Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1889-10-16
ONE GENT
ORIGIN oF PARAsEs.
The Sources from wAenos Was Derived
some OF Our Everyday Impressions.

The common phrase, Catching Tar
tar, says Crosse. the antiquarian, arose
out Of the adventure of an Irish soldier
in the imperial service. During battle
with the Turks he called out to q COM
rade that he had caught Tartar.
Bring him along, was the reply. "He
won't come," declared Paddy. ssThen
come yourself" rejoined his comrade.
"Ah. but he won't let me, replied Pad
dy. Instead of capturing the Tartar the
Tartar had captured him.
Putting the cart before the horse"
means to begin to do thing at the wrong
end. The phrase is very old and is quot
ed by Lucian, 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 writers. For in-
stance, the couplet,
He who fights and runs away
May live to fight another day,
is almost invariably declared to have
originated with Butler, the author Of
"Hudibras." It is really Greek proverb.
and mention is made of it by Tertullian.
As early as the beginning of the Second
century a Latin writer, Aulus Gellius.
puts it into the mouth of Desmosthenes
as an excuse for his cowardice at Chero-
nea.
Begging the question" is supposed to
be modern phrase born of the many
political discussions which occur in con-
gress. 1t is known in logical disputa-
tions as ''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 facilime
congregantes, !" and you'll have it almost
literally.
The expression "AIind your P's and
Q's" is said to have various derivations.
In old times the score of the ale house
customer was kept on a slate, or was
chalked on the door of cupboard, the
p and @ standing for pint and quart. The
score was settled for and wiped out every
Saturday night. If the customer was
dilatory in making settlement, he was
reminded of his P's and Q's. It 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 perukes
were in fashion. The toupee was the ar
tificial lock of hair, and the queue the
pigtail. The phrase was "Mind your
toupees 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. The answer
was "a barber, because he ties up the
queues and puts toupees in order" IL
may be that this old riddle suggested the
more modern one of "When does black
smith set the letters of the alphabet to
quarreling?' when he makes poker
Ia poke r. and shovel (shove H."
"Blind as beetle" is phrase as fa-
miliar as 1t is false. The insect, in its
rapid fight 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 tho
beetle in his lode 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
entomologist to impute blindness to the
insect.
Carrying the war into Africa means
to retaliate upon an enemy by adopting
his own tactics. 1t grew out of the bat.
tie of wits between Scipio and Hannibal
The latter, a Carthaginian leader, led his
army into Italy, and for several years
continued to threaten Rome and lav
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-
Tense.
"Cimmerian darkness" is derived from
the traditions concerning the Cimmerii.
people Of Italy who lived in caves near
Lake Averno. From those gloomy hab-
itations, SO inaccessible to the rays of the
sun, the Sybils gave out their oracles.
The old proverbial expression, Dead
as door nail, had very simple origin.
In olden times the doors were supplied
with knockers instead of bells. The
knocker 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 'snaiI.
So many blows rendered the nail .smulta
morte," as Virgil says, s'abundantly
Dead" very dead!7 In Shakspeare's
Henry w" FalstaR says: "Whatl Is
the old king deady' Pistol replies: sAs
nail in door"
Escaped with the skin Of his teeth,
is from the twentieth verse of the nine
teenth 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 mare of Flanders
over the fine coach horse Of England
Frank II. Stauffer In Detroit Free Press.
Hodges FIsvoriDg Extracts
Have Won an eUvIable reputation for their