The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-01-18
PEEP IN ANCIENT VOLUMES
WORDS AND PHRASES KNOWN AS
SLANG HARK BACK MANY YEARS.
GHobson's Choice One of the Many
That Come Under This Head-Con-
verted Into Profanity.

rent speech OF the present time. There are |
expressions and phrases used in everyday
conversation that had their origin long |
ago through some occurrence of such a |
trining nature that when one attempts to
trace these popular sayings to their source |
he learns that he has somewhat difficult |
undertaking on hand. the bulk of such mat
ter being either in substance or In detail
that which is considered beneath the dig |
nifty Of encyclopedias, dictionaries or lit
erary manuals.
One evening last week a discussion arose
at a social gathering in Indianapolis con-
corning the origin of the expression steal
ing my thunder" Half of those present
declared 1t TO be a phrase Of recent times
and the other half held that it was old
as the hills. But no one among the COM
rany-and there were number of WELL
read people present-couid vouchsafe any
really authentic information upon the sub
ject- 1t required considerable research TO
get to the bottom of the matter, but at
last in an old English handbook the fol-
lowing paragraph was found-a bit Of in
formation that will probably prove inter-
esting to most people: ''John Dennis,
literary critic and dramatist, who was a
well-known character in London during the
first quarter of the eighteenth century, was
the inventor of a new species of stage
thunder. which was used for the first time
In play of his own called 'Appius and
Virginia. Even with the assistance Of the
new stage effect the play was received very
coldly and had to be withdrawn after a
couple CT unappreciated performances.
Shortly afterward, being in the pit at the
representation of Macbeth, Dennis heard
his own thunder made use of IN the first
act of the Shakspearean play. He
TO his feet in violent passion. Damn
themr he Grief. shaking his first at the
astonished actors, they will not let my
play run. but they steal my thunder
This was doubtless the origin of the phrase
which Is used to-day so generally. 1t will
be found that Pope. in his "Dunciad." has
aimed this singing literary bullet at the
unfortunate playwright and his stage eff
feet:
ITO move. to raise. to ravish every heart
With Shakspeare's nature or with Jonson's
Let others aim; it's yours to shake the soul
With thunder rumbling from the mustard
THROUGH ANCIENT VOLUMES.
If one but has the time to devote to it,
nothing will be found more interesting
than a rummage through ancient volumes
in search OF the famous old expressions
which all Of US employ in our daily con-
versation without much as a thought
as to their origin. Who would imagine for
a moment that the favorite slang phrase
OF 'bucking the tiger is to be traced
back to the Chinese Empire? Everybody
knows that the Chinese are inveterate
gamblers out it is doubtful If one person
out of a hundred Is aware of the fact that
the tiger" commonly referred to by
Americans when speaking of games of
chance. y one of those outrageous Chinese
tigers with almond eyes. A fav-
orite figure among the Chinese
gods of gambling 0he Mongolians have a
god for everything imasinable) Is an Gu
rous image OF tiger standing on his
hind feet and grasping a large roll OF
money in his mouth. Sometimes the image
Is made OF wood, sometimes Of clay, while
the more pretentious ones are manufac-
tured from combination of ebony and
shining BRASS One of these elaborate gods
OF gambling is to be seen in San Fran
cisco's Chinatown. in a little clubroom
just on Dupont street. The title of the
beast, His Excellency, the Grasping Cash
Tiger" Is often written on a piece of
paper and placed in a gambling room be-
tween two punches of mock money and
suspended under the gaming table or on
the wall behind Il. 1t is impossible to tell
just what this proceeding is called I'M
Chinese but an American once translated
It into "bucking the tiger and as such
1t has been known ever since.
Just ask a number OF average" men
the origin Of the phrase, "a wild goose
chase and jot down how many incorrect
answers you will receive. The expression
meaning. everybody knows. an impossi-
bic enterprise, came from a sort of two
horse racing game that was in vogue long
ago. The race Tesembled the flying of
wild geese. for after one horse got the lead,
the other was obliged to follow after as
hard as he could run, over a course the
length of which would have paralyzed the
turf followers of the present day. No mat
ter how far ahead the first horse might be,
the second racer was compelled to keep on
until he either managed to overtake the
leader or became entirely exhausted in his
efforts. Ii must have been cruel. miser-
able sort OF sport The second horse had
an almost impossible jog to accomplish.
and that's how the slang expression came
TO be used in connection with hazardous or
cutlandish undertakings.
Everybody makes use of the expression
ignate no choice at all. but very few peo-
pie could tell you where this old bit of
slang came from. Tobias Hobson was the
first man I'm England that made business
of letting out hackney horses. Whenever
q prospective customer came for a horse
he led into the stable where there
were from ten 10 twenty horses to be had
for hire. but he was Obliged to choose the
horse that stood next 10 the stable door.
20 that every customer alike was well
served according TO his chances "Croco-
ollie tears term applied TO sham tears
or hypocriticaI sorrow. comes from very
old superstition that the crocodile. to al
lure travellers within its reach, sings and
means like person I'm distress. In point
OF fact. crocodiles do emit loud and plaint-
I've cries MOI unlike the mournful bowling
OF dogs. In the olden times the travellers