Perth Amboy evening news., 1907-01-19
WHAT DO OUR
WORDS MEAN /?

| WURDS MEAN !?
Our language is most wonderful in
it's breadth and latitude, but there are
words which you can understand only
when you know the trade or profess
sion of the man who Is using them.
Take the simple word "bit," for in
stance. It means one thing to the
horseman, another to the mariner,
another to the CRATER who wants his
bit and several things to the hard
ware man. The noun butt" is an
other which may mean a hinge, "a
cask or part of hide, according to
who is using it, carpenter, cooper or
tanner. 1t has still another meaning
to the angler and wider one still to
the great American interrupter who
joins in conversation promiscuously.
Butt, to push" la goat, is another
phrase, and in the near distance
comes the rifle butt at the shoulder
and the target butt at the other end
of the range Then, too. there is the
butt of the party; the goat, as it is
expressed at times.
1 Now take the word trap" What
/ do you know about it in casual con-
versation unless you know the busi-
ness 1t relates to. Primarily 1t means
something to catch something else in,
and If you are talking with a hunter
you may have conception of what he
is talking about If he is fisher,
man it is something else, and to the
plumber, steamfitter and hardware
man it means divers other things. The
general hardware and supply man
when he gets an order for trap
| might ask: Basin, bower, hopper,
sink, stencil, sediment, rat, mouse,
roach or fly? They are all in his
business 1t is pretty much the same
with the word powder. 1t means
many things, as is illustrated in the
1 old story of the general store in
which the girl said that her mamma
wanted ten cents worth of powder
and the storekeeper asked tersely:
Face, gun, insect, bleaching, seid-
litz, or baking?"
The same laconic storekeeper is
credited with answering a request
for cheese, by asking: POT, cream,
store, hand or Swiss?"
There is the plain anatomical word
elbow" which has several mean
ings outside of the human frame
work, yet associated with the bend
which 1t has when held in one posi-
tion The pilot, the surveyor and the
shipwright use it. The stovepipe
shows 1t in familiar form. 1t is
used in full in the rubber pipe busi-
ness and abbreviated to ell in the
standpipe business. The~word check
has wide range, too. 1t is pattern
in cloth, an order OH the bank, a stop
A for a door, term in chess, hind
rance in general way, ticket for
things temporarily stored and guar
antee for the delivery of baggage in
/ transit. Tap is a concise little word
/ with many meanings. 1t signifies n
light blow, an outlet, tool for max
/ ing the threads in nut or screw
hole, the sound made by tapping, and
a part of shoe. Shoe itself is word
with wide range of application in
mechanics, just as collar is. There
are more kinds If Shoes and co'.ars
than the haberdasher or cordwainer
ever dreamed Of The word yoke is
another which applies to many things
1 from garments up to bridge building.
Files sfile away papers and shape up
metal, besides being feature in drill
ing, while drills bore holes, train SOL
diers, receive seeds for planting. Drill
Ito teach. and drill, to bore. DRILL
ing bores both Ways, in teaching and
in making holes.
/. What is "bob?" Well, it's ac-
4 cording to whom You ask. A mason
or carpenter will tell you that he
i knows what plumb bob is, and the
! angler will say that bob Is vulgar for
n dobber or float, while a farmer will
tell you 1t Is a sled, and an eeler will
say that 1t Is q. bunch of worms Oh a
string. M
Ask about bolster and the
housefurnisher will say that it goes
under pillow, while the car builder
will tell you tnat it goes on. the truck
frame, and the machinist will show
you several kinds of holsters A
buffer" is a man who polishes and
also anything to prevent the impact
OF concussion in boat or car. A Jack"
is lots of things, and especially a
thing that lifts heavy weights. 1t is
4 also a fish, donkey and a fishing
and shooting light, a cooking appara-
4 tus and a sailor
Now there is the word "tip' 10
consider. 1t is used in all of the arts
from the feather foundry to the din
ing room. Think of the cue tips, os-
trich tips, fish rod tips. straight tips
on the race track and in politics, the
! tip to the walter. the tip of the
/ tongue, the shoe tip, the burner tip,
and all of the other tips big and little.
/ Then there Is the word top" which
i has as many meanings as tip, if not
more There are gates and gates,
some of which are entirely technical,
as in the foundry. The molasses gates
is a faucet and the toll gate is almost
obsolete except in Orange county,
New York. The reservoir has its
gate and the park has gate without
gates.
Frogs are various. There are frogs
in the swamps, frogs on military
coats, frogs on the railroads and |
frogs in the throat. Snaps" de- |
scribes many things, from public Off
ices upward There are ginger snaps