The Portland daily press., 1884-05-22
Curious Intersections.
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An odd thing about interjections Is that
very few people know what they imply when
they use them. One of the most familiar of
all is the cry ''Dear mer' which, as a come
dy that had very long run some years ago,
went to prove-though proof was not neces-
sary-is susceptible of many interpretations
when differently spoken. Few people are
perhaps, aware that "Dear me- is believed
TO be a corruption of the common French
"Mon DSea," through the Italian "Dio
Mo" These words when quickly pro-
nounced sound much like the often heard
"Dear me-" and are supposed to have orig
mated the phrase; while the companion cry,
80 dear me9" is said to be the English form
OF "Ay de mir How it happens that words
and phrases from all countries have been
pressed into service by English speakers is a
matter which it would be very difficult to
explain; but the fact remains. One fire.
quent exclamation is borrowed from "the
unspeakable Turk" as Mr.. Gladstone used
to call the subjects of the Sultan a few years
ago. This is "boshv' for "bosh'' is the pure
Turkish for ''emIty. There are so many
ways VI bcl1luA HAL lie Is ulSLdk6D, OF is
talking nonsense, that it is strange that the
Turkish method should have been adopted.
"Jingo" is another Oriental term, corrup-
ton of "JeRco," which means the devil.
SPY jingo'' is employed by many people
who never suppose that they approach to
what is comprehensively called swearing, or
TO the use of bad language. Many innocent
pounding expressions have strong meaning,
while, on the other hand, many strong
sounding expressions are perfectly innocent.
If little boy said, for instance, that he
"didn't care dam," he would probably get
into trouble, yet there is no harm in the
phrase, except. of course, that ''don't care''
comes to bad end. A "dam" is small
Indian coin of trifing value; not TO "cRre a
DAM is not to care twopence. Among the
lower classes, "drat 'em"-or drat him or
her, as the case may be-is very often en-
ployed to give vent to discomfort or reproof;
and this has serious significance. "Drat
'em" ia a contraction of "May the gods up
root them," and the now extinct sod rot
'em"--extinct unless by chance it fingers
among some old-fashioned people in out-of-
the-way districts-is another form of the
same imprecation. "FooIs, 'od rot 'em"
were "the last words of Higginbottom" in a
Higginbottom not very many people have
used the phrase. "HurrahP' is eanother
interjection that had powerful signif-
canoe. 1t was an appeal to the god
Thor, and was derived from the
words "Tur ale" or "Thor aid.' Uttering
this battle cry believers in the god dashed
upon their foes. Little does the young lady
who cries "Hurrahw to celebrate some such
little triumph as the return or failure to re-
turn ball at lawn tennis know that size is
invoking the aid of the mighty divinity and
IofV nfrarr 80 a Tax
huntsmen would be ready to credit the as
sertion that they talked French to their
hounds. IT is not possible to guess what
Mr.. Jorrocks would have said if any one had
told him that when he cried "Yoicksp to
the Handles-cross pack, he was adopting the
language of nation for which he had pro-
found contempt In one of his burlesques
Robson, after remarking that some one had
been "talking in heroics," used to pause to
inquire with the air of one who sought the
solution of a puzzle, 81 wonder what that
hnntsman meant by yo-icks?" That is not
the orthodox pronunciation, nor are the cries
of huntsmen and whips TO be translated in
to the alphabet; but ''hoix'-or yoicks, as it
is more generally spelled-is form of "haut-
ici," and 'shalloop is "Guloapv'-to the
wolf. The meaning of the halloo, therefore,
has in no way altered. When wolf was
found the Normans cried "Auloupr' to
guide the wolf hounds to their quarry.
When fox Is viewed away at the present
time halloo is given by the whip or by
somebody elsa somebody very often who
halloos in the wrong place, and does far
more harm than good-but this is by the
way. To the sportsmen the two shouts
sound much alike, and to hounds, ancient
and modern, who do not discriminate in the
matter of spelling, there can have been no
difference at all. clark forrardr' again,
is derived from the Did cry, ga Qui forbeur. ="