Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-27
FAMILIAR WORDS EXPLAINED.
Facts which Show How Everyday
Phrases Get Their Meanings.
From tho Inndon Fynress

Phrases Get Their Meanings.
From the London Express.
Words. like men, have histories, while
others embody history.
To the latter class belongs the word rig
marole.' Everybody understands II as sig
nifying a confused and meaningless Jumple,
but few recall the fact that it comes from
ragmans roll. Now, the ragmans roll was
crown document of no small Importance.
1t is a real roll of ancient parchment, ana
records categorically the instruments ana
deeds by which Scotlands nobility ana
gentry gave in their adhesion, and swore
allegiance to Edward l of England toward
the close of the thirteenth century. Natur-
ally, it is a somewhat confused document
but possibly not quite so much confused as
confusing to the good people OF It's own era
1t must have been upSettinS in those days
to discover that the lords and gentlemen
thought to be StancheSt for the OLD oruer
had gone over to the invading king YET
there is something to be sad for the iords
and gentlemen-they loved not Scotland
independence less, but their heads and their
estates rather more.
Most of us are fond of venison-that Is to
say, deer's flesh. Formerly, however, that
word had a wider meaning, being used for
any flesh hunted-that is, meat of venery.
Venery is the old word for hunting-thus
foxes and wolves and badgers furnish ven
ison'' less than the lordly stag:
Cur, the synonym for worthless dog,
has somewhat the same derivation. In
feudal England the dogs of the villeinage,
no doubt mostly starving mongrels, were
by law required to be curtailed-that Is,
have their tails cut short, so that they
might be readily distinguished from the stag
and boar hounds of the lords and gentle
men. The stag hounds ran true upon the
scent, the mongrels would confuse ana
draw them off from it. Sometimes the VII
| lein dogs had likewise to suffer "hombling
that is, cutting away the two middle toes
| from each foot, so they coulu not run with
| the hounds. A curtail dog, or curtle dog
| in time became simply cur. His owners
the vileins, who lived In clustered novels
outside the castle walls, in like manner
gave rise to the word village
Another wonderfully expressive phase
ito run riot''-also comes from the hunting
field. FoXhounds run riot when they leave
the drag of the fox and go racing and
chasing off upon the scent of hares and
rabbits, whose company the fox seeks when
he finds himself pursued. Indeed. in fox
hunting parlance, hare-scent is known as
riot"
The familiar phrase ION the pad" as sig
nifying going hither and yon, also throws
back to Reynard the Fox. His feet are
known technically as pads-when he gets
up and begins to move about sportsmen
say he is Ion the pad
Strange as 1t may seem, the word tally
ho!' in manner connects the hunting
field with the coach Tails hors, pronounced
tally-ho-Norman French for ''out Of the
thicket"-was the proper cry when the fox
broke cover. The huntsmen and the mas
ter of the foxhounds answered the cry with
long blasts of the horn. Then when public
coaches began to run, their horns blew the
tally-ho blasts; further as luxury progress
ed. finer coaches often took to the meet,
and the throwing off. fine people who did
not intend to follow the hounds but to see
them spectacularly. Between use and lux
ury, the coach with seats on top crystal
lized as the tally-ho. The tally-ho 1t is
likely to remain, unless all the world should
go automobile mad
Though the bankrupt is so common among
US nowadays, few know whence he de-
rived his unenviable cognomen. 1t is among
the most interesting of words with histories.
| Lombards money changers of Venice, sat
on benches round about the plaza of st.
Marks. Banco is Italian for bench. When
one Of the money changers defaulted the
others fell to and broke his bench in little
pieces. Afterward he was known as ban
co-rupto"-that Is, the man of the broken
bench. Hence comes our word bankrupt.
These are only a few examples; but they
serve to show how interesting is the study
of word histories.