The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-10-13
FAMILIAR WORDS EXPLAINED.
Facts which show How Everyday
Phrases Get Their Meaning.

fhFhNeN hrA fhctr NrnntnE.
From the London Express
Words. like men. have histories. while
others cmboiy history
To the letter class bc'ongs the word
"rigmarolc Everybody understand 10 as
slgnifyIng a confused ana meaningless
iumble. but few recall he fact that it
comss from ragman's r1l Now thc rag
mans roll was a crown document OF no
small Importance n is 4 real ron of an
cicnt parchment. and records cateEorlcal-
ly the Instruments and deeds by which
Scotland's nobility ana gentry gave 10
their adhesion and sWore allegiance 10
Edward l. or England toward the close
% the thirteenth century Naturally. t
is a somewhat confused document but
possibly not quite so much confused a.
confusing 20 the good people OF lie own
era
Il must have been upsetting IN those
days TO discover that the lords and gen
tlcmen thought Go Dc stauchcst FOR the
old order had gone over 20 tho invading
King Yet there Is something 70 be- said
Tor the lords and gentlemen they loved
not scotlands Independence less bat their
heads and their estates rather more
Most OF us are fond Of vcnison--.hat IS
to say deers hcsh Formerly. however
that wogd had q wider meaning. being
used Tor any flesh huntcr-that &c. meat
81 Vcncry. Ncuery is the old word for
huntus-thus foxes and wolves and bad
gers furnish "vcnison" no less than the
iordly staE
cur tho synonym for worthless doc
has somewhat the Same derivation. In
fcudal England the dogs 81 the viileiuage
no doubt mostly starving mongrels. wero
hy law required 10 bc curtailcd-thst ~
might be readily distinguished from the
stag and bear hounds % the Lords and
gentlemen. The stag hounds ran true
upon the scent. the mongrels would con-
fuse and draw them On from %. Some
times the Vllloin-dogs had likewise 10
suffer "homhliug that ls. cutting away
tho two middle toes from each foot. SO
they could not run with the hounds. A
curtail-dog. or Curtlo-dog In time became
simply cur. His owners. the villeins.
who lived in clustered novels outside the
castle walls IN Ike manner gave Use 10
the word village.
Another wonderfully expressive phrase
Ito run rlot'-also comes from the AUNT
ing field Foxhouuds run riot when they
leave the draE Of the fox and go racing
and chasing OF upon the scent 81 hares
ana rabbits. whose company the FOX
seeks when he nnds himself pursued In
deed. In fox-huntlng parlancc. hare-sccnt
is known as riot
The familiar phrase ION the pad" as
slgnifyiug going hither and yon. also
throws back TO Reyuard the Fox lis feet
are known technically as pads-when he
gets up and begins 60 move about sports
men say he Is "on the pad .
strange as C. may seem. the word tai
lyho" ia a manner connects the hunting
field with the coach Tailis hors. pro
nounced tally-ho-Norman French for
"out OF tho thicket'-was the proper cry
when the fox broke cover The huntsmen
aud the master OF tho foNhounda answer
"a the cry with long blasts % the horn.
Then when public coaches began TO run.
their horns blew the tally-ho blasts; FUR
Their. as luxury progressed. inner coaches
often took 10 the meet. and tho throwing
on. fine people who did not intend 10 fol-
low the hounds. but 10 see them spectac-
ularly Between use and luxury. the
coach with seats on top crystaliized az
the tslly-ho Tho tally-ho 81 Is likely to
remain. unless all the world should 30 au-
tomoble mad
Though the bankrupt Is 50 common
among as nowadays, few know whence
he derived his uncuviable cOgnomen. II
"a among the most interesting OF words
with histories Iombards. money chang
cra Of Venice sat on benches round about
the plaza Of ST. Marks. Banco b. Italian
f1r bench when one OF the money chang
ers defaulted the others fell TO ana broke
his bench In nttlo pieces. Afterward he
was known as "hanco-rupto' that T., the
man OF the broken bench. Hence comes
our word bankrupt
These are only q few examples. but they
serve 20 show how interesting is the study
Of word histories.