The Greeley tribune., 1908-07-01
SIGNIFICANT WORDS
AND PHRASES
with Observations by satiricu>

merOuS names Woius az" =.
which are of very detihite purpo,'
and meaning to us, but OF "nien
neither their origin nor their real
SIGNIFICANCE is even suspected by
many who habitually make use OF
them. 49,
We will take for instance the
word Miser. one who boards money
for the mere love OF 1t regardless
of any practical use to be made OF
it, Now this is really secondary
meaning of the word. which Is
brought to our minds whenever we
read. as we do of the death or some
man or woman in this or that city
who having lived in the nelghoor-
hood for years in apparent poverty
is found after death to have hidden
about their squalid premises nun
dreds and often thousands OF doi-
lars in silver and gold; TINS, rs l
said is merely the secondary mean
ing of the word Miser, but how
many are there who know, ana II
they do know, have ever reflected
as they made use of the word IN ap-
plyins it or hearing it applied of Its
primary meaning and its real sign
ificance which distinctly designates
the Miser as the miserable, and con
sequently, unhappy man in spite OF
his boarded wealth. We have now
ever Dr. Trench as an authority tor
this primary meaning OF the word
Then we will take another WORD,
| the real meaning of which is eVluent
and which needs no learned analysis
of its derivation to instruct us as
to its true import, and yet IL Is
doubtful if one person in a hundred
print ever reflects on the pathetic
suggestiveness and the sorrowful
significance OF it. 1t is the word
Founding. Just think of it, now,
in the light of the helpless, general
" new born babe that is found.
| Not lost, but deliberately cast a
way; from poverty. or other neces-
sity. or to hide shame, and in vio-
lation of the strongest instinct
known to civilized or savage man,
or bird or beast, and merely, found.
Found wrapped in old cast off gar
ments in the alley, or richly dressed
in dainty apparel in basket on the
! door step of the wealthy childless
woman in the fashionable aristo-
cratic residence quarter of the city;
| found in the ark of bull rushes and
concealed in the flags like Moses
| by Pharoah's daughter; or found
washed ashore in the little wood
en- boat on the banks of the river
and suckled by the she wolf like
Romulus and Remus the founders
OF ancient Rome. Not lost, but ac-
cidently found. just as have been
many of the greatest, grandest char
acters known in the history OF our
kind. A whole chapter could be
written about it and its kindred sub
jects How among the Smith Sound
Indians there are no foundlings: be-
| cause food is so scarce. bare sub
siStence. or even existence so dli- |
ficult that few could, and no one |
would take the child. if found, and
so the poor mother if for any rea-
| son compelled to care for her child
| unaided and alone, merely stran-
| giles il with raw hide thong. Or
how in France there are no found
lings in the strict sense OF the
word because the French govern
but whether it had its origin in fact
| destitute OF shame faced mothers
iron. that or any other country can
| in open day give into its charge
the offspring which from whatever
motive they do not care to bring
up as their own. | have mention
ed the story of Romulus and Re-
mus, said to have been the child
rem OF Rhea Silva, Vestal virgin,
but whether il had it origin in fact
or myth, we know that the practice
| cf exposing" infants in Rome was
OF great antiquity. and that there
was particular locality down b.
the "Milk-Pillar," in the Herb
Market" by custom set apart for
that purpose. And Juvenal says of
these that:
Fortune that delights in mis-
chief takes her stand by night and
smiles on the naked babes. All
these she cherishes and fosters in
her bosom; then proffers them to
| the houses of the great, and pre-
pares in secret rich sport for her
self. These she dotes on, on these she
forces her favors and smiling leads
them on to advancement as her own
foster children
And then for another instance in
significant names or phrases we will
take the word coward in constant
use among us to designate one who
lacks moral or physical courage.
We are told that the name was ori-
ginally cow-herd, or as we now use
it Cowboy. If the theory is sub
stantiated by facts of course there
must have been something in the
character of the cowboy of that
very early period in the history of
our language to merit such reproach
as would fasten upon his name the
stigma that attaches to it as it has
been handed down to us today OF
course he couldn't have been the
kind of cowboy with which we are
all so famular. If ours is open to
criticism now and then, it is for
reasons OF an entirely opposite char
acter; our cowboy carries a gun,
tanks up with whskey at times
gets funny" occasionally, and for
variety shoots up country town.
and very often our cowboy dies with
his boots on, but he is no cow-herd
in the reputed ancient meaning of
the term.
a ,e. : H.