Omaha daily bee., 1910-06-20

After a year in the wilds of Africa and q |
triumphal tour OF Europe It may be ex-
pected that Colonel Roosevelt has brought |
back to American a number of new phrases |
and expressions which will go down In the |
history OF our language as a part OF our
national life, for no one man of modern
times has given 10 people so many ex-
pressions which have become seemingly in
eradicably q part Of our vocabulary.
'Malefactors of great wealth." muck rak-
ers," ''mollyooddles" and the strenuous
life are destineo TO live in our literature,
That sage who urged to be allowed to write
a peoples songs as the most potent influ-
ence in their lives, might have added a
codicil to the wish-"and their pet phrases"
The origin Of many OF our most hack
neyed phrases have curious and interesting
histories, General belief to the contrary,
all our idioms OF speech have not their
origin in the Bible or Shakespeare. Nor
have others just evolved themselves. When
the average man speaks of a friend as a
good fellow and describes him as "a
brick" he has nc idea that ne is employing
form OF praise which was first employed
by Lycurgus, the great Lacedaemonian, 1t
is said that on one occasion when an am
bassador from Epirus visited Sparta he
expected to find the city surrounded by
an impregnable wall. knowing that the
leader of the Spartans was virtually the
ruler of all Greece he asked: sire, how
is 1t that city like Sparta is not pro-
tected by walls7" Indeed" replied the
king, you must not have observed our
walls when you came into the city. 1 will
show them to you in the morning" The
following day he took the ambassador out
on the plains where the Spartans army was
drawn up in battle array and pointing
proudly to the serried host, said: There
you behold the walls Of Sparta and every
man a brick"
When we speak of an achievement as a
feather In mans cap" we would hardly
think OF going back to Hungary in the
sixteenth century for our right to the
phrase, but its origin is actually OF that
| period and country. A manuscript in the
British Museum says OF the Hungarians
in 1889: 1T hath been an ancient custom
| among them that none should wear a
| feather but he who had killed a Turk, to
| whom onlie vt was lawful to shew tile
number of his slaine enemys by the number
| of fethers in his cappe."
"A Roland for an Oliver" dates back to
the time Of Charlemagne, Roland and OIL
yer were two of the twelve paladins of
4
| and they were so nearly matched that their
boosted proves finally led to a single COM
bat on an island in the Rhine. They fought
| for five successive days, SO tradition says,
| without either gaining the advantage and
| thus the expression, "A Roland for an
Oliver" means blow for blow, tit for tat,
quid pro quo. ,..
This is the origin of Brother Jonathan
| as designating the United States in the
same manner that John Bulr' applies Il
England When George Washington wa.
appointed eommander-in-chief of the rev.
tolutionary forces he went to Massachu
sets to organize his men. He found thu
army in a most deplorable condition. IN
need of ammunition and arms. Jonathan
| Trumbull the elder, was at that time
governor of Connecticut, and Washington
| placing great confidence in the governors
| judgment and resources, remarked: 1--WE
| must consult Brother Jonathan on tn,
| subject" Brother Jonathan proved q very
present help In time of trouble and tn,
expression became by-phrase finally be
| ing applied to the whole nation.
The expression 'robbing Peter to pay
Paul. had It's origin in 1863, when Their,
was great rivalry between st. Peters, nov
| Westminster Abbey, and ST. Paul's ca
thedral In London. In that year an appro
priation was made from st. Peters u
meet deficiency in the accounts of st
Paul's, but there was a great hue an,
cry raised, the people saying, "why rol
St Peter to pay st. Paul?' The expires
sion was revived upon the death of vii
liam Pitt in IT'S, when there was a dis
cussion as to whether his ashes should lii
next to kings In st. Peters or, as tn
city of London urged, in st. Pauls Par
Lament urged that not to bury him Il
| Westminster Abbey would be robbing 81
ment won.
The expression There's many a Sill
'twixt the cup and the lip" originates
during the time of Ancaeus, king of tn
| Leleges in Samos, an island in the Gre
clan archipelago. Ancaeus oppressed hi
| slaves SO bitterly while cultivating vine
yard that one Of his victims prophesie
| that he would never live TO taste the wine
4 When the grapes had been gathered an
| the wine made Ancaeus sent for the slav
and, holding the goblet in his hands, asle
what he had to say for his prophecy. Tn
slave replied: There's many slip 'twix
the cup and the lip" At that moment
messenger ran in announcing that a will
bear had broken into the vineyard an
was doing great damage. Ancaeus hastil
set down the goblet Of wine untasted an