The record-union., 1894-04-20
THAT WORD TQTB."
An Interesting Discussion Concern
ing 1t.
1t is Vulgarism, and Claimants for
Its Classic Origin are
at Fault.
From the Sacramento REcoRDlUsIoN.l

From the Sacramento RECoRD.UNIoN1
The word "tote' is in the dictionary. it
Is true, but it was driven in with a maui
and wedge. 1t is relic Of slavery and
human degradation, coarse and vulgar.
From the Wilmington IN. C.) Slarl
The ignoramus who wrote that ought TO
show his ears above his cap and bells.
We have in these columns shown that
''tote'' IS good old English word, and is
used by the Father of English Poetry,n
Chaucer, more than once in Canterbury
Tales" and exactly as the fellow who
wrote the above stupid and malignant
paragraph.
lSharswood, in the Danbury IN. CO. Reporter
The writer must be permitted to differ
from the opinion Of our worthy contem-
porary as above expressed. II wrong. he
will cheerfully submit.
1he word "toie," in the sense of to
carry or to bear, does not occur in Chau-
Ger or any English writer known to me.
dhere IS, however, an old English word
tole," or "totten,' to look, to gaze from
the Anglo-Saxon .totian," found in
WycllIfe, piers Ploughman's Crede,"
covers "Confessio Amantis," and other
writer's.
The family name "Tothill," or Tut
hlll," has the word in its prefix. and
means hill of observation. watch hill.
- ust as we have the Anglo-Saxori word
share" to cut, in the prefix of the fam
lily name ''Sharswood," which means a
wood-cutter, though, by making a con-
cesslon, this name might be referred TO
the Anglo-SaXon word "cherys-wode.n a
cherry tree.
from the Wilmington On. C) Star.l
w: Sharswood. q Northern scholarly
gentleman, who sometimes writes for tha
Danbury. n. O., Reporter. copies our re-
cent brief paragraph on the word .'tote.v
ana OILERS from our conclusions. 1t NAV
be we are wrong. Whilst we have read
portions OF Chaucer, we have not read
all, Tor we never found it easy reading.
however excellent the genius of the poet
More than thirty years since the late
Colonel George Worthen Of Granville told
us that he had found the word tote,
twice IN Chaucer, and in the precise sense
we use 1t In the South, and not as we have
seen II used IN the North. where writer
makes character in story order his
servant ito tote the horse to the front
gate" We have relied upon Colonel
w orthen's reading in Chaucer. and not
upon any special study of our own In that
great writer, for the statement we have
made several times.
Until the correctness of our statement
was denleo by so competent an authority,
we had no doubt whatever that orr dead
friend, who often studied out-of-the-wav
productions, was correct and we should
SILL insist but for the confirmation ciyen
IN letter to US from Mr.. Sharswood from
Professor Hiram Corson of Cornell Uni
Verslty. whose chair is Anglo-Saxon and
early English. We do not know how
Colonel Worthen fell into the error. ii
error 1t be, for we distinctly recall the
conversation, and not very long after it
occurred-about lS5S-we wrote of it in a
North Carolina literary newspaper. We
had an impression that the late William
o. Gregory of Granville, who was spe-
cial1y addicted to Chaucer, had also told
US OF tote" being found in Canterbury
Tales" for no man was more accurate in
his learning than Mr.. Gregory What he
knew, he knew. But, in the face of what
MIR. Sharswood says, we must dismiss
the impression.
BoYDEN Surrey Co., n. c., April 1Ith.
To the Editors Of the RECORD y MON
DEAR SIRs: Some years ago remark on
the word tote" appeared in the RECORD
UNION. which suggested the comments
inclosed. Theodore Nj. Kingsbury, LII.
ID. was at the time associate editor of the
Wilmington IN. CO. Star, and the edi-
torials OH the subject in that paper were
from his pen. l consider the work 'tote''
meaning to bear, to carry, to be merely
corrupted pronunciation of the word
take" introduced by native African
slaves. After an extended investigation
l feel free to add that the word cannot be
traced to any African language or dialect.
Missionaries from the West Indies and
Surinam say they never heard the word
in those parts.
Among the contents of a volume of
miscellanies which am preparing under
the title, "Heterogenea, will be u paper
devoted TO the origin of this word cover
ing some twelve pages. Faithfully yours,
WILLIAM SHARswooD.
The RECoRD-UNIoN adheres to it's orig
inal position. The word is not English,
nor anything else. 1t is a mere colloquial
vulgarism. 1t did not even find recog-
milton as such by photographers until a
few years ago. 1t is on a par with such
slang as ''cop" and "bloke." Nuttall de-
clines to even mention it; Stormouth does
not list it in his fine work; the latest
Webster the International, refers to it
as colloquial vulgarisn, used formerly
among the slaves at the South. The
Century Dictionary, the latest and the
best OF authorities, says:
Origin unknown. Uusually said to
be an African word introduced by South
ern negroes; but African words which
come into English use through Southern
negroes are few and doubtful (buckrd is
one examplel and do not include verbs.
Southern United States colloq.. or proyin-
cial."
There is a word "tote'' which has been
recognized as legitimate, but it is not the
word now under consideration, and
bears no relation to it.