The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1889-11-23
ORIGIN OF PHRASES.
Tie Sources from Whence Was Derived
Some of Our Everyday Expressions.

Tie Sources from Whence Was Derived
Some of Our Everyday Expressions.
The common phrase, Catching n Tar
tar" says Grose, tho antiquarian, arose
out Of the adventure of an Irish soldier
in the imperial service. During battle
with the Turks he called out to COM
rade that he had caught Tartar.
Bring him along" was the reply. "He
won't come" declared Paddy. "Then
come yourself" rejoined his comrade
"Ah, but he won't let me-" replied Pad
dy. Instead of capturing the Tartar tho
Tartar had captured him.
Putting the cart before the horse"
means to begin to do Il thing at the wrong
end. The phrase is very old and is quot
cd by Lucian, Il great Greek writer, who
lived almost 1900 years ago. 1t is sur
prising how frequently search for the
origin of phrases lands us among the an
cient Greek or Latin writer's. For i'll
stance, the couplet,
He who fights and runs away
May live to fight another day,
is almost invariably declared to have
originated with Butler, tho author of
"Hudibras." 1t isreally Greek proverb,
and mention is made of it by Tertullian.
as carly as the beginning of the Second
century q Latin writer, Aulus Gellius,
puts it into the mouth of Desmosthenes
as an excuse for his cowardice at Chero-
nea.
Begging tho question" is supposed to
be modern phrase born of the many
ii ,x,1,;
gress. 1t is known i'll logical dsputa-
tions rs "the petition of the principle"
almost literal translation of Latin
phrase. Begging the question" was
first used by Aristotle. "Birds of a
feather flock together is also from the
Latin. Translate this sentence from
Plautus, "Pares cum paribus facilimc
congregantes." and you'll have it almost
literally.
The expression 'N1ind your P's and
Qs' is said to have various derivations.
In old times the score of the ale house
customer was kept on slate, or was
chalkcd on the door of u cupboard, the
p and Q Qstanding for pint and quart. The
score was settled for and wiped out every
Saturday night. If tho customer was
dilatory in making settlement, he was
reminded of his P's and Q's. 1t has been
inferred that the word tick, equivalent
to credit, arose from the tick or mark
which indicated each glass of ale. Others
date the phrase TO the time when pcrukcs
were in fashion The toupcc was the ar
tiiicial lock of hair, and the queue the
pigtail. The phrase was "MIind your
toupecs and your queues" An old riddle
gives color to this explanation. "Who
is the best person to keep the alphabet in
order?' was the conundrum. Tho answer
was ga barber, because he ties up the
queues and puts toupccs in ORDER" 1t
may be that this old riddle suggested the
more modern one of "Whcn does u black-
smith set the letters of the alphabet to
quarreling!" "When he makes poker
Ia poke ~ and shovel (shovc D."
"Blind as beetle" is u phrase as fa-
miliar as it is false. The insect, in its
rapid flight in summer, often strikes the
faces of those that are walking, which
| led to the erroneous impression that it is
blind. Collins refers to this freak of the
beetle in his code to Evening""
And oft he rises in the twilight path,
Against the pilgrim borne in needless hum
The poet, however, was too much of an
| cntomologist to impute blindness to the
insect.
Carrying the war into Africa" means
to retaiate upon an enemy by adopting
his own tactics. 1t grew out of the bat
tie of wits between Scipio and Hannibal.
| The latter, Il Carthaginian leader, led his
army into Italy, and for several years
| continued to threaten Rome and lay
waste the surrounding country. Scipio,
the Roman general, saw the necessity of
getting rid of Hannibal and his forces.
SO he led an army into Africa and threat
ened Carthage, thus making it necessary
for Hannibal to return home for its de-
fcnse.
"Cimmerian darkness" is derived from
the traditions concerning the Cimmerii,
a people of Italy who lived in caves near
Lake Averno. From those gloomy llab-
itations, SO inaccessible to the rays of the
sun, the Sybils gave out their oracles.
The old proverbial expression, "Dead
as door nail, "had n very simple origin.
In oldcn times the doors were supplied
with knockers instead Of bells. The
knockcr itself, in order to make the
necessary noise, was made to strike on
piece of iron inserted in the door, and
this piece of iron was called the email. {"
So many blows rendered the nail "multa
mortc," as Virgil says, "abundantly
dead" every dead!' In Shakspearc's
Henry "" Falstalf says: "What! is
the old king dead:' Pistol replies: Gas
nail in door"
Escaped with the skin of his teeth" :"
is from the twentieth verse of the nine
tcenth chapter of Job.
According to the historian Macaulay,
the expression, "The gray mare is the
better horse originated in the prefer
ence given to the gray marc Of Flanders
over the fine coach horse Of England
Frank II. Stauffer in Detroit Free Press.
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