Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1912-01-12
COMMON PHRASES
Here Are the Origins of Some
Popular Forms of Expression.
REAL DUN WAS A COLLECTOR
mind Your P's and Q's" Attributed to
Old English AIehouses' Queer Charge
Account System-How the Name
"Uncle Sam" Was Coined.


number of words and phrases that are
used every day by all manner of men.
Few OF the people who use them
know where the came from.
Joe Dun was Il famous bailiff, who
had reputation as collector of bad
debts that was second to no one in
England. Whenever one man com
planned to another that his debtors
were slow he was always advised "to
Dun them" Millions of people on or
about. the first of every month are re-
minded Of the meaning of the short
word of three letters, but few of them
know anything about old Joe Dun Of
London town
. Not worth a picayune' dates back
to the days when the Frenchmen held
Louisiana and New Orleans was the
gay capital of what was left of New
FThnce There was coin of small
value known as the "picayune." 1t was
naturally used to show that a thing
was well nigh yalueless, not worth the
snap ofva finger
b" An expression that Is almost forgot
ten now was "a fash In tie pan"
Since percussion caps, fixed ammuu-
ton and breechloading guns have dis
placed the fliptlock this expression
has lost its meaning. 1t used to be
said OF any man who started out bril-
liantly apd failed that he was Il fash
in the pan."s..NVhen men hunted and
Il
frequently annoyed by the powder in
the pan under the flint flaring up and
IN the rifle barrel. This mishap was
going our without igniting the charge
called u flash, in the pan"
The word news" is new word
when compared with many others and
had peculiar origin. states tie st.
Louis Republic. 1t is not derived from
the. adjective "new." Three or four
hundred years ago 1t was unknown.
When newspapers We're first started
they had q custom Of placing Mt the
top Of their first page a sort of cross.
: The four ,endseof the cross lines were
marked ""N,",. "E., y ''W.," IS" This
signif1ed that the paper contained in
telligenCe from north, south east and
west-in fact from all over the world
"Humbug" is word that seems to
express exactly a certain shade of ras-
eality., Its sorigint goes back to James
IL, who ordered coined at the Dublin
mint a certain coin made of base
metal. Anything that was handiest
was used In the making Of this money
lead, copper. pewter and brass were
all poured intothe melting pots at diff
ferent times. so low, was It's intrinsic
value that 20 shtings of it was hard
ly1 worth, twOpence. The Irishmen
knew this soft base metal as uim bog,
meaning soft copper or worthless mon
"ey
=, Thus the word "humbug" originated
through men saying THAT is piece Of
uim bog. Don't try to pass any uim
bog on me-" In the course of time
the Englishman added an "h" to the
front Of the word.
The. expression@"Mind your P's and
Q's". is said to have originated in the
old English alehouses, where custom
ers. ACCOUNTS were marked up on the
wall behind5the door Of the taproom.
In marking down these accounts IL
was customary to put the initials "P"
and, 90" atsthe head of every mans
account, to;show the number Of pints
and quarts he Owed for
Two mythical figures are often used
as >, being ymbo!ical Of the United
States of America. Oine, is known as
"Brother Jonathan" and the other is
the better-kaoHnstt'ncEe Sam" Both
originated, from actual people. When
Washington went tor MASSACHUSETTS to
reorganize- the continental army he
found Il great lack of ammunition and
supplies. Jonathan Trumbull, then
governor Of Connecticut, had proved
himself the strong man of New Eng
land, and his advice was much sought
Placing great reliance on Trumbull.
Washington isisaid. to have remarked:
3stav esjnust ask Brother Jonathan about
this
This was done, and Trumbull was
able to suggest a way out of the diff
Guilty, ,Theneeforth, when difficulties
arose it became, the 'byword. "We must
consult Brother. Jonathan, and the
'name became a sort of. designation for
the plain, common sense.of the whole
country. - @s'ss'..
During the war With England in 1872
a contractor visited Troy, y, ~, and
bought many supplies for the Ameri-
can army. Ths Inspector left there by
the army vas known as Uncle Sam"
Wilson. The casks, Of efoodstuif We're
all marsed~ at. s." .Anether Inspector
was askedSwhtt the..;U. s. meant. He
referred to Uncle Sam, Wilson The
joke took among the workmen and
gradually spread over the United
States.
The expression "to have a feather in