Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-12-20
ODDORIG1NOF WORDS
some THAT ARE NOW FAMILIAR DUE
- TO ACCIDENT.

| The Superstition of n skipper Gave Us
schooner 4Stwhere a~siihouette" Came
From-How ''ouiz" Was Made-'Lulla-
There are words all frequently use whose
histories and derivations are quaint and
peculiar. The schooner Is comparatively
modern craft and is u product of Yankee
ingenuity. A bluff old New England
skipper, Captain Andrew Robinson, who
probably brought moro slaves to the colo
MES than molasses and other common i'm
portations, one day came to the conclusion
that he could rig boat that would be an
improvement on the craft then in use for
coastwise shipping. Being superstitious,
as most seafaring people are, he determined
to let chance name his new boat. There
were many spectators at the launching,
some shaking their heads obviously others
ridiculing and then others believing in
the invention of the old captain. AS the
boat left the stays she plunged her nose in
to the water, came up again like a cork
and skinned over the water like a bird.
A burst of admiration broke from the
crowd, and one of the onlookers exclaim-
ed, "See how she sooonsp Captain Rob
insOn reverently taking the cue Said,
"Then sooner let her be, " and "scooner"
she has been ever SINCE with the excep-
ton of the letter "h," which generally
manages somehow to get into words where
! it is not needed.
Another curious word, which has a sig
niflcant and historical origin, is silhouette.
Although this word is somewhat I'M Eng
lish, still it comes under tho general APP
! hn Er,n
people made Of everything that would
serve them. One Silhouette was min
lister Of state of France in 1859, critical
period with that country financially, which
came near eliminating in national bank
ruptcy. Silhouette is represented as being
a very wise and sagaciOus man, and in
| politics he would now be termed Gre
former"
silhouette and his doctrines became the
butt of all the wits of Paris, and many
| jest was perpetrated on the minister of
state under the very nose of Silhouette.
With serious faces but laughing inwardly
persons wore short coats without sleeves,
and many other extrayagances of like
nature were committed, among which was
one of particular note which created a
| great deal of merriment at the time-n
fact, so much so that it has been handed
down to us together with the name of the
great reformer as being the climax Of the
pranks Of the Partisan wits. All of the
portraits were made IN black to represent
"a profile of tho face and bust similar to a
shadow cast upon white paper by the aid
of strong light, thus economizing color
eel paints and other expensive materials,
and this is or present Silhouette and all
that is left of him.
The youth speaks OF going 30 his "hab-
erdasher." This word Is among that class
that owe their origin to one Of the most
common of sOurces-viZ, corruption. The
small shopkeepers Of Germany had a Gus
tom in past ages of standing in the doors
of their shops and inviting an inspection
of their wares. Their common salutation
to every passerby who had the appearance
of being in the least susceptible was, "Habt
ihr dass, HERR" octave you this, sir?'D
which was, one may readily imagine, cor.
rupted into "haberdasher" by rapid and
| constant repetition
Another word "exchequer, =" has q pc
| culiar Derivation In the time of the old
Normans there was established court of
equity, or claims, before which was settled
the claims Of the king upon the people, the
claims of the people upon the king and tbs
claims of the people upon the people. Be-
fore tho judge or presiding officer of this
court was table, upon which was check
| cred cloth similar to a chessboard, which
was used as an assistant in counting, and
to observe this court in session it had the
appearance Of a game of checkers, and so
by common usage it became the court of
exchequer, from which comes the word as
1t is most commonly used now, meaning
principally treasury
The word "quiz" is purely an accident,
or, more properly speaking, the result Of
an Irishman's joke, and in reality has no
meaning. A wager was made between
some students of an old university that
one of them could not invent a new word
which in "a hours would be the talk of
all Dublin. There was much laughter at
the expense of the would be coiner of the
new word, but next morning upon rising
the new word was at the expense Of the
scoffers, for the letters q u were posted
on every wall and available space in Dub
lin and thus the word became the talk of
the town and has since remained exactly
what it was when it was invented-a rid
die.
LuCIO - ~ NDTu III our language WHICH,
| correctly speaking, means nothing what
ever, although it's relative meaning is IA
miliar and dear to all. Who is there in
whom the word "lullaby' does not stir
| some of the tenderest and dearest reCul-
lections? This word LULLABY" comes to
us in sweet contrast as myth from the
starry plains of Arabia, polished and
rounded by the roll of the eternal ages.
As consequence Of Lilith, Adams con.
sort, forming an alliance with the evil
spirit, and thus falling from grace, in the
course of time the name Lilith became
dreaded, and many fearful deeds were at
tributed to her, so much so the Arabian
mother never dare leave her slumbering
child without commanding Lilith to be
gone and to do the little one no harm.
The Arabic phrase invariably used had tine
sound of 'Lilith by" AS time progress
ed this was taken up and made the burden
of the grooming, drowsy cummings of a
mother singing her baby to sleep and has
! finally come down to us as the sweet, soft
LULLABY. New York Herald.