Of fifty years ago. The halter
seemed to be very angry at this object
Of his labor, and mad as a halter"
needed no explanation in those days.