Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1898-09-16
SOME OLD SAYINGS.
FAMILIAR 70 EVERY ONE, BUT FEW
KNOW THEIR SOURCE.

NM" lnctn 0SonSes
Tho Man Who Delights In Investigating
All Sorts OF Odd Things Robs Peter 60
Pay Paul. Buys . Pig In q Poke aud Ieto
tho Cat Out Of the Rag.
"Do you know who Mother Carey Isl"
asked tho ma who delights in investigat-
ing all sorts Of odd things and who is nov
,r so happy us when following up some
unusual limo Of thought.
.She's a chicken ~fancier, I imagine"
replied tho man who takes things as they
come without question. cat my rate
she's seldom mentioned except in connoc-
ton with her chickens"
"Mothcr Carey" said the investigator,
snd he took another look ut tho book no
held in his hand as If to guard against the
possibility Of mistake, sis tho Virgin
Mary. The name comes from the Latin
Mater cara meaning Mother dear and
her chickens are tho stormy potrels which
the sailors formerly believed wcro sent to
warn them Of approaching storms. I tell
you, my boy, there's u great deal that's in
teresting in these odd expressions and
words if one takes the trouble to look it
vp. Now, there is tho saying, Don't caro-
: rap How would you Interpret that9
What does rap mean?"
."As IN offhand guess, I should say that
1t was a substitute for q word that begins
with ID and which Is not supposed to be
used in polite society"
"You would BIO wrong" asserted the
man with the book. "'Rap' is derived
from r.. "A. P.,' which in turn comes
from India and stands for rupees, annns
and pico, representing tho moncy'of That
country. Tho expression is almost an eT-
act equivalent to that other, equally com
mon, Il don't care Il cent. Now, l sup
pose if some one should ask you about
Jack and JILL who went up n hill, you
would say they were simply nursery char
acters."
II certainly should"
"And you would DO wrong again.
Jack was tho name Of q pitcher made of
waxcd leather, and Gill was and still is
a measure of capacity. That is how they
happened to go after water. Somebody
was doubtless carrying them and careless
" dropped them."'
"'When you say by Jingo!' 1 suppose
you don't mean anything except that yoa
arc excited or angly?"
"That's ALL"
"Nevertheless you arc literally swearing
by tho evil ono, for tho word is from 'Jcn-
co. which means devil in the Basque
language. I suppose, also, that you re-
gard carpet knight rs . term of re-
proach?" :.
"Naturally."
"Yct Henry Irving is q carpet knight.
So was Tcnnyson, and so arc and were
many others Of whom England is proud.
A carpet knight is ono who wins his title
by his achievements in the world of SOL
ence or the arts, or, in fact, anywhere ex-
Dept in battle. He may DO really more de-
serving of the tito than any Of those who
won it by the sword" y
"You must put in most of your time
with dictionaries and c%yclopelins,"' sug,
gcstcd the man who takes things. ashley.
come. $.
MNot at ,all. I nh IN" simply sufficiently
Interested: to look up these odd expressions
when. / run across. them to sec WHAT they
really. moan. and whether wo use them
properly. do you know why the patrons
Of tho top gallery of a thcatcr arc called.
the gods?"" "a.
. t'Ecyer even gave tho subject although"
N'tWell, they arc SO described at the
Drufy Lane theatcr in London, first, be-
cause the, ceiling was painted in imitation
of a blue sky, with cupids and angels fly
ing about. I imagine. tho term battle
royal conveys an idea of grandeur to you
in the fighting line"
F, II should think it ought to be rather
thrilling.": !" -
Nevertheless it. was originally nothing
but Q cockfighting tor1f and was used to
describe a fight. in which. three, five or
ro0.o,, H;p1e x1,npo NM into thu NIT md LIFT
i: until all but ono had been defeated. How
do you suppose We got the expression cock
and bull story?' - ''' ~
"Givc it up" a. E'.A~.
'tYou ought to -investigate thnsBthinga
II you arc going to nuke usepf them. A
man ought to know something. about
what he is saying. This comes to, us from
the timc,of the. reformation, The paral
bullahAd acock ontho seal, and Of course
.HlqFe;wfresa great many people Of that
day who w~ere.ihclincd' to discredit my.
thing ip the cock and bull line.. But thu
dxptessi9n that doubtless will interest you
&, tnost ISL doh't;;c care q DAM"
~ .estYoG whatSS''' t.
1 don't 1casrec'in d;aain!-the dam with
,eptntho m, of course. - %"t
: .!.slXhat .difcrenoo docs that make9"
.MAAll;the difference in Tho world Dam
, Il; q coin IN; India equivalent to an English
tw6pence. II you are caught making thai
> remark, in q loud tone so,no time, it may
x. DO worth something Is You to know thai
!; thero'is such c6in.- 1t viii help you tx
explain matters Now, where do you sup
pose the words .peeler':and' bobby mean
ing policeman, come .from%
:; ssaAgaip l giyeElt tupsS' e
's'From the name Of Sir Robert Peel
the foundez-eftho London police force"
"DoEy you do anything except look u
/. these; things9'' asked the man who take
/. things as they como.
"Oh, yes" replied the man Of an invea
tigating turn: of mind "When you &c
into tho habit Of looking into the origin q
tho expressions you run across,.you do !
az an amusement at odd times: Now
yesterday it suddenly occurred to me tina
didn't know why it is that we rob Pete
to pay Paul."
ADid you find outP"
Certainly. In 1850 several estates be
longing to Westminster abbey were grant
cd to st. Paul's cathedral for repairs an
maintenance, and Westminster abbey har
pens to be dedicated to St. Peter. Their