The Dickinson press., 1889-08-31
VERBAL %CUE1OSlTIES.
FRANK STAuFFER'S RESEARCH AZ
TER THE ORIGIN OF WORDS.

Many Expressions That Sound Awkward
and Redundant Had n Sensible Begin
ning-Words That Have Been Twisted
Yet Retain Their Original Significance.
The origin OF some words is as peculiar
as the subsequent DETECTION of their
meaning is interesting. The word tariff
had aquccr origin. \ promontory called
Tarifa, i'll southern Spain, juts into the
Straits of Gibraltar and commands the
entrance into the Mediterranean sea.
The ancient Moors built a fortress upon
it and levied a duty on the merchandise
carried by the passing ships. This tax
was called "tarifa," which was finally
shortened to tariff. Another word with
a queer origin is the word stoker. In
old English "steik" means to ''shut,"
and 'stoke' to "shut up" Cl,auccr says:
Then hadst thou the gate stoke (shu:).
The man Oh the engine who puts the
coal into the furnace, and then "stokcs"
the door, becomes n "stokcr,' or shut
upper!
y COMMON SALUTATloN.
The annual fair in the Isle of Ely was
called st. -Audrey's fair, and much ordi-
nary but snowy lace was sold to the
country lasscs. st. Audrcy's lace soon
became provcrbial, and from that cause
taudry, Il corruption of st. Audrey, was
established as a common expression to
denote not only cheap lace, but amy other
part of female dress which WAS more
gaudy i'll appearance than warranted by
its quality or value. Wo now spell the
word "tawdry'' and use ii in the same
sense.
The salutation, GLOW do you do:'
sounds like an awkward and redundant
sentence, and yet its origin was Il scnsi-
bic one. Dow i'll old English. pro-
nounccd do, means "to he able" ''to
thrive" 'to prosper" 1t should not
suggest redundancy, for it is equivalent
to saying, "How do you thrive::' GLOW
do you prosper" The colloquialism,
"Iie is a do-lcss dow less) fellow" had
the same origin, and means one who is
too weak or shiftless to prosper.
When, as Americans. we use the word
cute in the sense of ''clcvcr'' or sharp"
we keep within the legitimate, which
cannot be said when We use it instead of
pretty. ".lint it cute:' has been adopt
cd by the fair Sex to an cxasperating on
tent. When we hear aspcaker say ''sist-
rem ~(sistcrs) we consider him lacking in
education. 1t is us legitimate a word as
''brc1hren," and both words date back TO
the time Of Chaucer. who called the
fates "the fatal sistrcn."
RIGHT TO SAY ''ANYHHEN."
If it is proper to say "anyhow" and
"anywlere," why i, it not proper to say
~"anywhen:" The others merely survived
it, for Mackay quotes the expression, 81
will talk the matter over with O any
where and anywhcn." "Craft" and
"cunning" at one time stood for "skill'
and liability" The word "lotch," APP
piled to Il bad workman or his work, is
from the word "baucb, meaning indif-
fcrent. "PuttinS the cart before the
horse" a common expression for begin
ming to do a thing at the wrong end,
was in use as early as 1893, and first APP
peared in the Greek of Lucien, nearly
LOO years a%o
"Vamosc," Il slang expression which
came into use after the Mexican war, is
the Spanish vanlos, "lct us CO." TO
''hully." meaning TO worry or torment
in Il staggering manner, is said to have
been derived from the noisy way i'll
which drovers take bullocks TO market.
Bogus is a corruption Of Borgess., the
name of a maj who ut ono time flooded
the west and southwest with counterfeit
money. Bother is said to have been
first used by IL sergeant, who cried out
to two incessant takers, one at each ear,
Don't both earme."
Canteen is one of the few words in the
English language which passed into a
foreign tongue and was afterwards taken
back in a modified form. The Saxon
called it ''tincan." but the Gaul, as is
wont. placed the noun before the al,jcc-
tive, and pronounced tho i as G, thus
rendering it cantcen. 1t became a French
military term, and the English incorpo-
rated it among their military terms. The
changes that have occurred in the Eng
lish language are remarkable. Going
back to the time of Queen Elizabeth, we
can readily note them. In the time of
Cllaucer andGower, little more than 500
wears age, the dialect has q half foreign
look, while as carly as the days of King
Alfred it is unintelligihle without tho
aid of a glossarv.-Frank S. Staufrer in
Detroit Free Press.
TWO DEADLY REPTILES.