Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1882-08-30
TWISTED oRTHOGRAPHy.
4 LExic0dRAfHRR THROWS NEW LIdar
0S SOME OLD WORDS.

| P"Ee' '" "" ehI"H'"E hPHlt, "'' phps
ats now dictionary will be found full
Of pleasant instruction and sometimes
pleasing surprises, Thus m to acorn,
Passing by those who know nothing
and care nothing about the origin Of
the words they use Ia way Of using
language not 10 DO treated with con.
Tempt, most Of those who fancy that
they do know something upon this sub
jeet probably suppose that acorn had
It's name because II Is the product Of the
oak, ~ oak.eorn. Not so; there Is
neither oak nor corn IN tho work. II
comes from acre, u field aud means
originally merely fruit OF tho field.
This Is shown very plainly; and II Is
remarkable that as the cognate Dutch
word akcr Is related to akker, field,
and not to elk, an oak, II has generally
been dropped by the Dutch, and now
the word most commonly used by them
is cikl; an intelligent conformity Of
usage to ctymology which is almost
unique.
Buoy Is another interesting word as
to which there Is very widespread aud
dccp.scated misconcepton. II is sup.
posed that il means something that
floats aud buoypnt is regarded as not
only having the meaning, floating,
adapted to soaring aloit, but as being in
itself significant Of that meaning. On
tho contrary buoy means something
that is chained II is tho Dutch hoci,
originally meaning shacklc, from the
Low Latin boia, II iettcr, II clog. A
buoy is so-called because it is chained
to its place, like II clog to Il prisoners
leg.
Bridegroom is perverted both in
form and meaning. II is supposed to
mean II brides groom. But it has
nothing to do with groom and moth
ing with Il bride. 1t is properly BRIDE
gum; gum or gone in Anglo. Saxon,
meaning u man, and boide, meaning II
married person. male or female so
that bride.gum means merely married
man. The perversion took place long
ago.
Butterfly, Mr.. Skeat tells us, has
furnished amusement to many etymolo-
gists in the search for its real meaning
and the suggestion which he regards as
the best, because "it rests on some evi-
dence" (for which we prefer to send
our readers to its pages), is certainly
extravagant enough. But as the very
word exists in Anglo-Saxon, butter
Aeoge, we venture to say that its origin
is not difficult Of discovery. The COM
monest species of this insect is the
small yellow one which appears in
swarms over damp spots in roads and
highways; all others are more or less
rare. 1t was called butterfly in the
simple language of rustics, because it
looked like butter flying.
Dollar, a word more used in Amer
lea than in any other country, and said
by foreign cynics to be heard here
oftener than any other, has a singular
and interesting origin. In connection
with dale, a little valley, would hardly
be suspected; but it is etymologically
that very word. 1t comes through the
Dutch from the German thaler. Now
this word is all abbreviation from Joa-
chimsthaler; the coin having been so
called because it was first coined from
silver obtained from mines in Joachim's
thai, i. e., Joachim's dale, in Bohemia,
about the year 1918. A dollar is
therefore merely dale-er.
Hiccough is the product of perver-
sion something like that which produced
bridegroom. The second syllable re-
suits from the assumption that hiccup
is a loose and vulgar way of saying
hiccoughs But cough is no proper part
of the work. Butler, in 'Hudibras,"
gives hiccup, rhyming with lick up;
and the further back we go the further
we get away from cough. In old Eng
lish we find the word as hicket, and in
old French as hoquet. Plainly it is
merely an initiative word, and hiccup
is the correct form, hiccough the cor
ruption.
Windlass is another result of popular
misapprehension and presumption; it
having been assumed that the word
was, or ought to be, formed from the
verd wind, and the noun lace. But
the is intruded. The word is proper
ly windass, old English for an engine
for winding.
Apron is properly napron; and the
loss of its proper form is Of some i'm