The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1896-02-28
POPULAR PHRASES.
csl3IN OF SOME OF TAeMcAfEH
woeos T5A%vE&eoO9 USES

mon are In Gonefht USE
Mention has been recently made Of
the disputed origin of the word "tee-
total," claimed by two inventors, one
living in England and the other in
America, and each Of whom may have
hit upon the word independently and
for the different reasons assigned. To
curious minded persons who like TO
know tho why's, whens and wherefores
of everything tho origin Of popular
oatchwords and figures of speech is an
interesting subject. \
The word machine, /" as we use IL pq,
litically, is another which, like "tee-
total, " is Ct doubtful parentage. In the
days of the old volpateor fire companies,
which in large cities were potent factors
in local politics, the phrase ''to run
with the machine" came into common
uso, and it meant that man so spoken
Of was identified with the POLITICAL CO.
terie Of the fire company with Which he.
! trained. The famous Boss Tweed began
his career in Now York running with
! the machine" as ta.volunteer fireman.
Yet tho term as,we now employ it was
used in England long before. The Duke
of Wellington, in letter TO friend in
| 1S45 deploring the increasing influence
! Of popular agitation on the action of the
houses Of parliament, said "Such is the
operation of the machine as now estab-
lished that no individual, be his char
acter, conduct in antegedent circum-
stances and his abilities what they may,
can have any personal influence in gen.
eral." Wo may have derived our term
"the machine from our old volunteer
fire company days, but in the Englan
of Wellington's time there were no fire
companies exerting any political iirhu-
ence. AZ,
That much overworked word crank"
gained universal vogue in .,connectiOn
with Guiteau's assassination Of Presi-
dent g arfield, but it was long before
that applied by the late Don Piatt, who
claimed to be its Inventor, to Horace
Greeley, the purpose of it being to lken
the famous editor to the crank of hand
organ, which is forever grinding out the
samo old tunes. The word, as we have
now come to apply it, means much more
and worse. 1t implies condition of
mind verging upon insanity, and this
has given rise to the erroneous notion
that it has its origin in the German
word "llrank. +"
The word "dago," now commonly
applied to Italians all over the country,
came originally from Louisiana, where
it at first referred only to people Of
Spanish origin, but was later applied to
Italians and Portuguese as we'll. The
word is corruption of "Diego"
(James), which is n common Spanish
name, San Diego being the patron saint
of the Spaniards.
Another word of incessant employ
ment in American speech is "dude,"
with its feminine complement, "du-
dine" This may have come to us from
the old English word tor clothes
"duds," in earlier times spelled
"dudes. "
Thackeray writes of one of his charac-
ters "Her dresses were wonderful, her
bonnets marvellous. Few women could
boast such dudes" Shakespeare, in
1.-THE Merry Wives of Windsor, - writes
Of "bucke of dudes," meaning bas-
ketful Of clothes ready for washing. It's |
present day literary currency dates from |
February, 1876, when the word appear
ed in Putnam S Magazine. But famous |
New York clubman, Mr.. Hermann |
Oelrichs, claims the credit of first start
ing it as a popular term of contempt or
ridicule for an overdressed person. He |
claims that q youth of this type who
passed by the Union club window with
q mincing step provoked himself and |
another clubman to hum together an ac-
compartment to the youths walk, thus,
"Du, da, de, On du, du de-" and that
he remarked GOOD enough; dude is
the proper name for it, and that thus
the word was born.
The words Lingo" and "jingoism"
are also of disputed derivation. We all
know about the English music hall song
which ,.set the word going with new
meaning in 1877, but the original coin
age of the term "By jingop' is quite
doubtful. In the Basque language the
word jingo means God, and it is widely
believed that "By jingol" was form
of oath with which the Basque sailors
familiarized the English sailors and,
through them, all English speaking peo-
pie. But others believe the word is
corruption Of st. Gingoulph. 1t is one
of the oddities of popular wordmaking
that the term "jingoism, as now used
is complete travesty of the sentiment
of the song from which it was taken. A
jingo, either in England or America. is
now set down as a man spelling for
fight, eager for war at any cost. But the
original music hall song, with the jingo
chorus, expressed exactly the opposite
desire for peace. 1t began
with "We don't want to fight" and its
fercest war note was struck in the dec-
laration that if they had to do what they
would rather not, they had plenty Of
men, ships and money! - l.
Speaking of .''Brother Jonathan"
here is no doubt. about" its origin.
When General Washington went to Mas
to take c6mmahd of the Revo-
utionary army, he found great lack Of
and other suppli&, He
,urned for aid to Governor Jonathan
rrumbull of CaAnecticHtn Ind g$ II, /,
md in many emerg sncies of that period h
10 used the phrase, "We must consult
Brother Jonathan ON the tubject. "The'l'
expression becatnei nationally current, |
md it stands as "t1f8 AhdiiGan,pafalfel
o "John Bull. ".nBMtffibrB'Sun..
.n1.i Il - /, ~ sii,h = r
A man that loves.GigSwlS htebiaS, and |.
- Nfllf-stsLs II l. ~ liIt M