The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1896-08-21
Ehelrmnrraf-S Star
A CHAPTER IN PHILOLOGY.
THE CURIOUS ORIGIN or SOME FANIL-
lar WORDS.

lar WORDS.
There are words all frequently used
whose histories and d%eriyatlons are
quaint and peculiar, says the New
York Herald. The schooner is com.
piratively Il modern craft and is a
product Of Yankee ingenuity. a bluff
old New Easlanl skipper. Capt. An
drew Robinson. who probably brought
more slaves to the colonies than mo-
lasScs and other common importa-
lions, one day came t. the conclusion
that h. could rug Il boat that would
he nm Improvement on the craft then
in use for coastwiSe shipping. Being
superstitious, us most scafaring men
are. he determined let chance name
his new boat. There were many spec.
factors at the launching, some shak-
ing their heads obviously, others ridi.
culing, and then Others believing in
the invention OF the old Captain. AS
the boat left the stays, she plunged
her nose into the water, came up again
like Il cork and skinned wei the
water like Il bird. A burst of admir-
alton burst from the crowd, and one
OF the onlookers exclaimed, 'sSee how
the scoons." Capt. Robinson reyer-
entity taking the cue said: ''Thcn
sooner let her be-" and vol she
has been eyer since. with the excep.
tion of the letter Ssh" which generally
manages, somehow, to get into words
where it is not needed.
Another curious word which has a
significant and historical origin is
silhouette. Although this word is
somewhat un-English, still it. comes
under the general appropriation,
which the English-speaking people
made of everything which would
serve them. Ole Silhouette was
minister OF state of France in 1859, a
critical period with that country
financially, which came near culmin.
ating in national bankruptcy. Sill.
houcttc. Is represented as being a very
wise and s%agacious man, and in poll
ties he would now be termed a "re
former" Silhouette and his doctrines
became the butt of all the wits OF
Paris, and many Il jest was perpe.
trated on the minister of state under
the very nose of Silhouette. With
serious faces, but laughing inwardly,
persons wore short coats without
s%leeycs, and many other extravagances
OF il like nature were committed,
among which was one OF particular
note, which created Il great deal OF
merriment at the time-in fact SC
much S that it has been handed down
90 us, together with the name or the
great ref0rmer, as being the climax
Of the pranks Of the Partisan wits,
All Of the portraits we're made ia
black to represent Il profile and bust,
similar to il shadow cast upon a white
paper by the aid OF a strong light
thus economizing materials, and this
is 0ur present silhouette, and all tina,
is lest of him.
The youth speaks of going to his
'lmberdasner." This word is among
that class that owe their origin to one
of the most common OF scurccs-viz.
corruption. The small shoopkeeper.
of Germany had Il custom in pas,
ages of standing in the doors of thciI
shops and inviting In inspection o
their wares. Their common saluta
tion to every passer-by who had TIL,
appearance Of being in the least sus
ceptible was 'lIabt thr daSs, herr?:'
("Havc you this, sir?:") which was, a,
one Il readily imagine, corrupted
into 'Hl~abcrlasher' by rapid and COZ
slant repetition.
Another word, "exchequcr," has /;
peculiar derivation. In the time OF
the old N0rmlns there was establish
ed a court Of equity, or claims, before
which was settled the claims of tht
hing upon the people. Before the
judge or presiding officer of this court,
upon which vas a checkcrcd cloth,
similar to IA chess board, which was
used as an assistant in counting and
to observe this court in session it had
the appearance Of a game checkers,
and So, by common usuage, it became
the court Of exchequer, from which
comes the word as it is most com
monty used now, meaning principally,
Il treasury.
The word quiz is purely an acct.
dent, or, more properly speaking, the
result of IN lrishman's joke, and in
reality has no meaning. A wager was
made between some students of an
old university that n of them could
not invent a new word whichin TWEEN
ty-four 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 s~c0lfers, for the letters
''q-u-i-z" were posted on every wall
and avalable space in Dublin, and
thus the word became the talk of the
town, and has since remained exactly
what it was when 1t was invented-a
"A riddle.
There ~ a word in Il language
which. correctly speaking, means