Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1899-11-09
QUEER ENGLISH WORDS
The Spelling of Many Gives No Clew
to Their MeaninE-HOw They
Have Been Changed.

We have large number of words
whose present spelling is apt to mis-
lead. Counterpart, for example, has
no connection with counter nor pane.
The original form is said to have been
contre-pointe, from low Latin, culcita
puncta, punctured quilt. So of coun-
try dance. It has no connection with
country, but is corruption of contra
danza, a dance in which each dancer
stands contra, or opposite his partner
Crayfish has nothing to do with fish,
but is from the old French escrevisse, a
Frenchified form of the German word
for crab. If the parts of the word are
properly separated, as in crayf-ish, the
apparent connection with fish vanishes.
These examples show the danger of
hasty theorizing as to the origin of
words. Pretty sentiment has been
evoked by the word husband, the idea
being entertained that the part band
is from the root of the verb bind and
that husband is the bond of the house.
But band is really participle of an old
verb bua, to dwell, so that husband
means only a dweller in the house,
householder. Misleading also is the
spelling of pea-jacket, the short, thick
jacket worn by seamen. Here jacket is
i useless repetition, as pea itself means
coat, being the old English word py,
coat. Chaucer has courtepy, a short
coat. Pickax, tool used in digging, is
not connected with AK, but is corrup.
ton of an old word, pickeys, which is
akin to the words peak, pike and pick
Amateur etymologists often puzzle over
summerset. They may be pleased to
find that it has nothing to do with sum.
mer or set, but is derived from the
French soubresault, which in its turn
was derived from the Latin supra,
above, and saltus, leap. Similarly
verdigris suggests grease, but the e
does not belon to it, the original being
from the Latin viride aeris, the green
(rust) of brass.
Meiklejohn mentions some very curl.
GUS corruptions of words. Luncheon,
for example, results from the mixing up
of munchion and lunch. Nunchion is
from the old word none-schenche, or
noon drink, while lunch is a provincial
English word meaning lump of bread.
Whole ought to have been spelled hole
being from the same root as hale, heal
and health. The Wis supposed to have
crept in in southwest England, where
people say whoam for home When
English sailors captured the French
ship Bellerophon the name conveyed no
idea to their minds, but it sounded like
Bully Ruifian, and they made it that.
Similarly English soldiers turned the
name of the Indian prince, Surajah
Dowlah into Sir Roger Dowler. This
determination to make something in
telligible out of foreign words that con-
vey no idea to the uneducated Eng.
lishman or American accounts for the
present form of many proper names
Thus Barkdoll seems more ineligible
than Bergthal, Bumpus than Bonpas.
etc. The twisting that names get in the
effort to become ineligible otherwise
than by translation is at times very per-
picking.
Sporting readers will be interested
to know that the name of that much
abused Individual, the umpire, bears
witness to the hard knocks he has had.
The name has lost an initial, n, the spell
ing formerly having been numpire. 1t
seems to come to us from the Latin non
par, not equal or odd. The umpire is
the odd man of number of judges, who
decides when partisans differ, and thus
incurs the dislike of one side. A similar
loss of initial II has given us orange and
apron from norange and napron. The
latter is to be compared with napkin
and napery. This loss of initial letters
is further illustrated in same (for ex-
ample), scorch (for old French es-
corcer), special (for especially and
stranger (for stranger, Latin extrane-
us). The tendency, recently noticed,
to write "alright" as one word, instead
of all right, is to be firmly withstood.
1t follows, of course, the analogy of
such spellings as already, almost, al
mighty, which custom has sanctioned
and good usage approves. AS much
cannot be said for alright" which, by
the general consent of all authorities, is
all wrong. The formative period in
which all ready might be displaced in
certain connections by already is past
and the writers of to-day are not al
lowed to take such liberties with the
queens Observation-Disclosures Sun.
TO WASH SWISS MUSLIN.