Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1889-08-27
VERBAL CUiI0SITIES.
FRANK srAufFeR's RESEARCH Az.
rgR THE ORIGIN or WORDS.
M.sy Expressions That sound Awkward
and Redundant usd . sensible Bsgi.-
nins-werds That Have Bssa T-is,sd
Vet Retain rhslf Original slgaine.se..

Many Gspfessions That sound Awkwsrd
and Redundant HAD . sensible Bsgis-
ming -wesd. That Have Bssa T~is,sd
Vet Retain rhslf Original sigains.se..
Tho origin of some words is as peculiar
as the subsequent DETECTION ~ their
meaning Is interesting. The word tariff
hal queer origin. A Apromon,ory called
Tarifa. In southern Spain. juts into the
Straits % Gibraltar and commands the
entrance into the Mediterranean sca.
The ancient Mcors built fortress upon
II and levied duty on the merchandise
carried by the passing ships. This tar
was called "tarifa." which was finally
shortened a. tariff. Another word with
a queer origin Is the word stoker In
old English "steik- means 90 shut"
and stoke" % "shut up" Chauccr says
Then hadst thou the gate stoke" (shu.l
The man on the engine who puts the
coal into the furnace. and then stokes
the door. becomes q "stoker." or shut.
uper,
ooANoS sALUrArioS.
The annual fair In the Isle ~ Ely was
called 81. Audrey's fair. and much ordi'
nary but snowy lace was sold to the
country lasses. 81. Audrey's lace soon
became proycrbial. and from that cause
taudry. a corruption Of 81. Audrey. was
established az q common expression 10
denote not only cheap lace. but any other
part of female dress which was more
gaudy In appearance than warranted by
it, quality or value. We now spell the
word "tawdry" and use IL In the same
sense.
The salutaiion. "liow do you dor
sounds like an awkward and redundant
sentence. and yet its origin was a sensi.
ble one. Dow In old English. pro
nounced do. means "to h. able" ito
thrive "to prosper" II should not
suggest redundancy. for Il l. equivalent
to saying. Glow do you thrive "llow
do YOU prosper The oolloquialism.
ale l. u do-lcss Clow less fellow" hal
the same origin. and means one who is
too weak OF shiftless 81 prosper.
when. a. Americans. We Use the word
cute In the sense of clever" OF sharp"
We keep within the legitimate. which
cannot be- said when We use II instead 81
pretty. "Ain't IL cutey' has becn adopt
e,l by the fair sex % an exasperating ex.
tent. When we hear aspeaker say "sis,.
ren" sisters we consider him lacking In
education. II Is as legitimate a word as
"brrthrcn.- aud 10th words date back 10
the time % Chaucer. who called the
fates ''the fatal slstren."
RioIr To SAY "ASYwIES
II II l. proper % say anyhow and
anywhere" why u IL not proper to say
'anywhenY' The Others merely survived
u, for Mackay quotes the expression. II
will talk the matter over with YOU any.
where and anywhcn." Graf" and
cunning" at onetime stool for skill"
and ability" The word "botch." Ap-
piled 10 bad workman or his work. Il
from the word "hauch." meaning indif.
fercnt. Putting the cart before the
HORSE common expression for begin
ming to DO a thing al the wrong end.
was In U.s. a. early ~ 1888, and first ap-
pared In the Greek - Lucien. nearly
i,7OO years ago.
"vamose." slang expression which
came into use after the Mexican war. l.
the Spanish vamos, "let us 60" To
bully" meaning Ia worry or torment
In a staggering manner. IL said 10 have
been derived from the noisy way Ia
which droyer- take bullocks to market
Bogus IL q corruption u Borgese, the
name IL a man who at one time flooded
the west AMI southwest with counterfeit
money. Bother l. said 10 have bcen
first used 10y q sergeant, who cried out
20 two inccssant takers. one at each ear.
Don't both ear me-"
Canteen sone 81 the few words In the
English language which passed into n
foreign tongue and was afterwards taken
hack in n modified form. Tho Saxon
called tia "tiucan." hut the Gaul, A. l.
wont, placed the noun before the AL jec-
tive, and pronounced the ! as e, thus
rendering Il cantecn. ltbecame a French
military term. and the English fnoorpo-
rated IL among their military terms. The
changes that have occurred In the Eng
lish language are remarkable. Going
hack To the time Of Queen Elizabeth, We
can readily note them. In the time Of
Chauccr and Cover. little more than 800
years ago. the dialect has half foreign
look. while as early a. the days of King
Alfred IL l. unintelligible without the
aid Of glossary.-frank S. stauffer in
Detroit Free Press.