Smyrna times., 1889-08-07
VERBAL CURIOSITIES.
FRANK sTAUFFER's RESEARCH AZ
TER THE ORIGIN OF WORDS.

Many Expressions That Sound Awkward
and Redundant Had a 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 a queer origin. A promontory called
Tarifa, in southern Spain, juts into the
Straits of Gibraltar and commands the
entrance into the Mediterranean sea.
The ancient Moors built 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" Chaucer says;
"Then hadst thou the gate stoke" (shut).
! The man on the engine who puts the
coal into the furnace, and then 'stokes"
the door, becomes a "stoker," or shut
up-erl
A COMMON sALUTATION.
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 lasses. St. Audrey's lace soon
became proverbial, and from that cause
taudry, a corruption of St. Audrey, was
established as q common expression to
denote not only cheap lace, but any other
part of female dress which was more
gaudy in appearance than warranted by
its quality or value. We now spell the
word "tawdry" and use it in the same
sense.
The salutation, ''How do you do?"
sounds like an awkward and redundant
sentence, and yet its origin was a sensi-
bic one Dow in old English, pro-
nounced do, means "to be able" ''to
thrive" "to prosper 1t should not
suggest redundancy, for it is equivalent
to saving, "HOw do you thrive?" GLOW
do you prospect" The colloquialism,
"He is a do-less (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 ''clever" or ''sharp,
we keep within the legitimate, which
cannot be said when we use it instead OF
; pretty. "Ain't it cutter has been adopt
ed by the fair sex to an exasperating ex
tent. When we hear speaker say ''sisC
ren" (sisters) we consider him lacking il
/ education. It is as legitimate a word a.
''brethren," and both words date back t.
] the time of Chaucer, who called tn,
J fates ''the fatal sistren."
5 RIGHT TO SAY "ANYWHEN."
If it is proper to say "anyhow" anC
/ anywhere" why is it not proper to sa,
! "anywhen?" The others merely survived
r it, for Mackay quotes the expression, g
: will talk the matter over with you any
e where and anywhen." Graft" an,
= "cunning" at one time stood for "skill
and ability" The word ''botch," ar
e piled to a bad workman or his work, i
t from the word ''bauch, meaning indii
] ferent Putting the cart before tn
n horse" a common expression for begin
a ming to do a thing at the wrong end
e was in use as early as 1888, and first az
: peared in the Greek of Lucien, nearl
n 1,7O0 years ago.
'Vamose," a slang expression whic
e came into use after the Mexican war,
+ the Spanish vamos, ''let us 60" 7
. "bully," meaning to worry or tormer
: in a staggering manner, is said to hav
; been derived from the noisy way
e which drovers take bullocks to marke
it Bogus is a corruption of Borgese, tn
: name of a man who at one time floode
IS the west and southwest with counterfe
+ money. Bother is said to have bee
Y first used by a sergeant, who cried oil
G to two incessant takers, one at each ca
d Don't both ear me-"
II Canteen is one of the few words in I'll
p English language which passed into
d foreign tongue and was afterwards take
# back in a modified form. Tho Sake
called it ''tincan," but the Gaul, as
/, wont, placed the noun before the adie
b tive, and pronounced the as G, thu
G rendering it canteen. 1t became a FrenC
d military term, and the English incorp
y rated it among their military terms. tt
ie changes that have occurred in the En-
if lish language are remarkable. Goi1
l. back to the time of Queen Elizabeth, v
ID can readily note them. In the time
N Chaucer and Cover, little more than 81
E. years ago, the dialect has a half foreie
N look, while as early as the days of Kir
is Alfred it is unintelligible without Il
es aid of a glossary.-Frank S. Stauffer
y Detroit Free Press.